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.

Concert Review: Allen Toussaint

Last night I saw Allen Toussaint in concert at the Dakota jazz club in downtown Minneapolis. It was a terrific show. I have to confess, my knowledge of Allen Toussaint's music is not that large, but he's someone that keeps cropping up. In the last couple of years, I've listened to Harry Connick cover "Workin' in a Coalmine," Paul McCartney's "Venus and Mars," The Band's live album "Rock of Ages," and Allen Toussaint's album with Elvis Costello, "The River in Reverse." At some point, I realized how much this guy has done. He wrote "Workin' in a Coalmine," played piano on "Venus and Mars," and did the horn arrangements for "Rock of Ages," among many other accomplishments. (Like writing "Southern Nights," one of my Mom's all-time favorite songs.) So when I heard he was coming to the Dakota I thought, I should check this guy out.

Toussaint played for a hour and a half with his amazing backup band. His guitar player was amazing, as was his tenor saxophonist, "Breeze." Breeze also played a mean clarinet. Toussaint is an amazing piano player, and a great singer as well. To hear him play his own songs was a treat, and he also played some songs from his latest record, "The Bright Mississippi." The band's version of "St. James Infirmary" brought the house down. Toussaint can play in pretty much any style, from ballads to rag-time and stride to rock-like funk. He also slipped in a couple of songs by other people, singing "Mama, You Been On My Mind," by Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon's "American Tune." It was a great show, it really felt like Allen could have stayed and played all night, but unfortunately, he didn't. He was clearly enjoying playing, and it's always fun to see people who look like they love what they are doing. Toussaint was dressed impeccably, as he is in every picture I've ever seen of him, wearing a beige suit with a check pattern, a striped dress shirt with a paisley collar, a green tie, and matching green handkerchief. Snazzy. The Dakota is one of the best places to see musicians, it's small and intimate, and the acoustics are great. Sadly, it was only about half full for the 9:30 show last night. If you ever get the chance to see this living legend in person, go see him, he puts on a terrific show!