The First Gig: Anselmo Valencia Ampitheater Tucson, AZ 4/24/12 (SETLIST/REVIEWS)

[Paul J B]

How did the lead vocals sound overall? I've only seen Brian live (5 times) since Carl died so I'm aware it takes him a while to get his vocals warmed up but how about Al and Mike? And how was the whole sound mix in general?

[PongHit]

Add Some Music should have been on there for sure. Friends would have been another great choice.

Agree that both of those ^ would work — they'd be crowd-pleasers, even for someone who wasn't familiar with them — I'd say the same about "Cool, Cool Water."

[Iron Horse-Apples]

How did the lead vocals sound overall? I've only seen Brian live (5 times) since Carl died so I'm aware it takes him a while to get his vocals warmed up but how about Al and Mike? And how was the whole sound mix in general?

It's sounding great to me 

[Mikie]

Surprised Dave didn't sing "Forever".

[Stegibo]

Yeah, Dennis sang it!

[pixletwin]

My tickets for July 4th seem so far away. I sure hope they put these conerts out on DVD.

[Chocolate Shake Man]

How did the lead vocals sound overall? I've only seen Brian live (5 times) since Carl died so I'm aware it takes him a while to get his vocals warmed up but how about Al and Mike? And how was the whole sound mix in general?

It's sounding great to me 

How can anyone let this slip by?

[Ron]

We´re talking about "All this and that". The "columnated ruins'  is in "Surf´s up"

I think Ron was simply using the lyric from "Surf's Up" as a reference for Carl's high vocal which he does in the outro during "All This Is That" as well. 

I realised that after I posted my comment. I apologise. I wasn't trying to be rude or anything to begin with. I knew it was probably just a little slip. Andrew G Doe is right...sometimes a smiley or two comes in handy. 

No you're all right, I can see how it looked screwy. 

[37!ws]

All I know is....the Mrs. was pretty excited to show me the posts and setlist and stuff...this is EXACTLY how Beach Boys concerts should have been like all along instead of switching to the all-oldies-plus-"Kokomo"-plus-one-or-two-from-the-latest-album-that-we'll-pretend-don't-exist-next-year format in the '80s...

[Chocolate Shake Man]

OK, since no one else is biting, Iron Horse-Apples, how are you hearing the show?

[AndrewHickey]

It is quite a fantastic song but the Carl parts are going to be tricky.  I understand Mike and Bruce have done it before, I wonder how they handled that beautiful, really, super, "columnated ruins' high falsetto part Carl did towards the end on the original?  I've never heard any of the backup guys sing quite THAT high.  BTW, if anybody's reading this, anybody care to take a stab at what that note actually is?  The "Jaiiii......  guru dev" that he does after the last verse. 

I was actually listening to the Glasgow 2004 Mike/Bruce show throughout the night and on came "All This Is That"...not sure if the line up was the same then as it was before this current tour but whoever did the falsetto (bass player?) did an ok job and hit the notes with no issue:

http://soundcloud.com/justin-sosa/all-this-is-that-glasgow-2004

From memory, in 2004 Chris Farmer (bass player) took the lower Carl part ("two ways have I") while Randell Kirsch and Scott Totten (guitars) doubled each other on the falsetto part, while in 2008 Christian took the part Chris Farmer had been singing previously. Kirsch had the stronger falsetto voice, but Totten was more comfortable on the very high notes. I imagine they'll have done much the same this time with Foskett taking the part Kirsch was singing (they have very similar voices).

[Mikie]

How was Mike's voice?  Did he sound thin, like in the Do It Again video?  Wonder if his voice will hold up during the tour.

[Stegibo]

Usually his voice gets better while touring.

[Mikie]

Well, from what I saw in the video and a recent interview, he's not off to a good start.  He didn't sound so good.  Like he was sick.  Hope it's temporary.

[37!ws]

His SPEAKING VOICE sounds terrible in the promo video.   Seriously, it made my throat uncomfortable. I certainly hope it was just a bad day for Mike. (And for me to say something nice about Mike...wow!    )

[Ed Roach]

Surprised Dave didn't sing "Forever".

Yeah, Dennis sang it!

Dying to hear what anyone who saw the video thinks.  John Anderson, (who is directing the PBS show), directed the concert videos.  He sent me several different edits along the way, while I was sending him photos, but the final edit, the one everyone is getting to see, just totally blew me away...

Was so glad to read of Al's reaction in an earlier post.  I wondered if The Boys had seen/signed off on it:

"During Dennis' video portion when the band wasn't playing,  I saw Al , who was watching the video same as the audience & had his back turned to us, raise his water bottle in a definite toast to Dennis. A very nice gesture. Mike was somber during both videos. The audio portion wasn't quite as clear as it might have been, but overall, I thought both tributes were done very tastefully."

[GoofyJeff]

I pray to the God that made the radio, that we get a full concert DVD/Blu-Ray of this tour...

[ontor pertawst]

We'll probably get an expanded PBS special with songs interrupted by dreary talking heads and the usual roster of Famous People Saying They Like Things We Know They Like Because Most Everybody Likes Them.

[hypehat]

OK, since no one else is biting, Iron Horse-Apples, how are you hearing the show?

Well, it's not on DIME. So I can only guess I am out of the loop on how to find bootlegs or IHA is playing with words 

[pixletwin]

I pray to the God that made the radio, that we get a full concert DVD/Blu-Ray of this tour...

Definitely agree with this.

[Lowbacca]

Somebody at the Tucson gig spotted any cameras / recording devices near the stage (not belonging to people in the audience)? Or maybe they are planning on recording a specific gig in some prestigious venue later on the tour, when everything is smoothed out and everybody is comfortable.

