Show 5: Raleigh Amphitheater - Raleigh, NC 4/29/12 (SETLIST/PICS/REVIEWS)

[Wirestone]

I don't know about you, but when I look at the Beach Boys entire career, I don't exactly see a faultless, unbroken string of great decisions that have put them beyond all criticism.

 

[Autotune]

I don't know about you, but when I look at the Beach Boys entire career, I don't exactly see a faultless, unbroken string of great decisions that have put them beyond all criticism.

In the exact same way, looking in perspective, fan guesses presented as authoritative gospel have come and gone thru the years. And when proven wrong, no one is around to take the blame.

[LostArt]

A recording might be more accurate that what you hear in person.  

What?  A recording made with a tiny little mic with who knows what kind of frequency response, is more accurate than the human ear?  If that is so, then somebody better tell the sound tech to mix for the crappy audience recordings instead of for the people in the house who paid money to see the show.

[Rocker]

A quick question:

Is anybody else sick of the way they go from Sloop John B. into WIBN ? I know it's fitting and may sound nice because of th eguitar works. But all in all it just sound kinda cheap to me. I'd rather have both songs standing on their own. Anyway, just got into my mind

[Emdeeh]

Wouldn't it be nice if they had Jeff Peters doing the sound mix for this tour? It's someone else, who I didn't recognize.

[endofposts]

A recording might be more accurate that what you hear in person.  

What?  A recording made with a tiny little mic with who knows what kind of frequency response, is more accurate than the human ear?  If that is so, then somebody better tell the sound tech to mix for the crappy audience recordings instead of for the people in the house who paid money to see the show.

But we've already established that some of the recordings and videos were made with good equipment,  yet the auto-tune effect on Brian's voice turns up on both.  Yes, a recording device with a limiter will give a more detailed, truer picture than the human ear subjected to loud speakers carrying the sound out with loud gain.  The recording device limiter attenuates the gain.

[Autotune]

A quick question:

Is anybody else sick of the way they go from Sloop John B. into WIBN ? I know it's fitting and may sound nice because of The guitar works. But all in all it just sound kinda cheap to me. I'd rather have both songs standing on their own. Anyway, just got into my mind

That's a remnant from the Carl-led years. There are others, like the car medley, or the intro to BTTYS. I thought they'd do without them for this tour.

[Rocker]

A quick question:

Is anybody else sick of the way they go from Sloop John B. into WIBN ? I know it's fitting and may sound nice because of The guitar works. But all in all it just sound kinda cheap to me. I'd rather have both songs standing on their own. Anyway, just got into my mind

That's a remnant from the Carl-led years.

I know. But I don't think it's very tasteful. I'm happy they don't sped up the intro to Cal. Girls anymore like Carl hade made them do in the early 90s.
There are some elements, including introductions to some songs, that are a usual part of Mike & Bruce's act that I thought and sometimes even hoped they would put aside. I mentioned it somewhere else, but I can't believe they are using those very horrible motor sound effects for the beginning of the car-medley. The medley itself is ok, I can dig that. But there's too much, especially it seem at outdoor concerts, from the Mike & Bruce lounge act level, like said sound effects, some of Mike's introductions, Bruce's clowning aroun, the shirts.... I tell you it's just a matter of time that Bruce will get out the shorts on this tour.  I hope they will play more and more halls in the future (I don't have the touring plan on my mind)

[tpesky]

I thought Mike would drop would a little bit of the BTTYS routine...I knew they'd play the song it's one of Mike's favorites.  Al's facial expression says it all when he helps him up thinking Boy I really didn't miss the past 14 years....

[SonoraDick]

I thought Mike would drop a little bit of the BTTYS routine...

At least in Tucson, they dropped a LOT from the old routine. No helping Mike back up (although I saw a little of that in the Raleigh video), no creaking back, practically no "monologue",  no lengthy drum "solo".

It could have been much longer, but maybe he was just warming up.   

[amonomous]

Lot of good quality videos in that channel...

"Cottonfields" really rocks...they're jamming out on that one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJuQtLf_od0&feature=relmfu

And it sounds like someone (Scott Totten?) is using a b-bender/pullstring. It's hard to see on my phone...

