Rascals Look To Spread Some Good Lovin' At Beverly's Cabot Theater

BEVERLY, MA — If there were ever a weekend in demand of some Good Lovin' on the North Shore of Massachusetts then it's Valentine's Day weekend.

So it seems only fitting that the iconic 1960s rock band The Rascals — including original members Felix Cavaliere and Gene Cornish — will be at the historic Cabot Theater in Beverly on Feb. 15 for a special "Good Lovin' Valentine's Day Show" featuring an array of the band's classics and other hits from around the time of the Summer of Love.

"Basically, it's a love fest," Cavaliere told Patch in a phone interview on Tuesday. "One of the reasons for that is the relationship that we all had with the music back then. My songs are pretty romantic. So this is a night to come in there with your loved one and have a good time."

While some bands of that era still tour in name only, Cavaliere and Cornish bring the extra sense of authenticity that goes along with the nostalgia of a time when music meant everything to a lot of people — and many people were all listening to the same hit songs.

"The difference between the 60s people, and probably the 70s people included, and the more modern people, is that we were all kind of connected by the music," he said. "We didn't have the internet. We didn't have all the social media confusion that is out there. We all had the music together. That's the bond that we have with our audience.

"Hopefully, as long as we are on the planet, we can continue that."

Cavaliere said The Rascals — who were inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 — still generally hit one or two venues in New England each year and tend to see a lot of old faces, with maybe some new ones sprinkled in there here and there from time to time.

"We do Massachusetts quite a bit in various towns," he said. "In the old days, you had to really, really pay attention to the radio stations in the Northeast to have a hit record so we were there a lot.

"We like to attract newer fans but it is a little difficult today because they have so many options. In the old days, there weren't that many bands, even with the English invasion. But right now you have so many people out there so if you can attract young people it's quite a coup."

Mostly, Cavaliere finds the music of the era turns what may be a more mature crown into the young at heart during the set.

"We do a lot of music cruises these days," he said. "We do this Flower Power cruise where there are 3,000 maniac people coming out trying to pretend they are 16 years old. It's joyous.

"We try to stoke memories from inside their ears and their minds so they remember what it was like."

The Rascals were one of America's most prolific bands when they had a series of huge hits in the late 1960s — including "Groovin', and "A Beautiful Morning," and "People Got To Be Free." But Cavalieri allowed the one that really brings out the inner teenager in the crowd is the grand finale.

"It's 'Good Lovin' that always get them up and dancing," he said. "That's the one that gets their bones up and moving."

Doors for the Feb. 15 show open at 7 p.m. with an 8 p.m. show time.

Tickets are available here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)