ST. GEORGE — The Beach Boys are coming to Tuacahn next week for two nights of fun, fun, fun. Led by co-founder Mike Love, the band will roll into Ivins Wednesday to remind Utahns that better days are yet to come.
“We always have a special connection with Utah,” Love said, remembering a song the band used to play called “Salt Lake City.”
The song was played on the radio station and the band still plays it every time they come to Utah, which has created a special relationship with the state, Love said.
“I’m just reminiscing about some of the times we’ve had; it’s great,” he said. “We sometimes do that song and it’s fun. We don’t do it when we’re anywhere else, but when we get to Utah, yes.”
When the band played at Tuacahn in 2014, Love called it “an absolute favorite” spot. The band always looks forward to coming to Ivins and spending time in the area before the show, he said.
“Geographically, it looks so beautiful, the red rocks there, and it’s a beautiful spot,” he said. “There’s a little resort attached to the place where we stay, so we come up the night before, get settled, have dinner, just enjoy ourselves and then Thursday we go over and do a nice soundcheck rehearsal.”
In addition to some of the band’s classic songs, Love will also perform “This Too Shall Pass,” a song meant to inspire positivity and giving back in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The song, released on May 1, was accompanied by a music video produced by John Stamos, who played drums in the video. Love is donating all proceeds from the song and video to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund.
“A lot of people are having big problems these days with all the unemployment stuff, so we’re hoping that this lifts the spirits and maybe even donates some money,” Love said. “Food is one of the most essential things, and food banks all across America are rising to that challenge, and if we could help, that would be fantastic.”
Last weekend, Love was joined by Stamos and Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray for two drive-in concerts in California where they performed “This Too Shall Pass.” In addition to playing the drums in the video and concerts, Stamos also edited the entire video together from nine separate videos and recordings sent to him by each member of the band. All the musicians in the video recorded their parts from home and then passed it onto the next member. Love said it was a very unique way of recording a song and laughed when he compared it to a normal session in the studio.
“I’m really proud of Mike for writing this song,” Stamos said in a news release. “He insisted on doing something original and then he started singing ‘This Too Shall Pass.’ I thought it was really special. At 79 years old, he could be on a boat cutting his royalty checks on the way to Kokomo, but not Mike. He continues to challenge himself and care deeply about the world and the people in it. That’s why it was so important for him to do something new and say something hopeful.”
Love wrote the song in April after the band’s tour dates were canceled due to the pandemic. Although the spring and summer were disappointing and challenging for Love, he said the fact that he was able to spend more quality time with his wife was a silver lining, according to the news release.
While in quarantine in his home in Lake Tahoe, California, Love connected with family and friends over video calls and practiced meditation twice a day to reduce anxiety and help him endure life’s trials and tribulations. Love hopes that “This Too Shall Pass” will serve a similar purpose for fans.
“It’s not the end of life,” Love said. “It’s a bump in the road, that’s for sure, but as the saying goes, this too shall pass. I believe the best is yet to come and we’ll get back to having fun, fun, fun in the sun.”
Tickets are still on sale for The Beach Boys’ concerts at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 and 6 at the Tuacahn Center For the Arts. Tickets start at $45 and there is more availability on Thursday night than Friday night. Tuachan has enhanced their health and safety protocols, and more info can be found here.
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