That Beach Boys reunion may not be surfin’ much longer: Amidst happy talk of all the old guys getting along and things not being as grim as they seemed when the group performed at the Grammys earlier this year comes some ominous signs of internal strife.
Frontman Mike Love—who has toured under the Beach Boys name since licensing it in 1998—has scheduled South American dates of his own under, you guessed it, the name “Beach Boys.” Unfortunately, all of this was news to Brian Wilson, who told Rolling Stone that he “wasn’t aware” of Love’s intent to streamline.
Love’s dates are supposed to be happening this October, though details are still a little hazy. Love was confirmed to play Oct. 6 at the sadly named Nutty Jerry’s in Winnie, Texas, but the self-described "Southeast Texas' Largest Entertainment Complex" cancelled the show, saying it wasn’t aware that what it had booked wasn’t the current line-up playing arenas and amphitheaters all over the world. “As a result,” a statement says, “Nutty Jerry’s did not feel that we could advertise the show as the ‘original’ Beach Boys.”
In a recent interview with Billboard, Love called the current Beach Boys reunion tour “ridiculously expensive and intense.” Indeed, the 50th-anniversary tour reportedly took three major booking agencies to coordinate, while the stage show accommodates both Wilson and Love’s backing bands.
Nevertheless, even though Wilson told Rolling Stone he was surprised Love was striking out on his own, he said there’s still talk of doing more dates, as well as going back into the studio to record a new record, which he hopes would be “a bit harder and faster.” The band’s new album, That’s Why God Made The Radio, debuted at No. 3 earlier this month.