Wanna feel old, Boise? (Or young?) Sing along at these two major summer concerts
Start mainlining Centrum Silver, Boise. You’re gonna need some extra spring in your step this summer.
Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater just announced two new outdoor concerts geared for, well, experienced audiences. Packed with familiar, last-century hits, they might make you feel nostalgic. Possibly a little old. (Or a lot.)
Either way, they promise to challenge Gen-Xers’ and baby boomers’ party stamina under the Gem State’s sweat-inducing August skies.
Straight out of the MTV moon landing era, Men at Work will headline a concert on Thursday, Aug. 13. The Australian group is bringing along Toad the Wet Sprocket and Shonen Knife to loosen up the crowd’s head-bobbing muscles.
Two weeks later? “Saluting 60 years of ‘Pet Sounds,’” The Beach Boys will perform Thursday, Aug. 27. Thankfully, no opening act is scheduled — well, yet. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. That’s already past bedtime!
(That was a joke, Gramps. Smile. There will be lots of happy faces at these concerts.)
Formed in Melbourne in 1979, Men at Work had a relatively brief heyday. (Or is that Colin Hay-day?) After unleashing pop-rock smashes such as “Down Under” “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Overkill,” the group disbanded in 1986. Hay, the band’s singer-guitarist, revived the band name years later. Now 72, he is Men at Work’s only original member.
Comparative youngsters Toad the Wet Sprocket peaked commercially in the 1990s. Fans will remember melodic alternative-rock singles such as “Walk on the Ocean,” “All I Want,” and “Fall Down.”
The Beach Boys, as everyone knows, are a massively influential, vocal-harmony-driven act credited with pioneering the “California sound” in the 1960s. As Rock and Roll Hall of Fame royalty, they have sold more than 100 million records globally.
“With more than five decades of touring under their belts, The Beach Boys have performed more concerts than any major rock band in history,” according to a press release. The group’s current personnel includes two co-founding members: singer Mike Love, 84, and guitarist-singer Al Jardine, 83.
Tickets to Men at Work become available to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday for $53-$153 through fordidahocenter.com.
Beach Boys tickets? Same deal, except the price range is 53-$130.