Do It Again

It was my first sense of independence. I was stepping out and forming my very own opinion. I was about 10 years old and I had discovered The Beach Boys. Up until this point I had been happy to listen to the country music my Dad would tune in on the radio, but now... now I had discovered a music that I could claim as my own. I saved up my money and purchased a cassette tape at the drugstore and listened to it incessantly. After that I received a few different ones for Christmas or birthday gifts and I was officially a fan.

I loved the sweet harmonies, the idyllic images of sun, surf, and sand. I'm fairly certain it was the sounds of The Beach Boys that established my love of the 60s so, a fairly influential moment.

When I was 16, my brother John was going to see The Beach Boys in Detroit with his friends. I was elated when he invited me to come along. My first BIG concert! It lived up to my expectations - awesome. When I heard the group had reunited this year for a tour, celebrating their 50 years of music, I knew I had to go. Ideally, I wanted to return the favour and take John to the concert but things didn't quite turn out that way.

I ended up seeing them at the very same location nearly 20 years later and they sounded just as sweet. Sometimes as artists age, their voice doesn't hold up to the demands of the songs they wrote decades earlier. This was not the case with these guys though. From the beginning sounds of "Do It Again" (appropriately enough!) to the final sing along of "Fun Fun Fun" they were stellar. Brian Wilson's genius arrangements shone through like the California sun.

To kick off the summer, Kim, Carol-Ann, Deidre and I spent a weekend on the rollercoasters at Cedar Point, outlet shopping and capped it off with the personification of summer itself - The Beach Boys. Thanks for the memories!