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The Beach Boys to play July 4 beach concert ... again

By David J. Spatz

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jan. 24, 2008

The Beach Boys, who made history in 1983 when they drew approximately 300,000 to a twilight July 4th concert on the Atlantic City beach, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of that historic event with another Independence Day beach show here next summer, Atlantic City Weekly has learned.

Brian Cahill, a spokesman for Colony Capital's two Atlantic City casinos -- Resorts and the Hilton -- confirmed that the company has an agreement with the band to perform on the beach in front of one of the two properties. He wouldn't say which casino would host the concert.

However, given the narrow beach in front of Resorts -- and the fact there will be a high tide at 9:30pm -- the Hilton would be the more logical location.

"The concert will be part of a large-scale Fourth of July celebration," Cahill said. "We look forward to working with the city of Atlantic City to create a truly memorable event, one that will put Atlantic City's Fourth of July celebration on a par with major cities like Philadelphia and New York."

The concert, he added, will further enhance Atlantic City's growing reputation as more of a destination resort than just another gaming town. More details about the concert and other holiday events will be announced later, he said.

The 1983 show was a hastily arranged booking with political overtones. The Beach Boys had been scheduled to perform a Fourth of July concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where they had performed the three previous years.

But several weeks before the show, then-U.S. Interior Secretary James G. Watt abruptly cancelled the gig. He said the band attracted an "undesirable element," referring to some fans that smoked pot. Entertainer Wayne Newton was booked to replace the group known as "America's Band."

Caesars Atlantic City, seeing a potential publicity bonanza for both itself and the city, quickly stepped in and signed the band. Within a couple of weeks, it arranged to construct a massive stage on the beach on the east side of the former Million Dollar Pier, which was then known as the Ocean One shopping mall and is now The Pier at Caesars.

On a picture-perfect night, with temperatures in the upper 70s and an armada of private and charter boats anchored just beyond the surf line, more than 300,000 people crammed every inch of sand between Arkansas and Tennessee avenues to watch the Beach Boys' two-hour concert. The show attracted worldwide media coverage.

The physical setup for the concert also created some local folklore. Legend has it many of the boards used to construct the stage were the same planks used on the stage of the Woodstock music festival in 1969.

The show also marked the last July 4 concert the Beach Boys would play with its original lineup (minus Brian Wilson, who hasn't toured with the band since 1965). In December 1983, drummer Dennis Wilson drowned in a California marina.

This year's concert will only feature one original Beach Boy -- lead singer Mike Love. The only other member of the group with ties to the 1960s is keyboardist Bruce Johnston, who joined in 1965 as a replacement for guitarist Glen Campbell. Founding member Al Jardine left the band in the mid-1990s following a dispute with Love.

Throughout the years, July 4 has become a premium payday for the Beach Boys. The band commands a hefty price to perform on the holiday, and on several occasions has worked two concerts in different cities.

In 1985, the Beach Boys played an afternoon concert for one million people in Philadelphia and finished the day with a second show for 750,000 people on the National Mall in Washington. One year earlier, President Reagan and his wife Nancy had personally welcomed the band back to Washington.

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