Cottonfields was definitely a highlight, even the people around us who went nuts for the hits but seemed a little lost during "All this is that" and some of the lesser known numbers really got into that one and at one point (I can't recall which song it was, but it was in the first set, still bright and sunny) there were some couples literally out in the aisles between sections dancing up a storm. I don't know if they were asked to go back to their seats or if I was just too wrapped up in the show itself (and had my 4.5 year old daughter with me, whose favorite band is the Beach Boys and had A BLAST) to notice but it seemed all of them were back to their seats pretty quickly.

It was a beautiful night, not too hot with a cool breeze and the vibrations were good for certain.. The energy level was high all night and though I know there is a thread for this now, I'll keep it simple and say that, to my ears Brian was being processed in *some* way or another but it really did sound as though it was more prominent on certain songs than others as he did hit some bad notes here and there  that weren't the glitches you hear on the recordings. He *really* got into "California Dreaming" especially and belted a few others while he seemed to almost be nodding off during other songs and my brother pointed out several times that he could see his hands in his lap under the piano for most of the show but he's a casual fan that appreciates them but isn't familiar with all of Brian's quirks and such. I was pleasantly surprised to find a YT video of a particularly cute moment between Mike and Brian where Brian remembered the year (1959) of a dance that Mike was referencing and for a brief moment we got to see the laid back Brian you see in the more candid interviews. That moment got an especially good response as did most of Mike's banter, which was very good and almost all new compared to the well-worn jokes he made when I saw them in 2001 and already knew where he was going with his comments before he finished them.  

We were in section 2, row CC, seats 5-7 for anyone who was there..oddly our seats were the only ones taken in our row besides a few other people, but as far as it being poorly attended I thought the same thing when I bought my tickets and saw all of the seats that were still available but it looked pretty well packed once they took the stage, albeit about 15 minutes or so later than scheduled. Hearing the Four Freshmen beforehand was a nice touch, as was "This Whole World" and the "where's John Stamos??" comments spoken (mostly) in complete and utter seriousness and disappointment that I heard scattered about the crowd were interesting.. It would seem the casual fans were really hoping to see him. Speaking of casual fans, TWGMTR got a very good response and I actually prefer the live renditions so far (of course nothing beats being there and hearing it in person) with the much louder chiming guitars (to these ears anyway they sound like guitar harmonics, perhaps combined with something else?) and plucked bass notes as the tag picks up near the end.                                              

I'll post a little more asap, my camera died about 5 songs in and when the batteries are dying (they were freshly charged before the show, I still don't know what the problem was) it makes any videos recorded skip horribly, which is a shame because the sound was surprisingly excellent for such a (relatively) outdated camera. Luckily my brother had his slightly newer camera with him and got some good photos (I made certain he at least tried to get some shots of Brian playing bass for FFF and got a good sounding clip of "Forever," the rest I'm no so sure as I haven't seen them yet, still waiting for them) which I'll gladly share as soon as I get them. The photos I got that weren't completely blurry due to the battery issue aren't that great as it was hard to get them all in the shot with such a wide front-line setup and since I didn't foresee the camera issues I was mainly taking shots of my daughter enjoying the show and decided to focus more on the (possibly, as I'm considering making the trek to the July 3rd show also) once in a lifetime experience after my brother made the valid point that the show would be VERY well documented anyway and we noticed a lot of people with fairly nice camera setups that somehow got past security.

I will come back with photos and a bit more on the songs themselves and had I known this show was getting so little coverage on the board I would have used my brother's phone (he has a smartphone, I still use an ancient flip-phone) to report the setlist during the intermission and on the ride home. I fully intended to when we got back but with a child to think of and the fact that I got wrapped up in the moment, this is the first I've been back to the board. Just as I went in intending to document the show more and ended up getting wrapped up in the moment instead (preferable to me in the long run) I actually only intended to comment on Cottonfields and ended up giving a long winded sort-of-review. lol I'll edit this later and add my thoughts on the performance itself ASAP, sometimes touch-typing is a blessing and a curse at once.

~Amonomous

[southbay]

Wouldn't it be nice if they had Jeff Peters doing the sound mix for this tour? It's someone else, who I didn't recognize.

He was at the soundboard for Al's Roxy show

[Rocker]

Thank you very much for your report ! Hope your daugther had a great time !

the "where's John Stamos??" comments spoken (mostly) in complete and utter seriousness and disappointment that I heard scattered about the crowd were interesting.. It would seem the casual fans were really hoping to see him.

I wonder if the Beach Boys will ever be able to make up the damage this whole Stamos relation has done to their legacy.

And I hope poor John won't get accused by us fans (anymore).  

