ABC RadioMike Love celebrated the recent release of his holiday album, Reason for the Season, at an invite-only Beach Boys mini concert held Tuesday night at LAVO restaurant in New York City. Love and his band were joined by a number a special guests during their seven-song set, including his daughter, Ambha, his son Brian, and the sibling pop group Hanson, all of whom lend their voices to tracks on the record.
The intimate show kicked off with a rendition of the album’s title track, an original song with a boogie-woogie feel that offers a reminder about the origins of Christmas. That was followed by another new original tune from the album, Must Be Christmas.
Love shared a childhood memory about how his family would gather in their living room during the holidays to sing Christmas carols together. The band then kicked into a version of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with Ambha, Brian and another of Mike’s sons, current Beach Boys guitarist Christian Love, all joining in on vocals.
The spotlight then fell on Ambha, who belted out a rendition of “O Holy Night.”
To close the concert, Mike invited Hanson onstage. Love and the three brothers — Taylor, Zac and Isaac — recreated their collaborative rendition of the 2017 Hanson holiday song “Finally It’s Christmas” that appears on Reason for the Season. Next up was a version of The Beach Boys’ Christmas classic “Little St. Nick,” which Mike re-recorded for his new album.
To wrap things up, Mike, the band and Hanson got the crowd dancing with a performance of the 1964 Beach Boys smash “Fun, Fun, Fun.”
The Beach Boys launch a series of holiday concerts, dubbed the Reason for the Season Christmas Tour, on Thursday, November 29, in Boston.
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