Mike and Bruce Tour 2015

[Autotune]

Sheriff, It wasn't a personal attack upon anyone, other than a blunt assessment. A music review. And we all know that all of them are subjective.

Those four clips kind of summed up the paradox to me. Even on one of Brian's most difficult nights, I've never seen his touring band less than nail nuanced, fully textured tracks, such as anything from Pet Sounds. When you've got a truncated set-up such as Mike's solo band -   - I mean BEACH BOYS band, there are fewer moving parts. So what do you think is going to happen when they try to weave a tapestry such as All I Wanna Do? A-for-effort, but the result (that night) was subpar. Kinda like a bar band. It was. That and the fact that Mike's voice has taken a beating these past few years what with all the dates.

BUT...Farmers Daughter and Cottonfields fit the bill, and the touring ensemble fit into those like a well worn set of Hush Puppies. They fit nicely.

I give props to Mike's band for learning these newly-played classic songs, and I think their hearts are in the right place, though I wonder if it's a sense of competition above all else that's motivating Mike to play these songs. Better late than never I guess. Not intended whatsoever as a diss to any musician, but I do doubt that any member of the band would in their heart of hearts dispute that the songs would probably sound better with a greater quantity of musicians onstage, on par with C50, but I am quite glad they are being played, and I give props to Mike for playing them too.

What bugs me is the Kokomaoists who think it's perfectly fine (and not in any way in poor taste or inappropriate for Mike to continually point out) when Mike does interviews for Mike to bring up Brian having issues and not performing at his otherwise optimal level due to excessive substance abuse decades earlier, but somehow the same Kokomaoists will find it offensive for someone on this board to suggest that Mike may not be singing at his own otherwise optimal level and perhaps would have a stronger voice if it was conserved more by less excessive touring, right? I'm just curious how any Kokomaoist on this board could not call this a hypocritical stance.

These are the things that ultimately piss off fans, and increase divisions. It's a no-brainer that since none of those types of things were said by Mike in interviews during C50, that they are being said now out of some bitter agenda; it ain't a coincidence, folks. If more Kokomaoists stopped being blind yes-men to defending this type of interview stuff, and less (how about zero?) fans openly defended these interviews, perhaps we'd hear less of this type of needless sh*t-stirring in interviews, and then we'd have world peace.

I agree with most of the above and it was the sense that Surf's Up and Til I Die were being done for competitive reasons that I found irritating - though if that is not the case then I'm happy to apologise. 

That's infantile thinking. And you are repeating a pattern here: spilling the garbage, waiting for somebody to prove you wrong, and then trying a mild apology. You have no idea, and yet you pass conjecture as fact and leave it to others to prove you wrong.

The "competitive reasons" is a projection of your own feelings (i.e. how you think Mike might act) and is ultimately pointless as long as the quality is good (and that's the issue to be discussed, I think).

BTW, lots of great things in BB history have been done for competitive reasons, and there's nothing wrong with it. I don't want to come after you every time, but you do yourself no favor.

The inclusion of SU on the setlist irritates you who knows for what reason, and you are coming up with faux arguments to battle against it.

I'm not trying a mild apology - I'm prepared to apologise IF I'm wrong about the motivation. As far as I'm concerned, the case is unproven.

Nope. It's up to you to back your statement.

It would have been great if the C50 band had performed All I Wanna Do, but alas they didn't-- perhaps nobody suggested that one (much like SU). And TWGMTR would have been a better album if Waves of Love had been in it and Brian hadn't nixed it-- alas, he did. The reunion was what it was; to relate SU in the British tour 2015 to the C50 is too big of a stretch and it's getting tiresome.

[SMiLE Brian]

To relate Mike Love and his greedy ways to BW's art is getting tiresome at this point.

[Mike's Beard]

Only this board could take the touring band performing lost classics such as Surf's Up and 'Till I Die and turn it into a negative.

[Robbie Mac]

A couple of quick things...

- Sure, there is no brass, vibes, extra percussion, etc. in The Beach Boys' band, but I don't think the unit is "too small" to replicate any of the Beach Boys' songs. I mean, they have two guitars, two keyboards, bass, drums, and tambourine (and with David Marks they had three guitars; this is Blue Oyster Cult territory! ) That's more than a lot of the top bands, including Paul McCartney. Only a small number of "fans" would complain about this, and we know where they can be found. What was the reaction of the fans who attended the concert? Was it overwhelmingly positive or were people saying, "You know, they could use more instrumentalists if they're going to play that song." It's funny how the fans who attend Beach Boys' concerts just keep coming back and coming back. And you know BRI loves that, too.

