Nov. 22, 1975 review: The Beach Boys return to the Niagara Falls Convention Center

 


A friend asked me the other night if I did any rewriting when I made these transcriptions from photos of Buffalo News microfilm. Almost never, I said, but I do correct spelling and typographical errors (plus in those days, there was an extra chance for a misstep in the production process – the linotype operators who keyed the articles into the machines that made the lead type). Here there’s a mistake and I left it in. I mention that the previous Beach Boys appearance in Niagara Falls was 13 months earlier, implying October 1974. Actually, it was 12 months and nine days. 

Nov. 22, 1975 

Beach Boys Transcend

Nostalgia, Remain Fresh 

          In the chill wind outside the Niagara Falls Convention Center Friday night, there’s a heavy need for tickets to the Beach Boys concert. The needy might as well be asking for spare water skis.

          It’s a jam-packed sell-out, even though once one clears the police frisking at the gate it all promises to be a carbon copy of the last such visit 13 months ago, right down to the warmup group.

          This time, instead of the Raspberries singing “Go All the Way,” it’s supposed to be Raspberries prime mover Eric Carmen as a solo.

          Except Carmen’s been ailing and he’s too sick to make it. His absence turns it into a Beach Boys bonus night. They do two sets.

* * *

THERE’S INSTANT recognition of the very first chords Carl Wilson strikes for 1965’s “Sloop John B” as the 10-man aggregation takes positions among the flowers and ferns festooned under fake palm trunks that mask the supports for the lighting.

          The renewed passion for their hits of a decade ago still locks the group into a unique time warp. Though they’re easing past the age of 30, their fans and their music remain somewhere in their teens.

          Mike Love, balding beneath his cavalier hat with the long feather, perfectly preserves the sarcasm and reedy nasality of a high school junior. “This place,” he remarks, “is what I call a beautiful echotorium.”

          Nor has their music become dated. Endless-summer rockers like “Help Me Rhonda,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Little Deuce Coupe” and “Fun Fun Fun” still sound fresh and vital. So do the Four Freshmen-style ballads like “In My Room,” “Surfer Girl” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”

* * *

BUT A second year of touring without any new Beach Boys material finds them favoring the pop hits and the distant past, slighting the rich inventiveness of the “Heroes and Villains” period and virtually ignoring their most recent material.

          Instead, they dig out Brian Wilson’s old “Be True to Your School,” a heavy crowd pleaser that gets most everyone standing up for the rest of the show.

          They also do Chicago’s “Wish You Were Here,” which was graced with their soaring harmonies on record, and Joe Cocker’s “You Are So Beautiful,” which is the only element of the evening that seems out of place.

          Dennis Wilson sings it to open the encore, which comes after a half-hour second set that flies by much too fast. The kids stomp and clap and burn out disposable lighters for three minutes to bring them back.

          It’s a rousing finale with a little chorus line across the front of the stage for “Barbara Ann.” When they leave for good, it’s like summer ending. You’re left wishing it would shine on just a little longer.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Beach Boys 1975 concert program.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Essentially the same band that played the Falls in 1974 – Mike Love, Wilson brothers Carl and Dennis (Brian would return in 1976); Al Jardine; vocalist and keyboardist Billy Hinsche; percussionist and keyboardist Carli Munoz; vocalist and percussionist Bobby Figueroa; bassist and rhythm guitarist Ed Carter. Perhaps no longer touring with them would be bassist James Guercio, former producer of Chicago who became their manager.

Unmentioned in the band’s touring lineups is keyboardist Ron Altbach from nearby Olcott, a Transcendental Meditation teacher who formerly was with King Harvest and had been recruited into the band at the last minute in 1974. For a whole lot more about him, see the footnote on the review of the 1974 show, which I posted in December. 

Here’s the setlist from setlist.fm: 

Sloop John B

Do It Again

Help Me Rhonda

Surfer Girl

In My Room

(Unknown)

Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Wishing You Were Here

You Are So Beautiful

Little Deuce Coupe

Catch a Wave

Surfin’ U.S.A.

California Girls

(Unknown)

Encore

Darlin’

Barbara Ann

Fun, Fun, Fun 

The Beach Boys shuffled their setlists a little as they moved from town to town on this tour. At the Boston Gardens show two nights earlier, the first Unknown spot was occupied by “Be True to Your School,” which is mentioned in the review. The second Unknown could be “Take a Load Off Your Feet,” which came after “In My Room” that night.

On the other hand, the night after Niagara Falls, in Dayton, Ohio, they didn’t do either of those songs. They played “Marcella,” “The Trader,” “California Saga: California” and “Heroes and Villains.” And the night after that in Cincinnati, they did “Be True to Your School” and “Take a Load Off Your Feet” again, plus “Good Vibrations.” And they didn’t do “You Are So Beautiful.”

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