Show 58: Amfiscenen - Aarhus, Denmark 8/1/12

Hi there

Sorry for not writing my thoughts on the show sooner. It was a long drive home to Copenhagen and I crashed in bed at 4 in the morning, so decided to sleep late.

Yep, it was an outdoor venue and rather small compared to some of the other places the boys have played on this tour. Approx. 5000 in the crowd and no seats so it was relatively easy to get right in front of the stage.

I went to the show with three equally Beach Boys obsessed friends. On the long drive across Denmark to Aarhus we goofed around in the car. Grin

Check this out:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151006504478440

[Shameless plug: The four of us call ourselves the Surf School Dropouts, are very inspired by the Beach Boys and have just self-released our debut album 'Summer is a State of Mind, - check it out here: www.surfschooldropouts.bandcamp.com]

The concert was awesome - even better than I had expected. No intermission, but 2,5 hours of hit after hit after hit after... Incredible that they can do that in their age! You were almost gasping for air during the first part of the show where the band kept the crowd on their toes firing off a series of medleys, effortlessly seguing from one song to another. It really kicked the show off to a great start. About two thirds into the show, the four of us looked at each other and realized how they had played so many hits but still we hadn't even gotten to Good Vibrations, California Girls, Help Me Rhonda, Surfin' USA etc. (Those later were played obviously.)

I don't have a setlist but they must have played at least 40 to 50 songs. The set was pretty Mike-centered with a lot of the early stuff but we did get Heroes & Villains, Sail on Sailor, Marcella and All This is That. Sadly, no This Whole World, Pet Sounds, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times or Add Some Music. I wish they'd played those instead of Rock'n'Roll Music, Come Go with Me, Then I Kissed Her and California Dreamin' - it's a shame they waste precious concert time with those songs instead of playing a few more 'heavier' tracks. But all in all I found the setlist to be very well put together with a sequence that just kept bringing the crowd to a frenzy as the night progressed.

No video screen and no mention of Carl and Dennis. (and consequently, no Forever...)

A few observations:

Mike - this guy is phenomenal! I've seen the Mike & Bruce show twice but this was the first time I've been so close to the stage and able to really see Mike prancing around in all his frontman glory. Lots of corny dance moves (i.e. Hula dancing during Hawaii) and gestures throughout but it went down very well and he really held the crowd in the palm of his hand. On some of the clips I've seen from earlier in the tour I didn't think his vocals sounded that great but he was really on fire yesterday. I'm the bass guy in the Surf School Dropouts and obviously paid extra attention to Mike's bass vocals. Incredible! The way he alternates between a pretty high lead vocal and a deep bass background/harmony vocal on a number of tracks is so midblowing and incredibly difficult to pull off right. But of course he's done it forever and can probably do it in his sleep.

Brian - no expression on his face and at times you almost forgot he was there, i.e. during the early stuff medleys where it was mostly Mike running the show. But when he took a lead he sang really well and with feeling & vulnerability. The only point during the concert where I thought his vocal was off was when they played Good Timin'. No bass playing during Barbara Ann.

Al - like we've discussed here so many times it's as if Al's vocal chords have been frozen down since the mid 60s and now been brought back to life! Cheesy

Great leads on Cotton Fields and California Saga - during Kokomo at the encore he walked over to Jeff Foskett and began fooling around, causing Jeff to laugh during one of his solo parts in the chorus. It was pretty funny. During the show there was also someone in the audience who threw a 45' picture sleeve up on stage. Al picked it up, signed it and then walked around stage between and during songs to get autographs from Mike, Brian, David and Bruce. Nice gesture!

Bruce - well, he was there but you didn't really notice him that much. Killer vocal during the tag on God Only Knows though - sounded just like on the record. No Disney Girls and he sang only one lead, can't remember on which song though. Please Let Me Wonder? (If someone else here attended the show, please chime in if you remember which song he sang on.)

David - man, it's so great that he's along for the ride. I noticed that he sang on the background harmonies on a lot of songs, something I hadn't picked up on from reviews of prior shows. His only lead was on Getcha Back which was pretty cool. His guitar playing was awesome!!!

Other things:

Darian simply nailed Darlin'. I think that was the high-point for many of us. Scott Totten sang Ballad of Old Betsy. During one song (Do You Wanna Dance?) Nelson Bragg ran around stage with a cow bell foolin' around. John Cowsill walked around stage a few times filming with his iphone, as did Al at one point, also taking photos of the crowd...

After the show we hung around the back entrance. The five main guys we're quickly in the tour bus and probably left the premises no more than 30 minutes after the show's end. But then again, it was almost midnight and they had a three-hour drive to Copenhagen. We got to talk to Nelson and Probyn who thought the crowd had been really wild and receptive.

All in all, a great show. I've seen Brian in concert twice, one being one of the Smile premiere concerts at Royal Festival Hall, and Mike & Bruce twice, but this has got to be my favourite show yet. Great, intimate venue - everyone in top form and even though Brian is stonefaced throughout you get the feeling that it must take a lot of pressure off him to have Mike, Al, Bruce and David sharing the spotlight. I really felt that everyone on stage was having a good time, smiling and fooling around with each other.

So there you have it, my two cents - I hope fellow board members who are going to attend forthcoming shows will see as great a show as we did.

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