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Show Beach Boys weren't a whole lot of Tun, Fun, Fun' ... if 1 h y ! - ; x y . X t s Y ' ' X.-UN : , ... - - - - - i Carl Wilson by Randy Hanskat It could have been "Fun, Fun, Fun"-a flask of bourbon, bour-bon, Hawaiian shirts, a blanket, and some surf music but it turned out to be dull, dull, dull as the Beach Boys sleepwalked through their Friday night concert at ParkWest. The night started out with a high level of anticipation. No one seemed to mind the long walk from the parking lots. These were the Beach Boys it would be worth it. Some booze made it in, some was turned away, but even that didn't matter. We got to the gates at 5:50 p.m. and quickly made our way upslope. Little did we know that two hours would pass before the California sound filled the air. Finally two helicopters drifted in and the Beach Boys were at hand. It was 8:20, late, but the wait would be worth it these were the Beach Boys. If the people had known what was in store, they probably would have stayed home, preferring to hear dusty, scratched, vinyl Beach Boys, rather than fight the boredom of the real thing. "California Girls" started things off. Not loud enough. Our blanket was only about two-thirds of the way up the crowd, but I've heard louder portable radios. After I tried to adjust to the low level I noticed something else in the music a lack of excitement. There was a stale, business-like feel coming from the nine musicians on Sure, they were all there, except for Brian Wilson, but the feeling was gone. I sensed sens-ed it in the approximately 9,000 fans who had paid $12.25 or $14.25 to hear better. bet-ter. A rendition of "Imagine," a John Lennon song, didn't help the situation. The song was not a Beach Boys-type song, and I questioned putting put-ting it into the set. On the blanket in front of us a girl gave her opinion she was asleep. "The Little Ole Lady From Pasadena" got the crowd somewhat excited, but that , excitement seemed ar- Mike Love photos by Jill Snyder "The concert was average. It was all right for a bunch of old folks trying to entertain a bunch of young folks, but their sound system was only adequate at best." a Beach Boys fan J meager applause for an encore. en-core. Unfortunately, the band closed the show with a prepackaged, pre-packaged, plastic encore set. "Good Vibrations," "Barbara "Bar-bara Ann," and "Fun, Fun, Fun" are a normally powerful power-ful ending, but Friday's trio were stale as June hamburger ham-burger buns. Bethany Ihle, another blanket dweller, added her thoughts on the evening: "The concert was average. It was all right for a bunch of old folks trying to entertain a bunch of young folks, but their sound system was only adequate at best." I've got to agree. Even the James Watt opposition to the Beach Boys couldn't make me like their ParkWest exhibition, it was just too lifeless, too business-like. They really missed a great chance. The night was right, the crowd was ready. It could've been "Fun, Fun, Fun".... tificial. It was as if the crowd forced its excitement the way the band forced its music. It was a beautiful night, though. Maybe the pace would pick up. It didn't. "I Get Around" got around and it was a mess. The beat was so fast that the crowd got lost. I was reminded of Elvis Presley concerts right before his death, when old favorites such as "Hound Dog" and "Blue Suede Shoes" were run through at comical speeds. The band didn't care. The crowd was starting not to either. During songs people were talking, fooling around, or snoozing. If the band wasn't interested, then they weren't going to be either. I tried to get into "Help Me Rhonda," one of my favorite songs, but I couldn't. The scene could have come from "Night of the Living Dead" lifeless zombies on stage, in the crowd, everywhere. Stacy Kruse, a nearby blanket owner, summed up the mood: "They (the Beach Boys) are not giving off any energy, they're not getting the crowd excited." The "surf songs" came, but it was too late, the crowd was floating away, drowning in a sea of listlessly performed perform-ed music. I had been to two previous Beach Boys concerts con-certs in Jacksonville and Gainesville, Florida and they had been good concerts. But maybe after 23 years of touring, the inner fire of the band is barely glowing. It would be understandable. "Surfin' U.S.A." brought the set to an end and the crowd seemed glad to be through with it, only giving |