[amonomous]

Thank you very much for your report ! Hope your daugther had a great time !

the "where's John Stamos??" comments spoken (mostly) in complete and utter seriousness and disappointment that I heard scattered about the crowd were interesting.. It would seem the casual fans were really hoping to see him.

I wonder if the Beach Boys will ever be able to make up the damage this whole Stamos relation has done to their legacy.

And I hope poor John won't get accused by us fans (anymore).  

You are most welcome! =) I was just about to post a rant about the sniping going on around here simply for people reporting what they're seeing and hearing and you know, discussing things in a discussion forum, but I'm holding off on posting it due to your Good Vibrations.

[drbeachboy]

Thank you very much for your report ! Hope your daugther had a great time !

the "where's John Stamos??" comments spoken (mostly) in complete and utter seriousness and disappointment that I heard scattered about the crowd were interesting.. It would seem the casual fans were really hoping to see him.

I wonder if the Beach Boys will ever be able to make up the damage this whole Stamos relation has done to their legacy.

And I hope poor John won't get accused by us fans (anymore). 

Are you talking about Full House? Until the reruns run their course, no. Other than that Stamos has done nothing one way or the other to influence their legacy. No book that I have read about them ever claimed anything regarding Stamos or their TV appearances.

[amonomous]

Sorry if this has been mentioned already (I haven't had a chance to really catch up yet since the show aside from the sorta-review I posted earlier) but something that went over quite well with the crowd and I particularly dug that I haven't seen mentioned yet (but I haven't been here in several days) was the cool 50's era Drive-in concession stand commercials they played on the screen during the intermission. Some people might find that cheesy but I thought it was a nice touch. They really seem to have put a lot of thought into every detail. Can't say it enough: anything negative about this show is GREATLY outweighed by all of the thought and effort put into making this a dream concert for the fans and a proper celebration of their remarkable 50 year career. Don't miss this if you're able to go!

[Ron]

Too bad that the highly professional sound people in the highly professional entourage for this BB massive tour are bastardizing Brian's performances with an autotune machine that does not automatically-tune Brian's vocals anyway and does not fix a thing.

One would think that the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson at the helm, or the extraordinary musicians from their backing band, or their extremely professional sound crew should know by now; if not because of their decades of experience, or their extreme expertise, just because of their experience during the first 4-5 shows of this tour.

But no, they keep screwing it up instead of doing as this board's people tell them to.

Audiophile fans can't be wrong (they've never been). But the sound people hired and paid for it can.

LOL For that Mr. Simpsons guy, you get an honorary badge.  You can be my deputy. 

[desmondo]

To those who say no autotune: Pls explain why just Brian's voice sounds so robotic on the recordings and not the others? And not all recordings were taped on an iphone.

Please explain why there are so many bum notes across the whole show and all the main singers that are being missed by the Autotune

[Jaspy]

I heard that they intentionally programmed the auto-tune machine with bum notes so that people think it's uncorrected.
But let's face it, Brian sings so bad these days that even the auto-tune computer gets confused and out of tune. (This was a joke)

[Wirestone]

To those who say no autotune: Pls explain why just Brian's voice sounds so robotic on the recordings and not the others? And not all recordings were taped on an iphone.

Please explain why there are so many bum notes across the whole show and all the main singers that are being missed by the Autotune

Because Autotune applied live does not know the right note. It's not that smart. It only will correct to the note in the scale that the singer is singing closest to. And the closest note to the singer's current pitch may not be the right note for the song. In other words, Brian is sometimes so far from the correct note for the song that the Autotune will "correct" him to a wrong note. As for other people in that band, the effect isn't being added to their vocals.

[b00ts]

To those who say no autotune: Pls explain why just Brian's voice sounds so robotic on the recordings and not the others? And not all recordings were taped on an iphone.

Please explain why there are so many bum notes across the whole show and all the main singers that are being missed by the Autotune

Because Autotune applied live does not know the right note. It's not that smart. It only will correct to the note in the scale that the singer is singing closest to. And the closest note to the singer's current pitch may not be the right note for the song. In other words, Brian is sometimes so far from the correct note for the song that the Autotune will "correct" him to a wrong note. As for other people in that band, the effect isn't being added to their vocals.

This has been said again and again, and of course you are right as usual, Wirestone... But we can agree to disagree with the people who don't hear it. It's alright if they don't hear the pitch correction for whatever reason - I wish I could un-hear it!

