Beach Boys bring sunny sound to Freeborn County

Albert Lea got a taste of Kokomo Wednesday night.

The Beach Boys entertained a sold-out grandstand at the Freeborn County Fair with classics to which audience members could sing and dance.

The group started out with a slew of upbeat hits including “Surfin’ Safari” around 8:30 p.m. and then joked with the crowd, saying they needed an intermission and then a nap, which is what you get with a “used rock group.”

Another way to say it is they took it fast, then they took it slow.

They continued with hit songs like “Surfer Girl,” “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Little Duece Coupe.”

It was one of those rare concerts where fans knew every song, or just about.

They introduced the song “Be True To Your School” by saying it was written in 1963, and that their friend John Stamos likes to remind them it’s also his birth year.

Continuing the endless stream of hits were “God Only Knows,” “Good Vibrations” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”

During the song “California Girls,” the crowd cheered during the part of the song about Midwest farmer’s daughters, and the band changed the line to “wish they all could be Minnesota girls.”

More hits kept the crowd entertained and on their feet including “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Barbara Ann” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.” During “Barbara Ann,” there was a guitar solo not often heard on the radio version of the song.

The Beach Boys came back on for an encore with “Kokomo” and “Fun, Fun, Fun” before ending the show just after 10 p.m.

The Beach Boys were formed in 1961 in California, originally with brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. They signed to Capitol Records in 1962.