The 50th Reunion Tour

The 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour[1] was a 2012 world concert tour by the American rock band the Beach Boys.[2] The tour marked the first time since 1982 that founding member Brian Wilson had consistently performed on a full tour with the band. The tour also marked the first time that the Beach Boys had played at the Hollywood Bowl since 1967, having sold it out both times.

The 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour
World tour by the Beach Boys
Associated albumThat's Why God Made the Radio
Start dateApril 24, 2012
End dateSeptember 28, 2012
Legs4
No. of shows50 in North America
13 in Europe
5 in Asia
5 in Oceania
73 in total

Brian Wilson stated that this Beach Boys tour, and the album associated with it, That's Why God Made the Radio, which was released in June 2012, is dedicated to the memory of his two brothers: Carl who died of cancer in 1998, and Dennis, who drowned in 1983. The tour featured tributes to both brothers in which the band accompanied archival audio of vocals by Dennis ("Forever") and Carl ("God Only Knows").

Overview

The reunited Beach Boys performing in May 2012.

The Beach Boys gave a performance and interview segment on SiriusXM which was aired on the sixties channel on May 26, 2012 during an entire four-day weekend devoted to the group. During the tour the band made various television appearances on their off days including an April 29, 2012 segment on CBS Sunday Morning, a multi-performances and an interview on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on May 7, 2012 and a May 16, 2012 interview and a special one-hour performance on shopping channel QVC where they also promoted and sold copies of the new album. On May 18, 2012 the band appeared for an hour-long interview on Charlie Rose Show and performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno June 7, 2012. Throughout June and July, PBS aired a 90-minute performance by the band featuring footage from their May 2, 2012 show in Florida.[3][4] On June 15, 2012, the same date they played a show in Maryland, the group appeared in New York on Good Morning America for an 8 A.M. performance.

The band also announced plans to release their 51-song performance from Red Rocks on DVD although nothing was officially confirmed.[5] One hour of live soundboard audio, primarily from the Grand Prairie, Texas performance, is available for free download on the National Public Radio web site.[6]

Doin' It Again, an hour-long documentary which featured a new biography, new interviews with the band and footage from the tour and which also aired during the summer on PBS, was released on DVD and Blu-ray in August 2012.[7] The Beach Boys Live in Concert: 50th Anniversary was released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2012 and features a performance by the band from July 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. The release featured a heavily edited performance which was cut down to sixty minutes and only twenty one of the fifty songs performed at the concert were featured leaving some fans angry that the full show wasn't released.[8] A 41-song, 2-CD set titled Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour was released in May 2013.

Notable shows and guests

During the performance on May 8, 2012 at the Beacon Theater, Dennis' vocals malfunctioned on "Forever" shortly after the song began; John Stamos, who sang a remake of the number on Summer in Paradise, came on stage with a white towel around his neck, furthering the appearance that he was caught by surprise, to perform impromptu lead vocals. Upon finishing, the crowd cheered approval, and many were heard screaming 'Uncle Jesse', referring to his days playing Jesse Katsopolis on the 1980s sitcom Full House.

During the group's June 2, 2012, show they were joined onstage by the group California Saga, which is an eight-piece group made up of the children of Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine. California Saga, which includes both Wendy Wilson and Carnie Wilson of the chart topping group, Wilson Phillips, joined the Beach Boys for a performance of "Friends" while Justyn Wilson (son of Carl) and Matt Jardine (son of Al) also joined on "All This is That" with Wilson singing his father's parts. The group also opened the June 3, 2012, show with a 20-minute set consisting of Beach Boys songs.[9][10]

At the group's June 3, 2012, performance at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, California, they were joined onstage for the last few songs by Dean Torrence, surviving member of Jan and Dean. Bruce Johnston stepped away from his keyboard to take photographs from the front of the stage of Torrence singing with The Beach Boys.[11]

On June 13, 2012, Foster the People opened for the Beach Boys at Blossom Music Center, near Cleveland. They also performed "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and other songs during the encore with the Beach Boys.[12]

