Smile newbie/BWPS debut question

[cst]

Hello all -

I am new to all of this... a friend of mine has been a BB/Smile addict for years, and despite attempts to expose me to them/it, I wasn't having it... until the announcement was made about the box set and I went and discovered it on my own.  I am now a Smile addict with the rest of the catalog waiting for me.  I've spent the last few weeks listening to everything I could obtain, and reading the posts here.  I'm officially obsessed.  HIGHLY informative posts here, even if it can be overwhelming and confusing for a new guy here.

So my question - what was it like the first night that BWPS was debuted?  Was there a collective gathering at the computer for those who couldn't be there?  What was it like as the setlist unfolded??  This must have been one of the most incredible times for the BB fan.  I suppose I'm looking for recollections as someone who missed out on it.

[LostArt]

Oh yeah.  There were record numbers on the old Smile Shop board, all anxiously awaiting any tidbit of information.  When the first reports started coming in it was incredible.  I was right there at my PC, soaking it all in.  Wonderful into Look with lyrics?  Wow!  And right into Child with lyrics?  Holy (Mrs. O'Leary's) cow!

Oh, yeah.  Welcome to the wacky world of Beach Boys fandom.  While I heard the hit songs on the radio in the '60s, I wasn't really a fan until 1988, when I heard Smiley Smile for the first time.  It went from there to Smile (via 20/20, The Smiley/Wild Honey twofer, and Surf's Up), to Pet Sounds, to all the rest (except for Summer in Paradise, I guess).  Those were good times.  Enjoy the ride.  

[homeontherange]

Is the old Smile Shop forum available to read somewhere? Would love to read the posts from that very special day.

[cst]

Is the old Smile Shop forum available to read somewhere? Would love to read the posts from that very special day.

I certainly would as well.

[cst]

Oh, yeah.  Welcome to the wacky world of Beach Boys fandom.  While I heard the songs on the radio in the '60s, I wasn't really a fan until 1988, when I heard Smiley Smile for the first time.  It went from there to Smile (via 20/20, The Smiley/Wild Honey twofer, and Surf's Up), to Pet Sounds, to all the rest (except for Summer in Paradise, I guess).  Those were good times.  Enjoy the ride.  

Much appreciated.  It's interesting, as my friend pretty much dared me to listen to Smiley Smile next as he detests it (but is a huge BB fan).  An interesting divide to be sure.  I look forward to it.

[UK_Surf]

"So my question - what was it like the first night that BWPS was debuted?  Was there a collective gathering at the computer for those who couldn't be there?  What was it like as the setlist unfolded??  This must have been one of the most incredible times for the BB fan.  I suppose I'm looking for recollections as someone who missed out on it."

Welcome aboard!

I was at the second night, and the fab Ronnie of Earcandy helped me get access to write a review. I spoke with Jason Pierce (aka J Spaceman of Spiritualized), Darian Sahanaja (BW's band leader), BB historians David Leaf and Domenic Priore, and quite a few excellent folks from the Smile Shop - that pioneering site which,  together with Andrew Doe's excellent guide to the BBs catalogue, and DP's Smile book, secured my own initiation into Smile-ville.

Looking back at this review - well, actually, it's more of an essay on Smile's live debut - and looking forward to the Smile Sessions box set, I'm immensely grateful for the opportunities I owe to many folks who still post here. I hope you find it useful:
http://www.earcandymag.com/smileliveRFH2-21-04.htm     

[ghost]

Back when BWPS debuted... it was a special time to say the least. We found out that the ending tag to Cabinessence is actually an invocation of demigods or what we would call aliens in modern parlance. So lo and behold, first there was an apparition of a crow hovering over the audience, then the deity appeared in full form, luminous and twice the size of Brian. They shook hands and then the alien played fake harpsichords on Wonderful. 

[hypehat]

And I was that deity. Bow, mere mortals, before my Kurweil keyboard and fake tack piano.

