Andy Greene
View all posts by Andy Greene November 12, 2026 Add us as a Google Preferred Source
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John Stamos performs with The Beach Boys during Riot Fest at Douglass Park on September 20, 2025 in Chicago Jason Squires/WireImage The Beach Boys cancelled the vast majority of their concerts over the past few months as Mike Love battles a medical ailment that left him gaunt and unable to stand or sing at their last few shows. But Disney World’s Eat to the Beat concert series at Epcot Center kept the booking, though the billing changed from “the Beach Boys” to “John Stamos and the California Sound,” who are essentially the Beach Boys touring band, including longtime special guest John Stamos, without any actual members of the Beach Boys. (In the 65-year history of the Beach Boys as a touring act, and the well over 7,000 shows they’ve played, nothing like this has ever happened.)
Every act that plays Epcot Center performs truncated sets for park guests that begin at 5:30 pm, 6:45 pm, and 8:00 pm. That gave John Stamos and the California Sound time to only play nine songs over 30 minutes at each show, but they made the most of it, and even paused so Stamos could soak in the moment and thank the fans.
“I am so filled with so much gratitude,” he told the crowd. “Thank you so much for showing up tonight. God bless you all. If you would have told me when I was a kid, standing in line for Space Mountain, more zits than friends, I was about 13 years old, wearing my dad’s Members Only jacket, trying to pick up girls, failing miserably, that one day I’d be on this stage playing at Eat to the Beat at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot, I just wouldn’t have believed it.”
“This place means so much to me,” he continued. “We shot the video for ‘Kokomo’ at the Grand Floridian [resort] here, 1988. We shot a couple episodes of Full House at the Magic Kingdom, which was a special thing…Before we go any further, we want to send some love to our dear friend Mike Love. He can’t be with us tonight, but we’re sending him lots of love and good vibes from Florida tonight. He’d be so proud. I can’t think of a better way to send him love than with a little California Sound.”
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The set included just four Beach Boys songs: “California Girls,” “Kokomo,” “Forever,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.” Stamos and the group filled it out with Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” Mitch Ryder’s “Devil With the Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly,” Chan Romero’s “Hippy Hippy Shake,” the Surfaris’ “Wipe Out” and “Les Poissons” from The Little Mermaid. On the latter tune, Stamos put on a chef’s hat and delivered it in as character as Chef Louis from the 1989 animated film, complete with a French accent.