Ending controversy

Asked in May 2012, what the future holds beyond the tour, Mike Love stated that "We're looking at our present and future. I think we're going to be doing this again with Brian for a long time." Wilson said that he is already thinking of the next Beach Boys album, which he would make after the tour. "This time I would like to do some rock n' roll", Wilson said. "I would like it to be a bit harder and faster".[13] In Love's 2016 memoir, he wrote that the end of the reunion came partly as a result from interference from Brian's wife and manager Melinda Ledbetter.[14][15] Love added that during the performances, she attempted to install an autotune unit on each of the band members' microphones. This was the beginning of some backstage quarrels between Love and Ledbetter, which ended with his stipulating that she be banned from rehearsals until the tour was over.[16]

Announcement

On June 1, 2012, Love received an e-mail from Ledbetter stating "no more shows for Wilson". Love, who is obligated by his license of the Beach Boys name to maintain revenue flow to Brother Records, then began accepting invitations for when the reunion was over.[17] Johnston told reporter Mark Dillon in mid-June that the current tour was "a one-time event. You’re not going to see this next year. I'm busy next year doing my thing with Mike.”[18] On June 25, Ledbetter sent another e-mail asking to disregard her last message, but by then, Love says, "it was too late. We had booked other concerts, and promoters had begun selling tickets."[17] The next day, Love announced additional touring dates that would not feature Wilson.[19] Wilson then denied knowledge of these new dates.[20]

In July, Love stated, "There's talk of us going and doing a return to the Grammys next year, and there's talk about doing another album together. There's nothing in stone, but there's a lot of ideas being floated around. So after this year, after completing the 50th anniversary reunion, we'll entertain doing some more studio work and see what we can come up with and can do in the future." Love said that Wilson and producer Joe Thomas had over 80 hours of material recorded much of it culled from material they were working on around the time of Wilson's 1998 Imagination album that "were always songs he had earmarked for the Beach Boys." He further added that the label is stoked about what is happening and is pushing for more music and more tour dates.[21]

Press furor

As scheduled, the band played their last show together on September 28, 2012. Love later wrote: "I had wanted to send out a joint press release, between Brian and me, formally announcing the end of the reunion tour on September 28. But I couldn't get Brian's management team on board (Brian himself doesn't make those kinds of decisions)."[22] In late September, news outlets began reporting that Love had dismissed Wilson from the Beach Boys.[23]

On October 5, Love responded in a self-written press release to the LA Times stating he "did not fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys. I cannot fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys ... I do not have such authority. And even if I did, I would never fire Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys." He explained that nobody in the band "wanted to do a 50th anniversary tour that lasted 10 years" and that its limited run "was long agreed upon".[23] On October 9, Wilson and Jardine submitted a written response to the rumors stating: "I was completely blindsided by his press release ... We hadn't even discussed as a band what we were going to do with all the offers that were coming in for more 50th shows."[24] Love responded in an interview that Wilson's statements in this press release were falsified by his agents.[25]

Reflecting upon the band's reunion in 2013, Love stated: "I had a wonderful experience being in the studio together. Brian has lost none of his ability to structure those melodies and chord progressions ... Touring was more for the fans. ... It was a great experience, it had a term to it, and now everyone's going on with their ways of doing things."[26] Biographer Jon Stebbins speculated that Love declined to continue working with the group because of the lesser control he had over the touring process, coupled with the lower financial gain, noting: "Night after night after night after night, Mike is making less money getting reminded that Brian is more popular than him. And he has to answer to people instead of calling all the shots himself."[27] Writer Stacey Anderson called Love's arguments "wholly unconvincing", facetiously summarizing: "He insists that the larger ensemble with Wilson would have overpowered the modest venues he'd already booked; as anyone can infer, this really means he would have lost money by including Wilson."[28]

Setlist

The set list for the tour, which varied from show to show, consisted of around 48 songs (with final shows reaching 50 or more songs), divided into two sets, an intermission and an encore.[29][30][31] At least one song from every Beach Boys album was performed with the exception of songs from Friends, Love You, Keepin' the Summer Alive and Summer in Paradise. (The title track of Friends was performed during the June 2, 2012 show by California Saga, but nothing from the album was performed by the Beach Boys.) As stated before the tour, the two singles and "Summer's Gone" from That's Why God Made the Radio were performed, the latter at the two London shows at the end of the tour.