- This is PURE SPECULATION, I'm not stating it as fact in any way, just questioning, but...I wonder if - if - the possibility of performing "Surf's Up" during 2012 ever came up, maybe it was Brian himself who wasn't up to singing it, for whatever reason?

- Addressing a point made earlier in the thread, concerning Mike not wanting Brian to get more applause than him during the 2012 shows...Not that I didn't like the performance of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", I did very much. But, I did find it a bit of a surprising choice/selection. I mean, it wasn't a single or a hit, and they performed five other Pet Sounds' songs. My point is, it was almost a solo performance for Brian singing IJWMFTT, he got a standing ovation, so if Mike didn't want Brian to get more attention than him, why would Mike "allow" that song to be performed?

Just a guess, but that summer, IJWMFTT had turned up in a prominent scene from an episode of Mad Men, so its inclusion in the setlist was pretty much a no-brainer.

[Sheriff John Stone]

A couple of quick things...

- Sure, there is no brass, vibes, extra percussion, etc. in The Beach Boys' band, but I don't think the unit is "too small" to replicate any of the Beach Boys' songs. I mean, they have two guitars, two keyboards, bass, drums, and tambourine (and with David Marks they had three guitars; this is Blue Oyster Cult territory! ) That's more than a lot of the top bands, including Paul McCartney. Only a small number of "fans" would complain about this, and we know where they can be found. What was the reaction of the fans who attended the concert? Was it overwhelmingly positive or were people saying, "You know, they could use more instrumentalists if they're going to play that song." It's funny how the fans who attend Beach Boys' concerts just keep coming back and coming back. And you know BRI loves that, too.

- This is PURE SPECULATION, I'm not stating it as fact in any way, just questioning, but...I wonder if - if - the possibility of performing "Surf's Up" during 2012 ever came up, maybe it was Brian himself who wasn't up to singing it, for whatever reason?

- Addressing a point made earlier in the thread, concerning Mike not wanting Brian to get more applause than him during the 2012 shows...Not that I didn't like the performance of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", I did very much. But, I did find it a bit of a surprising choice/selection. I mean, it wasn't a single or a hit, and they performed five other Pet Sounds' songs. My point is, it was almost a solo performance for Brian singing IJWMFTT, he got a standing ovation, so if Mike didn't want Brian to get more attention than him, why would Mike "allow" that song to be performed?

Just a guess, but that summer, IJWMFTT had turned up in a prominent scene from an episode of Mad Men, so its inclusion in the setlist was pretty much a no-brainer.

Good point.

[tpesky]

"We've been asked by many fans if we plan to bring this set list home to the States....of course we will!!!  Unfortunately, we have curfews in every venue, but we will always deliver as much music as we can!!!!"

Mike Love

Yet those damn curfews always allow enough time for Hawaii, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, and Surf City to get played.

[ontor pertawst]

The curfews also insist that "Pisces Brother" be included to prevent unstable personalities from rioting or burning trash after a Mike and Bruce show. The devastating emotional power of having it follow "God Only Knows" leaves concert-goers with eyes streaming with tears, all thoughts of running riot firmly dismissed from their minds. It's the modern "Student Demonstration Time."

[Cam Mott]

So they have performed in the US since this statement?

[The Shift]

Do some posters go deliberately out of their way to be dicks?

[drbeachboy]

Do some posters go deliberately out of their way to be dicks?

YES!!! Most likely they cannot be dicks in there real life, so they come here and burden us with their Dick-ness.

[Cyncie]

A couple of quick things...

- Sure, there is no brass, vibes, extra percussion, etc. in The Beach Boys' band, but I don't think the unit is "too small" to replicate any of the Beach Boys' songs. I mean, they have two guitars, two keyboards, bass, drums, and tambourine (and with David Marks they had three guitars; this is Blue Oyster Cult territory! ) That's more than a lot of the top bands, including Paul McCartney. Only a small number of "fans" would complain about this, and we know where they can be found. What was the reaction of the fans who attended the concert? Was it overwhelmingly positive or were people saying, "You know, they could use more instrumentalists if they're going to play that song." It's funny how the fans who attend Beach Boys' concerts just keep coming back and coming back. And you know BRI loves that, too.

- This is PURE SPECULATION, I'm not stating it as fact in any way, just questioning, but...I wonder if - if - the possibility of performing "Surf's Up" during 2012 ever came up, maybe it was Brian himself who wasn't up to singing it, for whatever reason?

