Live at Maryland Hall, Annapolis, MD September 13, 2025
The older I get, the more I treasure experiences. This is apparently not an uncommon way to age. I think that Al Jardine must feel the same way. How else to explain someone that would take a ‘new’ band out on the road at age eighty-three, except that he wanted to keep building new performance memories?
I had the joyous experience of watching Al front the core of what had been Brian Wilson’s backing band, with some newer players. Most band members are no stranger to Al, as he toured with Brian as a featured player for the last several years Wilson toured. I was lucky to get a front row center seat for the concert at a remodeled high school now used for a variety of performing arts performances and education.
In what had been a model used by several of Wilson’s tours, the first set of the performance was an overview of the ‘greatest hits’ of the Beach Boys with some deep cuts thrown in the mix. I was happy to realize that the band expanded their tour setlist with an energetic “Dance, Dance, Dance” in this set.
I’m the kind of fan that likes to hear the ‘deep cuts’ even more than the hits. This show brought out three songs from the maligned “M.I.U. Album” of 1978. While “Come Go With Me” has been a staple for some time, it was wonderful to hear “Sweet Sunday Kinda Love” and “She’s Got Rhythm” done live after all these years!
After a brief intermission, in the second set the band played about three-quarters of the Beach Boys’ Love You album. Overlooked in its 1977 release, the album has gained ‘street cred’ as the most heavily-influenced by Brian Wilson in the band’s later years.
Why does a band need three people on keyboards? Well, when you are
playing the synth-heavy Love You one needs Debbie Shair along to help replicate the sounds, besides all that she did for synth horns etc. on other songs. Debbie’s energy all night was entertaining to watch, and she’s been playing with Al for several years.
The night ended with a quartet of songs that count among the Beach Boys’ most well-known songs. As popular as it is, though, I really don’t ever have to hear “Barbara Ann” again even as I acknowledge it’s a fun one.
One of the advantages of seeing a band up close is noticing the interactions. Matt Jardine had the sound crew adjusting his monitors throughout the night. Matt is the workhorse of the band, carrying most of the lead parts including the iconic falsetto originated by Brian. It’s not easy to sing those parts but Matt’s determination rewards the audience with something beautiful to hear.
Darian Sahanaja handled several Carl Wilson leads; the biggest surprise of the night for me was how Gary Griffin sang the “low Brian” leads of Love You with an accuracy coming from a place of love and respect.
Rob Bonfiglio handled his vocal parts well and shined on the guitar. It looked like he and Al had a good time playing together. Filling out the band were Bob Lizik on bass, Mike D’Amico on drums, Jim Laspesa on percussion, Emeen Zarookian on guitar, and newcomer Brendan Carniaux on saxophone.
It’s time to talk about Al! His voice has held up very well. My observation is that older singers fall into a mode of “talk-singing” and while Al did this at times, I saw him singing his parts just like Brian taught him all those years ago as well. Al has made some concessions to his age and status as front man. He’s consistently using some kind of teleprompter, and even then had a few issues here and there with the rhythm of the vocals. A ‘prompter for vocals is understandable, with most of the Love You material not being performed in decades. Much as he did for Brian, Matt is by his father’s side and ready to assume a steady lead to keep the show going.
Don’t get the impression that I am down on Al Jardine. Several times during the night he talked about, and to, Brian. With these performances he is showing his love and respect for the output of the band he helped found. I had a blast watching Al perform, and a personal highlight of the night was when he acknowledged my copy of his Sloop John B children’s book that I waved at the end of the song’s performance. An Al Jardine show is highly recommended!
John created a small playlist with video of songs and snippets shot during the concert on YouTube.
I also won a 2000-era autographed promo picture of Brian, which is so precious in the year that Brian passed. I haven’t bought a vinyl album in a long time–the best part is that the art and liner notes are just amazing to look at in the larger form factor! The 2 CD set has the same notes, but they are definitely harder to read. Streaming, of course, gives you NO notes.