Songs performed

Surfin' Safari

Surfin' U.S.A. (album)

Surfer Girl

Little Deuce Coupe

Shut Down Volume 2

All Summer Long

Beach Boys Concert

  • "Johnny B. Goode" b

The Beach Boys Today!

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)

Beach Boys' Party!

Pet Sounds

Smiley Smile/Smile

Wild Honey

Friends

Best of The Beach Boys Vol. 3

20/20

Sunflower

Surf's Up

Carl and the Passions – "So Tough"

Holland

15 Big Ones

M.I.U. Album

L.A. (Light Album)

The Beach Boys

Made in U.S.A.

Still Cruisin'

That's Why God Made the Radio

Miscellaneous

a California Saga, an eight-member group featuring the children of the Wilson brothers, Love and Jardine performed the song during the Beach Boys June 2, 2012 show.
b Performed for VIP Nation "ultimate VIP package" and "soundcheck package" ticket holders.
c Partially performed on 7/4/12 in Utah as an intro to "Fun, Fun, Fun".

Tour dates

Date City Country Venue
North America
April 24, 2012 Tucson United States Anselmo Valencia Tori Amphitheater
April 26, 2012 Grand Prairie Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
April 27, 2012[A] New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course
April 28, 2012 Atlanta Chastain Park Amphitheatre
April 29, 2012 Raleigh Raleigh Amphitheater
May 2, 2012 St. Augustine St. Augustine Amphitheatre
May 4, 2012 Hollywood Hard Rock Live
May 5, 2012 Tampa Straz Center for the Performing Arts
May 8, 2012 New York City Beacon Theatre
May 9, 2012
May 11, 2012 Pittsburgh Benedum Center
May 12, 2012 Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena
May 13, 2012
May 15, 2012 White Plains Westchester County Center
May 17, 2012 Bethlehem Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem
May 19, 2012 Atlantic City Borgata Events Center
May 21, 2012 Chicago Chicago Theatre
May 22, 2012
May 25, 2012 Chula Vista Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
May 26, 2012 Indio Fantasy Springs Special Events Center
May 27, 2012 Las Vegas Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino
May 28, 2012 Santa Barbara Santa Barbara Bowl
June 1, 2012 Berkeley Hearst Greek Theatre
June 2, 2012 Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl
June 3, 2012 Irvine Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
June 8, 2012 The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 10, 2012[B] Manchester Great Stage Park
June 12, 2012 Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center
June 13, 2012 Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center
June 15, 2012 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 16, 2012 Camden Susquehanna Bank Center
June 17, 2012 Bethel Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
June 19, 2012 Toronto Canada Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
June 20, 2012 Montreal Bell Centre
June 22, 2012 Bangor United States Darling's Waterfront Pavilion
June 23, 2012 Saratoga Springs Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 24, 2012 Wantagh Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
June 26, 2012 Boston Bank of America Pavilion
June 27, 2012 Holmdel Township PNC Bank Arts Center
June 29, 2012 Darien Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
June 30, 2012 Clarkston DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 1, 2012[C] Milwaukee Marcus Amphitheater
July 3, 2012 Virginia Beach Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
July 4, 2012 Provo LaVell Edwards Stadium
July 6, 2012 Albuquerque Sandia Resort and Casino
July 7, 2012 Phoenix Grand Canyon University
July 10, 2012 Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre
July 11, 2012 Calgary Canada Scotiabank Saddledome
July 13, 2012 Woodinville United States Chateau Ste. Michelle
July 14, 2012 Eugene Cuthbert Amphitheater
July 15, 2012 Stateline Harveys Outdoor Arena
Europe
July 21, 2012[D] Avila Spain Ávila Festival Grounds
July 23, 2012 Barcelona Poble Espanyol
July 26, 2012 Rome Italy Capannelle Racecourse
July 27, 2012 Milan Arena Civica
July 29, 2012 Gothenburg Sweden Trädgårdsföreningen
July 31, 2012 Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
August 1, 2012 Aarhus Denmark Musikhuset Aarhus
August 3, 2012 Berlin Germany O2 World Berlin
August 4, 2012 Stuttgart Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
August 5, 2012 Mönchengladbach Warsteiner HockeyPark
August 7, 2012[E] Lokeren Belgium Grote Kaai
Asia
August 16, 2012 Chiba Japan Chiba Marine Stadium
August 17, 2012 Osaka Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium
August 19, 2012 Nagoya Nippon Gaishi Hall
August 22, 2012 Singapore Singapore Indoor Stadium
August 25, 2012 Hong Kong Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Oceania
August 28, 2012 Brisbane Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre
August 30, 2012 Sydney Allphones Arena
August 31, 2012 Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
September 2, 2012 Adelaide Adelaide Entertainment Centre
September 6, 2012 Perth Burswood Dome
Europe
September 27, 2012 London England Royal Albert Hall
September 28, 2012 Wembley Arena
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances
A This concert was a part of the "New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival"
B This concert was a part of the "Bonnaroo Music Festival"
C This concert was a part of "Summerfest"
D This concert was a part of the "Festival Internacional Sierra de Gredos"
E This concert will be a part of the "Lokerse Festival"

