The Happy Together Tour leaped its time machine from the ‘60s right into the Pacific Amphitheater at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, CA, on Sunday night. However, instead of bringing you performers from the dawn of rock and roll, you got a bunch of geezers trying to transplant the venue to the ethereal summer of love. The lineup featured The Turtles with Mark Volman (Flo) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie), who haven’t been able to use their real names in association with The Turtles since a contract dispute in the ‘60s. They’ve been doing the Happy Together Tour since 1984 with varying acts from the golden era of rock. This year’s tour included the surviving Turtles, accompanied by Mark Lindsay, frontman of Paul Revere and the Raiders, as well as The Association, The Grass Roots, The Cowsills, and The Buckinghams.
Being a huge fan of oldies, I was excited to see songs I’ve been listening to my entire life performed by some semblance of the original artists. First up were The Buckinghams. Their performance was the exact opposite of “Kind of a Drag.” The two original members, Carl Giammarese (lead vocals/guitar) and Nick Fortuna (bass/vocals), stood in front of the hired hands and gave a solid performance. The Buckinghams started with a four-song set, and everyone knew all of them. Throughout the night, the jumbotron showed images from the late ‘60s and cut to vintage footage of the band performing from their heyday.
The first act set the tone for the four-song set theme. When I saw that the show started at 8 pm, I wondered how six bands would play in two to two and a half hours. When The Cowsills took the stage, I got my answer: a house band. The same musicians accompanying The Buckinghams played with The Cowsills and every act that followed, eliminating the time for breaking down and setting up between acts. The house band was accompanied by additional guitar and bass by the members of the named acts. The announcer introduced The Cowsills (the real-life inspiration for The Partridge Family), and the three performing members (Bob, Susan, and Paul) went right into their set. I’d forgotten how funny their song “Hair” was, and it was even funnier as the big screens showed vintage hair product commercials. Four songs went by quickly, and they were off the stage.
The Grass Roots (my favorite of the bands in the lineup) were next. They were the rockiest band on the ticket. The deeper voices of Mark Dawson and Dusty Hanvey, accompanied by thicker guitar licks, remind you that the music people think of as oldies and psychedelic rock were happening at the same time, and even by the same bands. They started strong, but I was slightly disappointed with how they slowed down the breakdown on “Live For Today.” It’s one of my all-time favorite songs, so it’s a personal preference, not a critique of the performance. Three bands into the show, it was apparent that the house band could have used some backing vocals. The Cowsills got by with the three of them, but both The Buckinghams and The Grass Roots, who have songs with full band backup lyrics, didn’t carry the same weight with one guy singing lead and another doing backing vocals.
The Association was next, dressed in white-on-white suits, a throwback to the early days of rock and roll when bands dressed alike. They started with “Wendy.” After the song, they explained how normally on the Happy Together Tour only three members performed (original members Jim Yester and Jules Alexander, and Del Ramos, who joined in 1972), but tonight they had Jordan Cole and Bruce Pictor accompanying them for vocals. It’s one of the perks of seeing a band play in Southern California, where so many entertainment professionals call home. Despite having five guys, they still couldn’t quite deliver the harmonies like they could fifty years ago, but they were still having fun with it, highlighting how much the show could benefit from a few additional house singers.
Mark Lindsay was next. At first, I was disappointed that The Grass Roots weren’t the second-to-last band of the night, but Lindsay, despite being in his 70s, was the most vibrant of any performer. He encouraged the house band to let loose, physically pushing them toward the stage’s edge. When he belted out “Cherokee people” in “Indian Reservation,” it was every bit as solid as in 1971. In the end, his performance stood out as the best, probably due to him playing in the prime spot on the lineup.
It wouldn’t be the Happy Together Tour without the band who sings the titular song. Flo and Eddie of The Turtles took the stage with Flo dressed as Olaf the Snowman from Frozen. The duo performed staged jokes that were so corny they made dad jokes seem cutting-edge. Finally, Eddie (Howard Kaylan) went into song, and his voice was as solid as it was on the original recordings. I’ve always loved their version of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe,” and they performed it with the same hint of anger that resonated well in the late ‘60s. For the encore, they brought every band out to do a quick medley of a verse from one of their hits, which, despite having just heard these bands earlier, was very fun. They then went into “Happy Together” with everyone on stage, but for some reason, they only did the chorus and the “bom bom bom” part with the audience. I would have liked to hear the whole song. I guess I’ll just have to imagine me and you, and you and me hearing it in its entirety.
Overall, the Happy Together Tour is a fun blast from the past that any fan of early rock and roll will truly enjoy. For the people from my parents’ generation, who relate these songs not as oldies but as the rebellious rock of their youth, having the chance to see so many hits in one night can make them feel fifty years younger. I’m still waiting for the time machine so I can catch them all at the original Woodstock.
Costa Mesa, US