Friday’s “Hawaii Five-0” Season 7 Sunset on the Beach premiere was like a Waikiki Beach postcard, with idyllic weather from beginning to end. In years past, the beachside premiere has taken place before the show aired on television, but this year the episode was viewed the same evening as the rest of the country. That didn’t deter thousands of fans from opting to watch it on the beach with the celebs.

Fan favorites Grace Park and Ian Anthony Dale weren’t there, but most of the cast members were, including Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Jorge Garcia, Chi McBride, Taylor Wily, Teilor Grubbs, Dennis Chun, Shawn Garnett, Ingo Rademacher and Al Harrington.

The crowd got into the musical entertainment with special guest Darius Rucker belting out classic ’90s hits from his days with Hootie and the Blowfish. Then executive producer Peter Lenkov gave a shout-out to the cast onstage, followed by a heartfelt message from Daniel Dae Kim as he reminisced about their journey on the show over seven years.

The episode began where last season left off, after Danno donated a part of his liver to save Steve’s life, with a lighthearted wheelchair race in the hospital and a parkour action sequence to boot. “Hawaii Five-0” airs on CBS on Friday nights.

Photos by Tracy Chan, Amanda Stevens and Melissa Chang