Concert Review: "A Postcard from California" Al Jardine of the Beach Boys at the Dakota Jazz Club

Al Jardine on stage at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, February 13, 2019. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

My signed copy of Al Jardine's 2010 album A Postcard from California. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Tonight I saw a great concert: Al Jardine, one of the founding members of the Beach Boys, performed at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. Jardine’s show is titled “A Postcard from California,” after his 2010 solo album, and in it he sings songs and shares stories from his remarkable career. The Beach Boys have been one of my favorite groups since I was a little kid. One of my favorite childhood memories is seeing the Beach Boys at the Minnesota State Fair sometime in the late 1980’s-early 1990’s. I still love their music, and it touches an emotional chord in me. 

Jardine started the show by playing standup bass and singing the Beach Boys’ very first song, “Surfin’”. I didn’t realize that he was the group’s first bassist, and it was only when he left the group for about a year, from 1962-3, that Brian Wilson started playing the bass. Jardine was backed by his son Matt Jardine on percussion and vocals, and Jeff Alan Ross on keyboards and guitar. Matt handled the falsetto vocals, and did a tremendous job, especially on “God Only Knows” and “Surf’s Up.” I’ve seen Jeff Alan Ross before, as he has also played a similar role in Peter Asher’s live retrospective shows. It was pretty amazing that three guys were able to do such an excellent job recreating the Beach Boys’ sound live. 

The whole concert was just so joyful—it’s very clear that Al Jardine is having a great time singing these songs. His voice sounds great, and he did a great job singing a lot of songs that he didn’t originally have the lead vocal on. Jardine’s most famous lead vocal with the Beach Boys is “Help Me, Rhonda,” which was the last song of the evening. Jardine sang several of the group’s most famous songs, like “Surfer Girl,” “Don’t Worry, Baby,” “California Girls,” and “Good Vibrations.” He also shared the story of how he brought the folk song “Sloop John B” to Brian Wilson’s attention, and how the song was re-arranged to fit the Beach Boys’ style. Jardine brought out a rarity as well, in the form of the song “Vegetables,” one version of which featured Paul McCartney eating carrots. The excellent harmony that the Jardines and Ross brought to the song made it an unusual highlight of the concert. 

“A Postcard from California” has a loose, easygoing feel, it’s like “The Beach Boys: Unplugged.” Hearing these iconic songs in such an intimate venue, and in more stripped down arrangements, just reinforced my belief that the beauty and the power of these songs remains undimmed, even more than fifty years after they were first written. 

After the show, Al came out to sign autographs and chat with fans. He seems like a really nice guy, warm and outgoing and quite funny. For me, it was really awesome to meet a Beach Boy. If you’re a fan of the Beach Boys, check out Al’s show if you get the chance, it’s very special.