"It's great to be here," Mike Love says to the chilly crowd. "But when you started out in 1961, it's great to be anywhere." Only two of the eight current band members - Love (Brian Wilson's cousin) and Bruce Johnston - started out in the early 1960s. Some of the younger additions weren't even born then. Subtle markers pointed to the generation gap. The originals sported baseball caps, the younger men, fine heads of hair. Much of the time, the men without hats did the singing.
The crowd wasn't chilly just because it was an open-air gig, but because The Beach Boys were supporting Status Quo. "Who's idea was this?", growled a tattoo- sporting, leather-clad man behind me. All credit to the band that by the end of the gig even he was up on his feet, bopping to Get Around. So was almost everyone else.
The hour-long set was an impressive advert for the new Very Best Of compilation - if the music can get old rockers up dancing, imagine how it might cheer those already well-disposed to the Beach Boys' summery sound. Wouldn't It Be Nice, played big and anthemic, was the first to unite the crowd into party mood. It was followed by Good Vibrations, which still sounded psychedelic and life-affirming. Johnston, who hitherto had been dancing like a rheumatic uncle at a family gathering, did some trancey swirls with his hands for this one.
Even those who think bands should quit while they're ahead melt before the Beach Boys live. It's partly that sound, but also the fact that the new line-up is musically strong. Adrian Baker ("the only man who can sing as high as Brian Wilson) gives us a creditable Don't Worry Baby; Chris Farmer, "musical director", follows with an equally convincing Then I Kissed Her.
In a flourish of encores, the band bring on some new, even younger members, grandchildren maybe. As a young teenage beach boy belts out the songs with a tambourine, you realise they may run and run, outlasting us all. Fun, fun, fun.
The Beach Boys play Hyde Park, London W1 (020-7734 8932), tomorrow.
