The Beach Boys? Really? Yep, really.




John Stamos (front left) with Mike Love (right) of The Beach Boys
Thanks to Debbie Butcher England for the great pic.

  Just a quick spur-of-the-moment addition to the blog here.  We were visiting our families in this weekend in Chattanooga, and Ashlee's family let us borrow two entry pins for the annual Riverbend Festival in downtown Chattanooga.  We weren't real enthused about the prospect of it and just figured it would be something to do to pass the time.  It was also a chance for some good exercise as we walked from Ashlee's mom's house way up on a hill in North Chattanooga to downtown and back.  We scheduled to meet up with our friends, Patrick and Michelle, at the festival.  They had commandeered some blanket space on a hill to the left side of the main stage which sits on a barge out on the Tennessee River.  We were actually blocked from a direct stage view and would have to view the performance via a big screen projection nearby.  We didn't really care and weren't planning on staying long anyway since it was The Beach Boys who would be performing and we figured it would be kind of a snooze.

Well, that changed pretty quickly for a couple of reasons.. First, along with some of the original band who are definitely showing their age, they have sprinkled in some really good younger musicians in the band on lead guitar and drums/vocals.  The original guys still have their signature melody in terms of vocals and sounded pretty darn good for their age (the band's been around an incredible 50 years).  Secondly, the band added some star power with John Stamos (of Full House and Glee fame) playing rhythm guitar on several songs, drums on several others songs and even sang one.  He's been playing with them off and on since the mid-80's and is quite a talented musician (and a real dream to look at sweating on the stage according to Ashlee, Michelle and every other woman in attendance).  They played pretty much non-stop for over 2 hours and besides their string of well-known hits, they  also included some other great songs of their era including the Beatles' "Back in the USSR" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones.  It also helped that it was a nice, cool evening on the river with reasonable humidity.   Thanks to Ashlee's family for the entry pins, to Patrick and Michelle for the company and to Debbie Butcher England for the picture steal.

Despite all our planning and scheduled activities, it's the unexpected surprises that make some of the best memories and best times.