Box office score data

Venue City Tickets sold / available Gross revenue
Verizon Theatre Grand Prairie, Texas 3,716 / 5,364 (69%) $243,540[32]
Morsani Hall Tampa, Florida 2,467 / 2,610 (96%) $285,347[33]
Beacon Theatre New York City 5,428 / 5,571 (97%) $576,143[33]
Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, Connecticut 8,456 / 10,234 (83%) $590,605[33]
Sands Bethlehem Event Center Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 1,698 / 1,800 (94%) $159,372[34]
Chicago Theatre Chicago 6,643 / 6,643 (100%) $742,131[35]
Santa Barbara Bowl Santa Barbara, California 4,451 / 4,451 (100%) $408,692[36]
Hearst Greek Theatre Berkeley, California 7,108 / 7,108 (100%) $514,000[32]
Bell Centre Montreal 5,040 / 5,725 (88%) $401,156[37]
Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys Stateline, Nevada 6,152 / 6,152 (100%) $554,216[38]
O2 World Berlin, Germany 8,565 / 11,273 (76%) $510,022[34]
TOTAL 59,724 / 66,931 (89%) $4,985,224

Personnel

The Beach Boys

The five Beach Boys who participated in the reunion were founding 1961 members Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, 1962 addition David Marks and 1965 addition Bruce Johnston.[39]

Founding members and Wilson's two younger brothers Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson died in 1983 and 1998 respectively. They were both featured during the concerts, performing with pre-recorded vocals on video with the remainder of the band doing the harmonies live on stage.

Supporting musicians

  • Jeff Foskett – guitar, mandolin, percussion, vocals
  • Scott Totten – Musical Director, guitar, bass, ukulele, vocals
  • Nicky Walusko – guitar, vocals a
  • Probyn Gregory – guitar, horns, bass, tannerin, percussion, vocals
  • Mike D'Amico – bass, drums, vocals
  • Darian Sahanaja – keyboards, mallets, vocals
  • Scott Bennett – keyboards, mallets, percussion, vocals
  • Paul von Mertens – woodwinds
  • Nelson Bragg – percussion, vocals
  • John Cowsill – drums, vocals

Special Guest Appearances

a Nicky Walusko became ill part way through the tour and left.
b Members of California Saga, a group made up of the children of Beach Boys members Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine.

References

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