- Addressing a point made earlier in the thread, concerning Mike not wanting Brian to get more applause than him during the 2012 shows...Not that I didn't like the performance of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", I did very much. But, I did find it a bit of a surprising choice/selection. I mean, it wasn't a single or a hit, and they performed five other Pet Sounds' songs. My point is, it was almost a solo performance for Brian singing IJWMFTT, he got a standing ovation, so if Mike didn't want Brian to get more attention than him, why would Mike "allow" that song to be performed?

Just a guess, but that summer, IJWMFTT had turned up in a prominent scene from an episode of Mad Men, so its inclusion in the setlist was pretty much a no-brainer.

That's a good point. I don't think the "deep cuts" necessarily get included in either Brians or Mike's show just out of artistry. I mean, they have to sell tickets. Mike does more deep cuts in England and more Greatest Hits shows here because he knows it's what the audience wants. Nothing wrong with that.

I do wonder if the movie is going to have any impact on his show. Obviously Brian's tour will have it and NPP on the radar, but I wonder if Mike will adapt his show with the thought that the movie could bring out a different type of audience. If he hasn't thought of it, he should. There's no better way to demonstrate that you actually didn't hate Brian's creative peak than to play those songs in concert.

[bgas]

A couple of quick things...

- Sure, there is no brass, vibes, extra percussion, etc. in The Beach Boys' band, but I don't think the unit is "too small" to replicate any of the Beach Boys' songs. I mean, they have two guitars, two keyboards, bass, drums, and tambourine (and with David Marks they had three guitars; this is Blue Oyster Cult territory! ) That's more than a lot of the top bands, including Paul McCartney. Only a small number of "fans" would complain about this, and we know where they can be found. What was the reaction of the fans who attended the concert? Was it overwhelmingly positive or were people saying, "You know, they could use more instrumentalists if they're going to play that song." It's funny how the fans who attend Beach Boys' concerts just keep coming back and coming back. And you know BRI loves that, too.

- This is PURE SPECULATION, I'm not stating it as fact in any way, just questioning, but...I wonder if - if - the possibility of performing "Surf's Up" during 2012 ever came up, maybe it was Brian himself who wasn't up to singing it, for whatever reason?

- Addressing a point made earlier in the thread, concerning Mike not wanting Brian to get more applause than him during the 2012 shows...Not that I didn't like the performance of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times", I did very much. But, I did find it a bit of a surprising choice/selection. I mean, it wasn't a single or a hit, and they performed five other Pet Sounds' songs. My point is, it was almost a solo performance for Brian singing IJWMFTT, he got a standing ovation, so if Mike didn't want Brian to get more attention than him, why would Mike "allow" that song to be performed?

Just a guess, but that summer, IJWMFTT had turned up in a prominent scene from an episode of Mad Men, so its inclusion in the setlist was pretty much a no-brainer.

That's a good point. I don't think the "deep cuts" necessarily get included in either Brians or Mike's show just out of artistry. I mean, they have to sell tickets. Mike does more deep cuts in England and more Greatest Hits shows here because he knows it's what the audience wants. Nothing wrong with that.

I do wonder if the movie is going to have any impact on his show. Obviously Brian's tour will have it and NPP on the radar, but I wonder if Mike will adapt his show with the thought that the movie could bring out a different type of audience. If he hasn't thought of it, he should. There's no better way to demonstrate that you actually didn't hate Brian's creative peak than to play those songs in concert.

Oops!  You actually meant to say: There's no better way to pretend that you actually didn't hate Brian's creative peak than to play those songs in concert.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Bluntly put... I don't care what the reasons for the deep cuts being played really are. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter, in that the fans who paid tickets to see them benefit, so the end result is a good thing.

Yet those damn curfews always allow enough time for Hawaii, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, and Surf City to get played.

Hawaii is a classic BB song, so it should be included. Now, I agree on Surf City...although a good song, it's a J&D cover. If BW was there, it'd be different in that he wrote the song. All my opinion, of course.

[lee]

I think it's great to see them adding AIWD and SU to the setlist. It's nice to see Wild Honey and Sail on Sailor as well. For AIWD being a first time performance (and Mike normally not singing that high on his typical lead), I think it sounded great. I hope they keep it in the setlist and they get more comfortable with it. Personally, I've never seen a M&B show because the greatest hits setlist never interested me enough to go see them. If their future US shows begin to shadow these UK setlists, I'll definitely go see them next time they're around the area. Now if they could just squeeze Deirdre into the set.

[wantsomecorn]

It's also worth noting that Hawaii and Surf City haven't been played since last November.

