The Beach Boys, 10cc – The Piece Hall, Halifax: Live Review

By Mike Ainscoe on 27th June 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

An evening saturated with hits from The Beach Boys and 10cc – and the sun is out!

All photography by Sarah Fisher (@sarahinthepit). You can find more of her photography here.

It’s the start of the 2026 England World Cup campaign and in the words of The Sex Pistols (PSA – appearing at The Piece Hall on 11th July) “we don’t care!” We have two bands (or brands? but that’s another question) who have earned their places in the grand scheme of music history, representing Strawberry Studios, Stockport and Hawthorne, California.

Not that we’re caught in the crossfire of a hit-filled face-off in an X Factor style compo, but the selection of what might be termed bangers on show tonight from 10cc and The Beach Boys is quite overwhelming.

Given their longevity, both bands are unsurprisingly sparse on original members. Mike Love (and to an extent, Bruce Johnston) and Graham Gouldman (and to an extent Ric Fenn) both stand proud front and centre and while the naysayers might say nay, the crux of the matter is that it’s about the songs.

10CC

It’s not long since we watched 10cc in Manchester and as 7pm strikes we’re back on Wall Street (where the index is low). The obligatory shades donned – almost necessary at Piece Hall – and a chance to top up the tans during their hour in the sun, Rick Fenn and Iain Hornall, not for the first time in a nice photo opp, join le Grande Fromage, Graham Gouldman MBE in a three pronged line and ease into Wall Street.

What’s obvious even within the first few minutes, given the stick that Elvis Costello has recently had for his live performances – is how well arranged the songs and vocals are. Switching between taking leads and hamronising, the four voices are totally in sync. The sound is spot on as Gouldman and particularly Hornall prove pretty on point. They get a chance to show their harmony chops in a proper-gorge I’m Mandy Fly Me (and co-ordinate a fade out ending) and when they do Donna unaccompanied in the the encore huddled around a single mic. And in the truncated set, in the absence of Feel The Benefit (too long and outside the ‘hits’ profile) Mandy might be the ‘proggiest’ song on show with its multiple sections.

NEEDING NO INTRO

Gouldman is at pains to regularly acknowledge the band where Keith Hayman plays the multi-instrumentalist card to a tee, oft stepping out front from his keyboard rig to don a bass or electric guitar while singing bvs and Ben Stone sticks to the drums. Former 10cc-ers are also namechecked as he introduces those classic songs from the original four man line up. It’s a ‘it’s not all about me’ humbleness that endears. He should also pay tribute to the side stage sign language interpreter who seems to be having great fun – air guitar solos and the assorted foodstuffs in Life Is A Minestrone a specialty.

When Gouldman says “this song needs no introduction,” before The Things We Do For Love, it occurs that the same applies for virtually the whole set. Only the addition of tongue in cheek (as are many) The Worst Band In The World might class as an outlier. And aside from the classic songwriting, the band do get a chance to rock out a little. The final of Rubber bullets is extended to include some solo showcasing and goofing around the keyboards while Silly Love gives sees a quartet of three guitars and a bass going full on Status Quo. Impossible not to enjoy – great fun.

THE BEACH BOYS

“Of course the sun came out! It’s a Beach Boys concert!” said 10cc’s Iain Hornall, wallowing earlier in Halifax’s early evening light.

Like 10cc, The Beach Boys have a history, a legacy, only considerably longer and slightly more complex. Scratch the surface and there’s a formidable soap opera of comings and goings, to-ings and fro-ings and don you mind if I dos. Not to mention legal wrangling. However, that’s another country – the one that’s played out in a few moments in visuals and soundbites on the large video screen as the band take up their places. It’s a brief reminder of the phenomenon of The Beach Boys and their place in American musical history and culture. And The Simpsons.

‘America’s Band’ declares the backs drop, reminding us too of 250 years of the (independent) USA and 60 years of Pet Sounds. Do the math – just about a quarter of the countries ‘existence’. We’ll park that thought here.

Like Gouldman before him, sole Beach Boy Mike Love takes centre stage amongst his colleagues, looking positively (maybe humbly) underdressed; opting to disregard the expected Cali-surfguy wear for a more informal branded hoodie and cap. For 85 and from our vantage point, he looks in good shape. He’s understandably allowed to take the odd break on his stool as they challenge Paul Weller with a 31 song set that plays out packed with surfers, waves, sun, surfin’, beaches, cars, California and general fun, fun, fun.

DO IT AGAIN

Grooving into and through Do It Again, the eight piece kick start the constant cycle that’s a veritable jukebox of songs that rarely reach beyond the three minute mark – short, sharp and very sweet. Exactly what we’ve come for. If Mike’s polish is a little worn, and who at 85 or even less can say that they shine as brightly as they did in their heyday, they make up with a perfromance so polished that as the sun sets, the stage glows and not just from the stage lights of the back projection. And with a drummer who’s a graduate of the same drum school as Keith Moon and Animal from The Muppets, watching the spectacle adds to the soundtrack.

Oh yes, and those sounds. Evry other one a banger and those inbetween still count as ones you recognise, yet set against California Girls, Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda and Sloop John B…the list goes on, Surfin’ Safari, Good To My Baby and little Deuce Coupe are hardly fillers. There are covers too as takes on tunes by The Mamas & The Papas and The Ramones (Rockaway Beach a rare balls out blast of rock and roll) fit like a glove.

ALL ABOUT THE SONGS

With no opportunity for a breather lest a handful of songs might get missed, the queues are non-existant, particularly as a tribute to Brian Wilson follows a little Pet Sounds sequence. One that raises the old debate whether God Only Knows might be the best song ever written – even the pragmatic Graham Gouldman would be jealous. The finale leads into the serious hits that class in Graham Gouldman’s ‘need no introduction’ category. Piece Hall jigs and sways in a nostalgic glow.

When all is said and done, the end product is a terrific night out again at Piece Hall. Not forgetting our mantra that seems to ever more in play, it’s all about the songs and comes the time when the music history books are written and closed, break out a Chuck Berry riff and admit it was fun, fun, fun.