Al Jardine’s surprise Cerritos show became a Beach Boys reunion with a second story unfolding 2,000 miles away

Al Jardine’s concert at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts turned into far more than a routine stop on the calendar. With Bruce Johnston and David Marks joining him, plus unannounced appearances from Carnie Wilson, Marilyn Wilson and Dean Torrence, the night became a compact Beach Boys gathering with a few genuine rarities built in. What made it even more striking was the contrast. As Jardine was celebrating old songs and old friends in California, Mike Love was onstage in Nashville in a performance that prompted Jardine to speak openly about his former bandmate’s health.

Jardine said the Cerritos date had been in the works for about six months, but the result still felt unusually charged. He described it as a reunion of sorts, with what he called strong, positive energy, and said Johnston, Marks and Torrence all joined him for the encore. Jardine later discussed the night in the clip below.

One reason the evening stood out was simply the rarity of the combination. It marked Jardine’s first time sharing a stage with Johnston in well over a decade. For fans, it also meant seeing David Marks back in the mix on early Beach Boys material he helped record as a teenager, including “Surfin’ Safari” and “Little Deuce Coupe.”

A deep cut finally made it to the stage

Cerritos also gave Jardine a chance to unveil a song he had wanted to spotlight. He said the Los Angeles area setting made it the right place to perform “It’s a Beautiful Day,” a 1979 Beach Boys deep cut, for the first time in concert.

Jardine described the track as a tribute to Los Angeles and said it came from sessions that produced an outtake featuring Carl Wilson singing the refrain. He recalled loving Carl’s part in particular, and said the song carries an open, welcoming feel. By his account, the audience responded well, and he said his band had embraced it too.

Another notable moment involved Marilyn Wilson. Jardine said she sang “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together,” a favorite from Beach Boys Love You. According to him, this was only the second time she had performed the song since recording the original vocal in 1977.

Old bandmates, old parts, and a few surprises

Jardine said he and Johnston had been back in touch for a while, talking after Johnston stopped touring with Love. He said they had not spoken at all for a period before that, and added that he had felt bad for Johnston when he was pushed out of Love’s band.

Even with the renewed contact, Johnston arrived with limits. Jardine said Johnston had agreed to appear but only wanted to do two songs, and stayed firm on that point when Jardine suggested he remain onstage for some Pet Sounds material that Johnston had originally played on. In the end, Johnston still came back for the encore, which helped give the closing stretch of the show its reunion flavor.

Jardine sounded especially delighted by Marks. He said Marks ended up carrying a major part of the night, taking Mike Love’s lead parts on a couple of songs while Jardine backed him up. Jardine said Marks had not sung for months and had been away from the stage for a long stretch, which made the performance all the more surprising to him. He said Marks was overwhelmed by the response and told him it had been the best night of his life.

Torrence supplied another piece of history. Jardine said he handled the falsetto on “Barbara Ann” at Jardine’s microphone, and pointed out that Torrence had double-tracked Brian on the original recording. Jardine also praised Marilyn Wilson’s performance and said everyone onstage came with serious credentials.

While Cerritos celebrated the past, Mike Love raised new questions

The concert’s warm mood was set against a very different Beach Boys related scene happening almost simultaneously. About 2,000 miles away, Love was performing at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Jardine said he is not in regular contact with Love and acknowledged that they have had disagreements over the years, but he still found it painful to see his former bandmate in that condition from afar.

Love has played more than 7,000 concerts across 65 years, and the Nashville date could end up being his final public performance. Jardine connected some of that concern to Johnston’s departure from Love’s road band. He said Johnston told him it was simply time to go, and that he could see things going south.

Jardine said he assumes Love’s health was part of what Johnston noticed, reasoning that after 65 years with someone, changes would be hard to miss. At the same time, he did not present that as the only explanation, saying Johnston generally no longer wanted to be part of it.

That left the Cerritos show carrying two meanings at once. Onstage, it was a lively, affectionate night built around old collaborators, unexpected guests and one long-shelved song finally getting its chance. Off to the side, it also felt like a reminder that the Beach Boys story is still changing, even when the music sounds comfortingly familiar.