The Beach Boys have pulled the plug on their remaining summer concerts, nearly 30 shows dates in total, so that frontman Mike Love can “recharge.” This follows a long string of Pet Sounds 60th anniversary shows this year, a handful of minute cancellations due to Love’s health issues, and reports that the 85-year-old has been struggling onstage.
“Playing for you is the highlight of our summer every year—especially as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States while saluting the 60th Anniversary of Pet Sounds,” reads a statement on Mike Love’s official Instagram page. “We’ve been having a blast out there, and to keep the good vibrations going strong, we’ll be taking a short break to recharge before getting back on the road in September….Thanks for your love—we can’t wait to see you back out there for a September to Remember.”
Following the retirement of Bruce Johnston earlier this year, Love is the last remaining classic-era Beach Boy still in the touring lineup. They’re gigged all across North America and Europe this year, breaking out Pet Sounds tunes like “Caroline, No” and “I’m Waiting for the Day” they rarely play in honor of the anniversary, but some critics have expressed deep concern about Love.
“Love looked sallow and enfeebled; legs stiff, arms flat by his side. When he opened his mouth to sing, his once resonant tenor was reduced to a whisper, all warbled, strange, and barely there, decimated by the encumbering decades,” Slate’s Luke Winkie wrote in a review of a May 30 gig in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “My friend shot me an ashen look, the same one I remember him giving me during the opening salvo of the doomed Joe Biden debate.”
Days after that show in Jersey, the group canceled a series of dates because Love was suffering from an unspecified illness. But the tour resumed June 14 in Chelsea, England, even though Love was still clearly having vocal issues. Shows continued through July 18 in Valdosta, Georgia, including three nights at the Hollywood Bowl on July 4 weekend where they were joined by longtime guest John Stamos.
Earlier this month, Jean and Dean’s Dean Torrence expressed wonderment that Love was still touring this heavily at his age. “He’s a Viking,” Torrence told Rolling Stone. “He’s struggling now. He’s not well, and he’s struggling, but he’s not going to stop until it’s really over. And I think he wants to probably even die on the road.”
As of now, the Beach Boys are scheduled to return to the road Sept. 24 at the Big E Arena in Springfield, Massachusetts. They’re rescheduling as many of the dates as they can, but several have been canceled. Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band have taken their place at the Oregon State Fair on Aug. 29.
Jardine is the only other living member of the original Beach Boys lineup, and he’s been touring all year with veteran members of Brian Wilson’s backing group that he’s dubbed the Pet Sounds Band. Every show features a near-complete performance of the 1977 oddball LP The Beach Boys Love You, but they also do a great deal of Pet Sounds because of the anniversary.
It’s unclear if Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band will wind up replacing the Beach Boys on any dates besides the Oregon State Fair. It’s also unclear what’ll happen to the Beach Boys touring license once Mike Love retires rom the road, whenever that date comes.
Last year, Jardine’s son Matt, who performs with the Pet Sounds Band and can flawlessly recreate falsetto voice parts originated by Carl and Brian Wilson, told Rolling Stone he wouldn’t be opposed to his father touring under the Beach Boys banner. “We could probably bring a lot of what we’re doing with this band,” said Matt Jardine. “We’d have a lot more material to choose from. But under the licensing agreement, I think they have to play well over a hundred shows a year, and I don’t know if Dad is up to doing that.”
The elder Jardine wasn’t so sure. “I would definitely retire it unless Matt Jardine and Mike’s son, Christian, maybe want to go out and use the name,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody would see it, but you never know. The music is so powerful, and there’s always new generations coming along that might want to hear these songs.”
