Al Jardine Reunites With Bruce Johnston and David Marks in Cerritos, While Mike Love Plays On in Nashville

What was advertised as an Al Jardine show at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts turned into something closer to a gathering. Bruce Johnston and David Marks joined him for the encore, with unannounced appearances from Carnie Wilson, Marilyn Wilson and Jan and Dean’s Dean Torrence. It was Jardine’s first time sharing a stage with Johnston in more than a decade.

The night carried two genuine rarities. Jardine played “It’s a Beautiful Day,” an outtake from 1979 that had never been performed live, a song he has described as a tribute to Los Angeles with Carl Wilson on the refrain. Marilyn Wilson sang “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together,” only the second time she has performed it since recording the vocal in 1977. Marks, meanwhile, ran through “Surfin’ Safari” and “Little Deuce Coupe,” material he cut as a teenager in the early 1960s.

Jardine told Rolling Stone the show had been booked about six months out, and that an L.A. date made the guest list worth assembling.

The coincidence was harder. Almost simultaneously, Mike Love was performing at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, in visibly frail condition, in what could be his last public concert after more than 7,000 shows across 65 years. Jardine and Love are not in regular contact and have disagreed often, but Jardine said watching his former bandmate from that distance was devastating.

The Beach Boys name has supported multiple lineups for decades. Here were two of them, in different states, on the same night, on very different terms.