[ghost]

And I was that deity. Bow, mere mortals, before my Kurweil keyboard and fake tack piano.

yes the spirit of KURZWEIL visit earth in 2004
from a planet the nazi's established
60 years previously

[Cliff1000uk]

I was there on the first night and the tension in the foyer of the RFH was immense. I said, "Hi" to a few people I knew, got myself a cold beer and sat down.

Even the 'Greatest Hits' section before Smile was varied. I've just checked the Bristol setlist on the Earcandy site and there was Soul Searchin', Time To Get Alone and City Blues.

During the Smile section, I was too in shock to take in every little nuance (I went to the last 2 nights too so I had plenty of time to let it soak in). The looks on people's faces, grown men crying and what seemed the relief as Good Vibrations started with those lyrics. And the Stockholm Strings wearing the fire helmets was a great touch as well

An amazing night in all and proud to say I was there!

[ghost]

Sorry to pick apart a small point but why are people drinking beer before SMiLE? Brian wasn't drinking beer during its conception & creation - he actually spoke against alcohol at the time. If you want to appreciate Smile more, beer is not the way to go. Other things.... are more... appropriate.

Honestly, if I drank alcohol I couldn't even enjoy any Beach Boys music - it's too sensitive and subtle for my drunk brain to really interpret successfully.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Unless you were there on 2/20/04, you cannot begin to imagine the tension in the hall after the interval: bets were being placed on whether Brian would, in fact, come out at all. When the transition from "Prayer" into "Gee" kicked in, the sigh of relief almost blew the band to the back of the stage... and when Brian grabbed "H&V" by the scruff of the neck and ran with it, all you would have seen from the stage would have been 2,700 huge cheesy grins. After that, it was pure synergy - the audience and the band fed off each other. Helluva night.

[Sam_BFC]

Man they should release David Leaf's film of that first night in full, doesn't matter about the warts.

[Cliff1000uk]

Well, unless I missed the stand selling uppers and pot, a beer was the next best thing!!

Andrew's right-you just had to be there. The last few months here reminds me of the lead up to the Smile shows. Great discussions, a few heated arguments, some people, ahem, eating their words, but in the end, for those 40minsish, I could forget about everything outside the RFH and enjoy the most amazing music

I also remember a few people in the Travelodge bar afterwards completely speechless of what they had just seen.

By the end of the run (a week, I think?) Brian and the band were in their stride, relaxed and riding on alot of good reviews but that first night was something else completely

[guitarfool2002]

Not having the funds to fly to England for the show, I thought I'd try to lay low but wound up in front of my computer for hours as reports came in from the premiere.

It was a beautiful thing, really, and it was quite possibly the best example of people thousands of miles apart feeling like they were sitting in the same living room sharing thoughts and experiences via a message board. Matt B., who still posts here, gets all the credit and thanks in the world from us internet participants that night because he was the one providing us with the play-by-play feed of the show and the way the songs were sequenced and performed.

The only thing which could naturally top that was hearing the show, and in the digital age of course that happened in due time. And I won't say I cried like a baby but at some points I had the ol' tears rolling down the face. Hearing the Dada-Blue Hawaii bit, Child Is Father Of The Man, the "Sweeping Strings" bit of Heroes coming after the vocal build-up...it was all quite emotional for me.

Bottom line...it was NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, yet here it was as an event which did happen in real time with real people. And most of all, Brian Wilson was the one at the center of the stage. I finally did see Smile live when it came to the East Coast that fall, and I purposely bypassed seeing it in Philly to see it in Boston instead - personal reasons, but it was one of the musical highlights of my life.

[Mr. Wilson]

I went to 3 smile shows 2 in 2004 and 1 in 2005.. The music EXPLODED of the stage and was incredible..!! Cabinessence was brillant and ill never forget the chills i felt during the Grand Coolie Dam segment,, A moment of pure beauty.... Saw the shows in 04 at pala casino + disney hall.. In 05 saw the Hollywood bowl show.. Over 12 000 people for that and lots of dancing during Smile ..Stood by soundboard and had a incredible view.. I felt like a papa watching his son.. LOL.! But then again Brian is older than I am..So go figure.!.. IMHO.. Smile was finished when the LP + tours were completed.. Now that BOX set is comin out im unemployed and i have no idea how to pay for it..!! Bummer..!

