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Wilkes-Barre Academy announces officers

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The Lake Silkworth Lions Club bowls for sight

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The words flashed on the big screen behind the band &#8212; &#8220;Surfboards, Stratocasters and Striped Shirts.&#8221;</p><p>You should need no other clues to know that the band on the stage was The Beach Boys &#8212; well, a couple of them anyway.</p><p>But the sound was unmistakable.</p><p>Mike Love, lead singer and co-writer on most Beach Boys songs, and Bruce Johnston, the guy who wrote Barry Manilow&#8217;s super hit, &#8220;I Write the Songs,&#8221; led the group on a journey of &#8220;Fun, Fun, Fun&#8221; before a packed house at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday night.</p><p>Love and Johnston, both 74 years old, fronted the band that also featured John Cowsill on drums, the former lead singer of The Cowsills; Jeff Foskett, who did a remarkable job singing those Beach Boys falsetto parts; and Brian Eichenburger, Scott Totten, and Tim Bonhomme.</p><p>It may not have been The Beach Boys of old, but it was most definitely The Beach Boys&#8217; sound and music.</p><p>It took a while, but the Kirby crowd finally got into the music toward the end of the first set and through most of the second set. People were dancing in their seats and a few brave souls actually stood and danced as they journeyed through the years of memorable songs that evoked laughter and tears.</p><p><strong>Sun, surf, sand</strong></p><p>Songs of sun, surf and sand that tell of California Girls and hot cars and feature amazing harmonies and innovative sounds filled the Kirby Center.</p><p>Love and Johnston used videos to feature the boys in the band over the years. They even had a recording of Carl Wilson singing &#8220;God Only Knows,&#8221; as Love, Johnston and the band sang and played along. It sent chills up and down your spine.</p><p>They did the same with Dennis Wilson and &#8220;Do You Wanna Dance.&#8221;</p><p>The fans in the Kirby seats got a real dose of The Beach Boys and their iconic songs. They played all the hits and managed to include some fabulous hits by other artists to give the audience a sampling of the great music of the sixties.</p><p>This was a night to remember.</p><p>From the beginning, when they sang &#8220;Little Honda,&#8221; you knew it was going to be a memorable night:</p><p><em>&#8220;I&#8217;m gonna wake you up early cause I&#8217;m gonna take a ride with you.</em></p><p><em>We&#8217;re goin&#8217; down to the Honda shop, I&#8217;ll tell you what we&#8217;re gonna do.</em></p><p><em>Put on a ragged sweatshirt, I&#8217;ll take you anywhere you want me to.&#8221;</em></p><p><em>And then that driving chorus:</em></p><p><em>&#8220;First gear, it&#8217;s all right</em></p><p><em>Second gear, I&#8217;ll lean right</em></p><p><em>Third gear, hang on tight</em></p><p><em>Faster, it&#8217;s all right.&#8221;</em></p><p>From there, the songs were one after another &#8212; &#8220;Darlin,&#8221; &#8220;Surfin&#8217; Safari,&#8221; &#8220;Surfer Girl,&#8221; &#8220;When I Grow Up To Be a Man,&#8221; &#8220;Don&#8217;t Worry Baby,&#8221; &#8220;Little Deuce Coupe,&#8221; &#8220;409,&#8221; &#8220;Shut Down,&#8221; &#8220;I Get Around, &#8220;Sloop John B,&#8221; &#8220;Wouldn&#8217;t It Be Nice,&#8221; &#8220;Be True to Your School,&#8221; &#8220;Warmth of the Sun,&#8221; &#8220;Good Vibrations,&#8221; Help Me Rhonda,&#8221; &#8220;Barbara Ann,&#8221; Surfin&#8217; USA,&#8221; Kokomo&#8221; and &#8220;Fun, Fun, Fun.&#8221;</p><p>And they played more. It was an exhausting performance, not just for the band, but for the audience as well.</p><p>Kirby crowds can be a bit reluctant to let their hair down, but with Johnston leading the way, by encouraging everybody to get on their feet and enjoy, it happened.</p><p>After all, everyone at the concert had the opportunity to not just listen and dance to The Beach Boys, they could actually sing along to those songs with the real band. It doesn&#8217;t get much better than that.</p><p><strong>Missing Boys</strong></p><p>Wouldn&#8217;t it have been nice to have Brian Wilson and Al Jardine on the stage? Sure. And it is sad to see and hear those songs without Carl and Dennis Wilson joining in.</p><p>Yes those three Wilson brothers &#8212; Brian, Carl and Dennis &#8212; and their first cousin, Mike Love, and friend, Al Jardine, were the original Beach Boys. But nothing lasts forever, as Love poignantly told.</p><p>Love talked about his friendship with Beatle George Harrison and the fact that they share the astrological sign Pisces. Love dedicated a song to Harrison after the former Beatle died in 2001, called &#8220;Pisces Brothers.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Music and memories are all that last,&#8221; the lyrics go. &#8220;Though your earthly form is gone, your songs go on and on.&#8221;</p><p>Those words tell it all. People come and go, but those memories and that music last.</p><p>And for the crowd at the Kirby Center, all their memories came rushing back in song after Beach Boys&#8217; song. It brought back those days when, as Love said, grandmothers were meeting grandfathers, mothers were meeting fathers and kids were dancing to those surfing songs.</p><p>As the video played behind the band and we got to see once again those fresh-faced brothers, their cousin and their friend in happier times, we smiled as we listened and sang and danced &#8212; again.</p><p>And for one great night, we all had &#8220;Fun, Fun, Fun.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Columnshot-1-6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_beachboys11.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Beach Boys performed at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts Sunday night in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_beachboys11.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Beach Boys performed at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts Sunday night in Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_beachboys41.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Bruce Johnston, John Cowsill and Mike Love perform with The Beach Boys Sunday night at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_beachboys41.jpg</photo2><caption2>Bruce Johnston, John Cowsill and Mike Love perform with The Beach Boys Sunday night at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_beachboys51.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Beach Boys perform at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts Sunday night in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_beachboys51.jpg</photo3><caption3>The Beach Boys perform at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts Sunday night in Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Beach Boys’ surfin’ music catches big wave in Wilkes-Barre