Beach Boys Playing Festival At Sandpoint, The Gorge

We will certainly have no shortage of Beach Boys next week. These boys of summer may be approaching the autumn of their lives (they’re in their 50s) but they still have a touring schedule that would exhaust groups half their age. They will play the Festival at Sandpoint on Thursday, and then two days later, on July 29, will head over to The Gorge for another show.

But this is nothing compared to some of their gigs. In 1985, they played to nearly 1 million people in Philadelphia in the afternoon and then that same evening raced down to Washington, D.C., to play to 750,000. The Beach Boys have become a national institution, like baseball, except the Beach Boys never seem to go on strike.

Their stage show is designed to please the fans who grew up with them. You can be certain to hear polished versions of the songs that made them famous in the ‘60s: “Surfin’ Safari,” “Surfin’ USA,” “Shut Down” and “Surfer Girl,” among others.

And they even have a couple of ‘80s hits to throw into the mix: “Wipeout” (based on their remake with the Fat Boys) and “Kokomo.”

In fact, they have so many instantly familiar songs, they barely have to sing them at all. The audience usually takes care of that.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The Beach Boys Location and time: Festival at Sandpoint, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $32.55 general admission (reserved seats are sold out)