[Iron Horse-Apples]

Sorry to pick apart a small point but why are people drinking beer before SMiLE? Brian wasn't drinking beer during its conception & creation - he actually spoke against alcohol at the time. If you want to appreciate Smile more, beer is not the way to go. Other things.... are more... appropriate.

Honestly, if I drank alcohol I couldn't even enjoy any Beach Boys music - it's too sensitive and subtle for my drunk brain to really interpret successfully.

Me and my wife popped out for a splifton during the interval, and bumped into Paul McCartney on the way back to our seats. I found my hand extending to shake his, but I really regret not asking him if he was there to steal the rest of SMiLE. Sat down about six feet away from Brian as he unveiled SMiLE.

Top notch stuff

[onkster]

AGD and Guitarfool really nailed this.

As for me, I was at work (Technicolor) that morning, reading the play by play. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. Would the show really go on? What would be IN it? And most of all, would it be any good?

And yes, it wasn't supposed to happen. And it could have been monumentally screwed up in so many ways. But it wasn't. In an era in which nearly everything is a disappointment (and expectedly so), here was a dream come true, and it not only satisfied, but filled up the cup and ran over.

What a great day that was. And then: the first live boot appeared so I could hear for myself...

[P.J.]

It is my greatest regret ever that I didn't have my act together enough in '04 to go see the show. I was 22 years old but my only job was playing in a band so I didn't really have the cash to make the trip. 

[ghost]

Me and my wife popped out for a splifton during the interval, and bumped into Paul McCartney on the way back to our seats. I found my hand extending to shake his, but I really regret not asking him if he was there to steal the rest of SMiLE. Sat down about six feet away from Brian as he unveiled SMiLE.

Top notch stuff

Paul was probably just returning from a quick joint himself...

[monicker]

Remember when about a month before the album came out a radio station played, i think it was, the entire second movement and someone recorded it and shared it with us all but, if i recall, it started on the tail end of Wonderful and ended before Surf's Up? I may be remembering that wrong. But it was only one channel of the recording, i definitely remember that. So for a month or so before 9/28/04, we were all listening to that snippet of a leak and you could hear the reverb from tracks that were on the other channel, it was like a ghost effect, and there was a lot of discussion, excitement, anticipation, and arguing about it. I recorded that little piece onto cassette and i remember driving around for the next month only listening to that. I probably still have that tape somewhere. It was weirdly appropriate, as it sort of felt like a bootleg recording, and here we were, a month before the album came out officially, listening to a low quality one channel snippet of the album, not at all dissimilar to the experience of listening to bootlegs of the original recordings. And then a month later the album came out, and then...the KURZWEIL. Oh, and the DOO YOOS in H&V haha. And the little glitch in the very first second of the album on the first breath of Prayer. And the bass drop out in the second half of bicycle rider. And the off key note in the last chord of bridge to indians. Oh, there were lots. Funny times. But exciting too. These last few weeks have reminded me a lot of that period.

[onkster]

I was also lucky enough to see the show in the two places I'd most wanted to see it: Disney Concert Hall (perfection) and the Hollywood Bowl (pretty good still, but I sensed a little fatigue in the participants, as this was near the end of a very long tour). (Oh: and at the Bowl, Polyphonic Spree was the opener, which should have been the perfect combination with Smile, but they had the volume wayyyy down for some reason, and the audience could not be roused from its wine-and-cheese stupor...)

Fantastic experiences, both.

[The Heartical Don]

In the current fever of expectation, and reading these memories, I find it almost impossible that already 7 full years went by in between. Time's running so fast, folks...

[monicker]

In the current fever of expectation, and reading these memories, I find it almost impossible that already 7 full years went by in between. Time's running so fast, folks...

There is not a day that goes by that i am not terrified by the incomprehensible passage of time.

[Heysaboda]

yes the spirit of KURZWEIL visit earth in 2004
from a planet the nazi's established
60 years previously

Ghost, you're been watching way too much Star Trek.....!