The Beach Boys play Ventura drive-in show with John Stamos & Mark McGrath

On October 23rd, Ventura was blessed with a legendary performance by The Beach Boys, featuring John Stamos and Mark McGrath (of Sugar Ray), in the form of a drive-in concert. The venue was put together to accommodate social distancing, music enthusiasts and fun-seeking fans. Attendees arrived in their own personal vehicles and every automobile had its own assigned spot.

It felt sort of like a car show with an incredible soundtrack!

As the night got darker and the show slowly began, the venue put on a mini-style documentary to commemorate The Beach Boys, leading to the grand entrance of TV’s John Stamos and Mark McGrath. The two only played a couple of songs before The Beach Boys joined onstage. As the band launched into wonderful hits, such as “Barbara Ann”, “Kokomo”, “I Get Around” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” — to name a few. When those songs were performed, I looked around and saw the amazing crowd jumping around and singing along as if they were experiencing The Beach Boys back in the 60s.

Later on in the night, John Stamos came back out to play one of his most popular songs, “Forever”, from his hit television series, Full House. As the song wafted from the speakers, I was in tears because I remember growing up watching Full House; it is my all-time favorite sitcoms. Stamos stuck around to play guitar and drums with the band, doing amazing guitar solos and crazy, energetic drum solos.

The Beach Boys called Mark McGrath back out onstage so he could play a few songs. “Fly” was the first one, which made me so happy and — as a weird, but cool surprise — McGrath also did a cover of Sublime‘s popular hit “What I Got”, which totally shocked everyone at the show.

The night ended with more of The Beach Boys playing hit after hit after hit, making it an unforgettable night. Definitely catch The Beach Boys while you still can; to this day, The Beach Boys is one of my favorite shows I’ve ever been to.

Photography by Gunnar Velten

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