[Justin]

It is quite a fantastic song but the Carl parts are going to be tricky.  I understand Mike and Bruce have done it before, I wonder how they handled that beautiful, really, super, "columnated ruins' high falsetto part Carl did towards the end on the original?  I've never heard any of the backup guys sing quite THAT high.  BTW, if anybody's reading this, anybody care to take a stab at what that note actually is?  The "Jaiiii......  guru dev" that he does after the last verse. 

I was actually listening to the Glasgow 2004 Mike/Bruce show throughout the night and on came "All This Is That"...not sure if the line up was the same then as it was before this current tour but whoever did the falsetto (bass player?) did an ok job and hit the notes with no issue:

http://soundcloud.com/justin-sosa/all-this-is-that-glasgow-2004

From memory, in 2004 Chris Farmer (bass player) took the lower Carl part ("two ways have I") while Randell Kirsch and Scott Totten (guitars) doubled each other on the falsetto part, while in 2008 Christian took the part Chris Farmer had been singing previously. Kirsch had the stronger falsetto voice, but Totten was more comfortable on the very high notes. I imagine they'll have done much the same this time with Foskett taking the part Kirsch was singing (they have very similar voices).

Thanks for the rundown!  With Jeff taking the high parts on this tour...I have no doubt that they'll be able to pull it off.  So looking forward to this song.

[Mikie]

I thought Matt Jardine did an outstanding job on "All This Is That" in 1993. He seemed to hit those high notes effortlessly. And of course Carl was superb.

[Justin]

He absolutely did nail it.  Yet another reason why Matt should have been included on the tour....but I believe I read somewhere on the board that his falsetto hasn't really held up since 1993?

[SonoraDick]

I'd like to hear more about the VIPs - Were all the BBs at the meet and greet? What was it like? What about the photo? Was it an individual photo or group photo and were all 5 BBs in it? How much face time did you get with any or all of them? I assume that you at least were able to shake hands with each? What was soundcheck like? What was in the goodie bag?? Were the VIP hosts friendly??

Soundcheck was first. Due to some screwup (VIP Nation blamed the BB for starting early) nobody from security was there to escort us into the amphitheatre, which was supposedly a site requirement. For nearly 30 minutes, we could clearly hear but not see the BB, although we could see the video screen, which was operating. They rehearsed the tributes as well as several other songs during this time. When we could go in, we were seated in the very back. Scott Totten in charge. Among other things, he stated they were going to shorten the ending of "All Summer Long" to just two "we've been having fun..." & then go directly into "Rhonda". They tried this two or three times without pleasing him (once, Al was talking with Jeff when he should have started "Rhonda", and they messed it up in the show, too. Never would have known, however, if we hadn't attended the soundcheck. Even though we missed some, we still got to sit in for about an hour. Like having your own nearly-private BB concert! Highly recommended if you can do it!

The m & g was also a mixed-bag. They brought out some stools for the BB use, & then, one by one, we filed in for a pic with the five of them. David wasn't there at the start for this (just remembered, he also missed more of the soundcheck than we did- I was beginning to worry maybe he was sick or something, but he did come in about ten minutes after we did). I think Al also wasn't out there right away for photos as well. Now, our emailed instructions were NO AUTOGRAPHS due to time constraints, so some people didn't bring anything to sign. It got confusing here. As we lined up, the VIP leader announced that if we had brought something of "value" we wanted signed (after, in effect, telling us five days before
to NOT bring anything) to go to the end of the line... the strong hint being if we had previously given the BB lots of money OR had some but not all signatures & wanted to try to complete a signed item, we could leave it with VIP and collect it later, before the show. They refused to sign the poster included with our package, which would have been the perfect item. Just in case, I had brought the cd cover from "Ten Years Of Harmony" previously signed by Mike, Al & Bruce. The photo process was quick... bang bang, you're done, NEXT. Any interaction was pretty much due to the customer, although at least in my case, David welcomed me with a smile & handshake (I'm sure others as well; that smile was just permanently on his face all night long; GREAT to see him enjoying himself), and I made sure to tell Al I enjoyed his cd party a few weeks ago & he thanked me for coming, also with a smile. He is, after all, the gentleman from Monterey. Can't even remember if I shook hands with Bruce or not. Mike & Brian were seated in front, & Mike turned to me and said "Nice shirt"... not one of their tees but rather a BB shirt given to me as a gift, probably from ebay; never seen another like it.
Needless to say, I was thrilled he noticed and more so for his comment. During the whole photo process, however, Brian was not "Doin' Time On Planet Earth". He just sat there with his blank stare which everybody knew meant "get me outta here". I believe I tapped him on his shoulder & said "Brian, it's a honor" (I wanted to make sure I said something original; yeah, right) but got no reaction from him. Picture taken, NEXT, see you again if you pony up again.

The end of the story... when I retrieved my cd cover before the show, Al & Mike had signed it again, Bruce had originally signed it on the cover & may have noticed so he did not sign it again, & neither Brian nor Dave signed anyplace. They, of course, were the only two I wanted. We were told Brian didn't sign anything but I know that wasn't true because I did see items he signed; the owners were very happy. A gal who was unfortunately not aware that perhaps "Wouldn't It Be Nice... My Own Story" was not the best possible choice for an autograph was quite disturbed when her copy was returned in exactly the same form as presented.  

The "goodies" package... a rather bland white tee with the BB C50 in brown (the shirts for purchase were much better looking, about $35), a flimsy black tote with the C50 with horse in color, & a laminated souvenir ticket. Plan on spending some extra $$$ to take home something you'll value.