THE BEACH BOYS LIVE IN BRIDGEPORT at the “AMP”
As a semi-empty-nester, I am loving the new music venue in Bridgeport. On Sunday The Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater (The AMP) hosted some rock and roll legends in The Beach Boys and Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals. I know, I know, these bands have far different lineups these days, but the music is timeless and the venue is flawless. Sunday was a gorgeous day in Connecticut and the ‘good vibrations’ were evident everywhere I looked.
It’s been over 50 years and Rascals vocalist and keyboardist Felix Cavaliere is still groovin’. Originally known as The Young Rascals, The Rascals rose to prominence playing classic rhythm and blues and soul music. The Rascals were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals started the show with two iconic tunes, “Midnight Hour” and “Beautiful Morning:” which got the crowd tapping and clapping immediately. Cavaliere’s energy doesn’t seem to have dwindled over the decades. The band belted out “Lonely too Long – Groovn” and “Mustang Sally” sounding incredible. Felix and his band really captured the audiences attention with “How Can I Be Sure’ – ‘People Got to Be Free” before finishing with an energetic performance of “Good Lovin”.
Not a bad Sunday evening under the Bridgeport sky, listening to great music and the headliner had not even come on stage yet! I needed a drink! My wife Eva and I perused the corridors of The “AMP” running into friends and seeing more and more of this exquisite music venue. Along the way we stopped at Guest Services and snagged floor seats for the upcoming Tuesday show The Greatest Hits of Foreigner for $20 ALL-IN NO FEES! This place is so great to watch the shows I couldn’t resist! After settling on two very expensive cocktails and picking up a couple of doughnuts for Eva, we excitedly shuffled off to our seats for the main event of the evening!
The Beach Boys started with “Do it Again” followed by one off their debut album in 1961 “Surfin’ Safari”. “Rockaway Beach”, a cover of The Ramones hit song, was a surprising highlight early on. The Boys followed that up with a few classics: “Surfin’ U.S.A. – Surfer Girl – Don’t Worry Baby and Little Deuce Coupe”. The band played over 30 songs through the night which is amazing considering Mike Love is 80 years young. One real stand-out song was a cover of The Beatles “Here Comes The Sun”. For the stretch run The Boys played hit after hit beginning with “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” immediately followed by “California Girls – Help Me, Rhonda – Kokomo – Barbara Ann (The Regents cover) and Good Vibrations”. That’s one heck of a stretch run!
They were called out for an encore by the near capacity crowd. Beach Boys co-founder Mike Love chose “This Too Shall Pass,” an upbeat new song about remaining positive about life during the pandemic. Rolling Stone Magazine caught up with Love shortly after the release of the song:
“I was thinking [that] so many people, we’re all going through stuff, so I sat down and started writing a poem about it. “We all remember when school is out was the cause for celebrations/Nobody ever even thought about closing down entire nations.” So we just wrote what’s going on, and I wanted to give a shout-out to the first responders and the people who are doctors and nurses who are working so hard these days.
And yet people are wondering how long it’ll last. This will pass, based on my six decades of touring and going through Vietnam and racial issues and different periods of time that are not so pleasant. But they somehow resolve or dissolve. I know I’m gonna be very appreciative of the fact that we can even step out on a stage again and perform no matter where we may be.”
—Angie Martoccio Rolling Stone Magazine
Let’s all hope that Mike Love is right and this pandemic does pass, I for one, can’t imagine living the rest of my life without live entertainment and great music. The Beach Boys closed their visit to Bridgeport out in style and stayed upbeat with “Fun, Fun, Fun”.
I walked out of The “AMP” Sunday evening still feeling the GOOD VIBRATIONS and finding myself in agreement with Cavaliere, ‘people got to be free’. Most of all just appreciating this new venue that has allowed for me to spend quality time with my baby at these concerts in Bridgeport!
Yes they’re FUN, FUN, FUN!
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To learn more about The Beach Boys, check out their website
Follow on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube / TicTok
Stream music: Spotify / Apple Music
To learn more about Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals, check out their website
Follow on Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube
Stream music: Spotify / Apple Music
Purchase: Amazon
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