Surprise! Surprise! It was raining in Manchester! Sheena, my wife, managed to get time off work and travelled down from Aberdeen by train to meet up with me. We had a great day in the city after the previous evening's nightmare car trip from Sheffield. I decided to go round the back of the G-MEX car park to wait and see if the boys would come in early round about 4:30 PM. I stayed there until about 6:45 PM and watched support acts Jenny Jones and Wayne Fontana come in, but no Beach Boys.
I met up with Sheena, went in and had a drink inside. We also met up with my BB pal Michael Donnelly from Shotts in Lanarkshire, who at that time was 20 years old. Michael had managed to obtain Carl Wilson's guitar plectrum at a previous concert in Glasgow. Michael then told me he met Bruce Johnston earlier as he came in - THE FRONT DOOR - of the G-MEX and got his autograph. So much for me waiting round the back at stage doors.
We didn't see Wayne Fontana, but watched Jenny Jones, who was excellent. But we were here to see the Beach Boys. The crowd were on their feet as soon as the band appeared and before they had even struck a note.
Only one half of the arena was used and I felt that the acoustics of the G-MEX left a lot to be desired. The venue had too much echo although the height of the ceiling really enhanced the effects of the light show. I felt that my seat on a high side banking to the right of the stage was not conducive to the wrap around nature of the Beach Boys' "Sound". Never mind, the Beach Boys were here and so was I.
Even though most of the rear section facing the stage was vacant, there was still a good crowd. They were a lively audience and their reaction spurred on the band who really enjoyed themselves. You could feel they were not just going through the motions. Like Sheffield, the crowd also gave a great reception to Matt Jardine as he turned in another fine performance singing Hawaii and Warmth Of The Sun again. I recall saying to Michael Donnelly that I thought Matt was after Brian's job and his reply was "He's got Brian's job!"
The song list was the same as the previous show in Sheffield and was not changed on the tour. The crowd overall were more enthusiastic than Sheffield. Was it a case of Yorkshire being more reserved? Andyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. We said goodbye to Michael and, I was to find out later, he got down to the stage and got another of Carl's plectrums, from Carl himself no less. He then went outside, found their hotel and met Bruce again, Mike Love and if memory serves me well Alan Jardine (if I'm wrong Michael please correct me). Some of us have it Michael, I obviously don't!
Anyway, we spent the night again in Manchester and I said my farewells to Sheena who had to go back North to work. Now it was on to the NEC.
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Alex McCambley
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