Tag: SPAC

Nostalgia, Hawaiian shirts, good vibrations and the sounds of Motown were abound in Saratoga Springs on Thursday August 18th, as legendary summer surf rock pioneers The Beach Boys and iconic Motor City hitmakers The Temptations belted out classic after classic at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).  Celebrating Sixty Years of The Sounds of Summer, the evening played out like a trip down memory lane, taking the mostly older audience back to a time when, on the surface, things just seemed simpler.  Like a snapshot through American history, fans welcomed the chance to hear the songs that provided the soundtrack to so much of their lives.

From Hitsville USA to the Spa City, the evening kicked off with the Motown soul of The Temptations.  Dressed in matching green suites, the dapper looking group was led by original member Otis Williams along with Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Tony Grant and Jawan M. Jackson and also included a full orchestra as part of the backing band. With vocals ringing true and like a well-oiled machine, the tightly choregraphed set included fan favorites “Get Ready,” “I’ll be in Trouble, “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” With the crowd fully engaged and singing along to almost every song, not only were fans having a good time, but it seemed like the members of The Temptations were too, exchanging smiles and high five handshakes that felt genuine and unchoreographed. After a medley of songs paying homage to other Motown greats of the era, The Temptations closed their set with a song everybody knows, their signature hit “My Girl.”

After a brief break to clear the stage, the fun-filled evening continued with an elaborate pre-produced video introduction that flashed images and soundbites of The Beach Boys storied career. With the group’s 60th anniversary of their first album, Surfin’ Safari, approaching in October – their impact on American culture through the decades cannot be overstated. Watching the montage of popular television shows and movies the band has been featured in – from Good Morning Vietnam, Cocktail, Look Who’s Talking, and the closing credits of Boogie Nights, to shows like Full House and Friends and their complicated association with the Fab Four, it’s clear not only does this band continue to have a wide-ranging generational appeal, but that their songs have indeed stood the test time.

With a minimal stage setup that simply included some artificial palm trees and a jumbotron LED screen, original Beach Boy Mike Love and longtime member Bruce Johnston walked to the front of the stage and showed their love for the Saratoga crowd by blowing them kisses before launching into the first of many surf rock medleys, kicking the party off with a “Do It Again”>”Surfin’ Safari”>”Catch a Wave” trifecta.  Bolstering their iconic sound with help from talented supporting musicians Tim Bonhomme, John Cowsill, Brian “Ike” Eichenberger, Christian Love, Randy Leago, Keith Hubacher and Scott Totten, this incarnation of The Beach Boys both looked and sounded great.

Working their way through all the fan favorites – the surfing songs like “Rockaway Beach,” “Surfin’ USA,” and ” Surfer Girl,” to the cruising anthems like “Little Deuce Coup,””409” and “Little Honda” it was clear The Beach Boys not only welcomed the nostalgia, but thrived in it. With their signature sun-drenched vocal harmonies for days, hearing songs like “Don’t Worry Baby,” “I Get Around, “Wouldn’t it Be Nice” and “Sloop John B” felt truly special and provided some of the biggest ovations of the evening, but perhaps the loudest came on the heels of an emotional rendition of  “God Only Knows,” a song many consider to be one of the greatest ever written.

After telling a short story about the time he ran into The Beatles in India,  Mike Love would sing an original song called “Pisces Brothers”, before the band would string together another series of love songs (“Darlin,” Then I Kissed Her,” Help Me Rhonda”) that saw some of the elderly couples embrace in sentimental overload.  Picking the tempo back up, possibly out of fear of being too mushy, “Dance, Dance Dance, ”Do You Wanna Dance?” and a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” came next, followed by everyone’s favorite a luau anthem ”Kokomo,” which had everyone on the SPAC lawn singing and smiling, making the final song of the set, “Good Vibrations,” very fitting. The Beach Boys would return to the stage for a two song encore, “Barbara Ann” and “Fun, Fun,Fun,” sending the audience home satisfied and happy.

After more then six decades of performing, both The Beach Boys and The Temptations have proven they still have what it takes to entertain at a high level and that there is still an audience hungry to see them. With an astounding catalog of songs that have become engrained in American culture and themes that remain universal – teenage love and angst, rebelling against authority, driving fast and having fun in the sun, hearing them played live can feel almost surreal at times. It didn’t seem to matter the original members of each group were few and few between, it was all about being there in the moment, singing the songs you grew up on, and rediscovering a piece of your own youth. A great night of ‘Greatest Hits,” have mercy on me for saying it, but even Jess and the Rippers would have found this show satisfying. 

If you missed the stop in Saratoga Springs, don’t worry baby, New Yorkers still have a few more chances to catch the Sixty Years of The Sounds of Summer Tour.  The Beach Boys and The Temptations play Bethel Woods on August 25th, the Chautauqua Amphitheater on August 26^th, and swing by Wildwood, NJ on August 27^th.

The Beach Boys | August 18, 2022 | Saratoga Springs, NY | SPAC

Setlist: Do It Again, Surfin’ Safari, Catch a Wave, Hawaii, Little Honda, Rockaway Beach, Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl, Don’t Worry Baby, Little Deuce Coupe, 409, Shut Down, I Get Around, Be True to Your School, Getcha Back, You’re So Good to Me, Darlin’, God Only Knows, Pisces Brothers, California Girls, Sloop John B, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Then I Kissed Here, Help Me, Rhonda, Do You Wanna Dance, Kokomo, Good Vibrations

Encore: Barbara Ann, Fun, Fun, Fun

The Temptations | August 18, 2022 | Saratoga Springs, NY | SPAC

Setlist: Get Ready, Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue), The Girl’s Alright With Me, Beauty is Only Skin Deep, I’ll Be In Trouble, The Way You Do The Things You Do, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg, Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today), I Wish It Would Rain, Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone, I Can’t Get Next to You, Is It Gonna Be Yes or No, Get Up (I Feel like Being a Sex Machine / I Want to Take You Higher / Let’s Get It On, Treat Her Like a Lady / Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now, My Girl