The philosopher Michel Foucault wrote in praise of curiosity, calling for "a readiness to find strange and singular what surrounds us; a certain relentlessness to break up our familiarities...; a fervor to grasp what is happening and what passes; a casualness in regard to the traditional hierarchies of the important and the essential."
My son serves to protect the flag. I am sorry to hear the Beach Boys feel the flag would over shadow their great performance. I have now lost respect for them and will move on to another oldie beach / pop group to listen to.
I recently purchased Brian Wilson's "That Lucky Old Sun" and I can't stop listening to it. The album is a Tour de Force spectacular, celebrating life and love in Southern California. I was surprised by the power of Brian's voice - at 65 he can still belt it out - but more impressive are the beautiful melodies he has crafted. The kind of melodies that would make even Sir Paul feel jealous. I am in awe of Mr. Wilson’s talent and salute him for the achievement that is “That Lucky Old Sun.” What a treat to hear the heart of The Beach Boys alive and beating strong. Thank you, Sir Brian.
Funny how this crap starts up from almost nowhere. I just found three other reports on The Beach Boys appearance.
None of them mention one tiny little bit of trouble with the staging. I know from the times I've seen the band, including The Washington DC Mall on the 4th of July with Ringo Starr, they had a complete stage change between them and any other act. They are allowed to control their own image, aren't they?
Perhaps this country DJ from WRWD didn't like The Beach Boys to start with, or had some ulterior motive for his attack. Maybe the show was delayed as they changed the stage, he saw the flag coming down, and drew a biased conclusion. But nobody else seems to have had a problem.