[alanjames]

I attended the concert too!
I'm from Brazil, flew from Rio de Janeiro to NYC on Saturday, and then from NYC to Raleigh in the April 29.
It was great! My best concert experience. It was like a dream!
I had been in a Brian's concert in 2004 in Sao Paulo, and Mike/Bruce again in SP (2010).
In 2004, Brian sang horribly, but I didn't noticed it until I heard some recordings (but in my memory, I didn't remember in this way). Anyway...that show was great to see, even hearing Brian in a bad day.
2010 Mike/Bruce show was GREAT! Band and setlist perfect, I enjoyed it so much, and I met them in the backstage before and after this show. Both the best concerts that I'd had been.
But this concert...was SO special! Didn't saw David and Al before...I bought the Meet and Greet package. And taking a picture with all of 5 together, see their soundcheck (including interaction with us, fans) and see and hear those fantastic songs from various eras...it's totally worth, and this is the best musical concert experience that I've ever had!
I heard Brian out-of-tune in some songs, including This Whole World, but I really didn't care about the autotune in his voice (in That's Why God Made The Radio I heart it), I just wanted to live the moment and the experience.
Some people call me crazy to go from Brazil, so far, to see the Boys reunited in USA. But I say: they're my favorite band, and I would do it only for the BBs.

[b00ts]

I attended the concert too!
I'm from Brazil, flew from Rio de Janeiro to NYC on Saturday, and then from NYC to Raleigh in the April 29.
It was great! My best concert experience. It was like a dream!
I had been in a Brian's concert in 2004 in Sao Paulo, and Mike/Bruce again in SP (2010).
In 2004, Brian sang horribly, but I didn't noticed it until I heard some recordings (but in my memory, I didn't remember in this way). Anyway...that show was great to see, even hearing Brian in a bad day.
2010 Mike/Bruce show was GREAT! Band and setlist perfect, I enjoyed it so much, and I met them in the backstage before and after this show. Both the best concerts that I'd had been.
But this concert...was SO special! Didn't saw David and Al before...I bought the Meet and Greet package. And taking a picture with all of 5 together, see their soundcheck (including interaction with us, fans) and see and hear those fantastic songs from various eras...it's totally worth, and this is the best musical concert experience that I've ever had!
I heard Brian out-of-tune in some songs, including This Whole World, but I really didn't care about the autotune in his voice (in That's Why God Made The Radio I heart it), I just wanted to live the moment and the experience.
Some people call me crazy to go from Brazil, so far, to see the Boys reunited in USA. But I say: they're my favorite band, and I would do it only for the BBs.

Right on, Alan. If any band is worth it, it is The Beach Boys.

[bgas]

I attended the concert too!
I'm from Brazil, flew from Rio de Janeiro to NYC on Saturday, and then from NYC to Raleigh in the April 29.
It was great! My best concert experience. It was like a dream!
I had been in a Brian's concert in 2004 in Sao Paulo, and Mike/Bruce again in SP (2010).
In 2004, Brian sang horribly, but I didn't noticed it until I heard some recordings (but in my memory, I didn't remember in this way). Anyway...that show was great to see, even hearing Brian in a bad day.
2010 Mike/Bruce show was GREAT! Band and setlist perfect, I enjoyed it so much, and I met them in the backstage before and after this show. Both the best concerts that I'd had been.
But this concert...was SO special! Didn't saw David and Al before...I bought the Meet and Greet package. And taking a picture with all of 5 together, see their soundcheck (including interaction with us, fans) and see and hear those fantastic songs from various eras...it's totally worth, and this is the best musical concert experience that I've ever had!
I heard Brian out-of-tune in some songs, including This Whole World, but I really didn't care about the autotune in his voice (in That's Why God Made The Radio I heart it), I just wanted to live the moment and the experience.
Some people call me crazy to go from Brazil, so far, to see the Boys reunited in USA. But I say: they're my favorite band, and I would do it only for the BBs.

Right on, Alan. If any band is worth it, it is The Beach Boys.

Great message! 
Makes me wish I hadn't decided not to buy tickets simply because theyre not coming close to me.( and now they're sold out)

[Pretty Funky]

Car song medley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6FXbWJmtGc&feature=relmfu

Probably under another thread somewhere but this to me is by far the best quality clip of tour so far. Well done that man!

But on another note, I love seeing the interaction with Dave here. Both in his guitar work and his act with Mike. He looks to be having the time of his life up on stage.