[Andrew G. Doe]

This is to Ms. Jones. You say you don't make things up, but that's untrue. You say that f*uckwits and sh*tweasels are anyone who disagrees with my viewpoint. Complete rubbish: I welcome intelligent and informed debate, as do almost all the posters here. I save the appellation of F&S for those who cannot accept any view bar their own and who are incapable of posting anything except their own bile soaked premise at every turn, to well past the point of complete and moronic tedium. So, kindly refrain from putting words in my mouth, please.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Do some posters go deliberately out of their way to be dicks?

Some. With others, they really don't have to try. 

[ontor pertawst]

What was that Nietzsche said about staring into the f*ckwit and shitweasel abyss? Something in German probably. None of us come out of this looking good or particularly covered in glory: not the band, not the critics, not the defenders, not the above-it-all-yet-still-engaging tut-tutters.

I say we agree to blame John Stamos and call it a day. Fair's fair. Common ground!

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

To relate Mike Love and his greedy ways to BW's art is getting tiresome at this point.

   

[Ang Jones]

Sheriff, It wasn't a personal attack upon anyone, other than a blunt assessment. A music review. And we all know that all of them are subjective.

Those four clips kind of summed up the paradox to me. Even on one of Brian's most difficult nights, I've never seen his touring band less than nail nuanced, fully textured tracks, such as anything from Pet Sounds. When you've got a truncated set-up such as Mike's solo band -   - I mean BEACH BOYS band, there are fewer moving parts. So what do you think is going to happen when they try to weave a tapestry such as All I Wanna Do? A-for-effort, but the result (that night) was subpar. Kinda like a bar band. It was. That and the fact that Mike's voice has taken a beating these past few years what with all the dates.

BUT...Farmers Daughter and Cottonfields fit the bill, and the touring ensemble fit into those like a well worn set of Hush Puppies. They fit nicely.

I give props to Mike's band for learning these newly-played classic songs, and I think their hearts are in the right place, though I wonder if it's a sense of competition above all else that's motivating Mike to play these songs. Better late than never I guess. Not intended whatsoever as a diss to any musician, but I do doubt that any member of the band would in their heart of hearts dispute that the songs would probably sound better with a greater quantity of musicians onstage, on par with C50, but I am quite glad they are being played, and I give props to Mike for playing them too.

What bugs me is the Kokomaoists who think it's perfectly fine (and not in any way in poor taste or inappropriate for Mike to continually point out) when Mike does interviews for Mike to bring up Brian having issues and not performing at his otherwise optimal level due to excessive substance abuse decades earlier, but somehow the same Kokomaoists will find it offensive for someone on this board to suggest that Mike may not be singing at his own otherwise optimal level and perhaps would have a stronger voice if it was conserved more by less excessive touring, right? I'm just curious how any Kokomaoist on this board could not call this a hypocritical stance.

These are the things that ultimately piss off fans, and increase divisions. It's a no-brainer that since none of those types of things were said by Mike in interviews during C50, that they are being said now out of some bitter agenda; it ain't a coincidence, folks. If more Kokomaoists stopped being blind yes-men to defending this type of interview stuff, and less (how about zero?) fans openly defended these interviews, perhaps we'd hear less of this type of needless sh*t-stirring in interviews, and then we'd have world peace.

I agree with most of the above and it was the sense that Surf's Up and Til I Die were being done for competitive reasons that I found irritating - though if that is not the case then I'm happy to apologise. 

That's infantile thinking. And you are repeating a pattern here: spilling the garbage, waiting for somebody to prove you wrong, and then trying a mild apology. You have no idea, and yet you pass conjecture as fact and leave it to others to prove you wrong.

The "competitive reasons" is a projection of your own feelings (i.e. how you think Mike might act) and is ultimately pointless as long as the quality is good (and that's the issue to be discussed, I think).

BTW, lots of great things in BB history have been done for competitive reasons, and there's nothing wrong with it. I don't want to come after you every time, but you do yourself no favor.

The inclusion of SU on the setlist irritates you who knows for what reason, and you are coming up with faux arguments to battle against it.

I'm not trying a mild apology - I'm prepared to apologise IF I'm wrong about the motivation. As far as I'm concerned, the case is unproven.

Nope. It's up to you to back your statement.

It would have been great if the C50 band had performed All I Wanna Do, but alas they didn't-- perhaps nobody suggested that one (much like SU). And TWGMTR would have been a better album if Waves of Love had been in it and Brian hadn't nixed it-- alas, he did. The reunion was what it was; to relate SU in the British tour 2015 to the C50 is too big of a stretch and it's getting tiresome.

I certainly agree that the argument is becoming tiresome.

Firstly, let me get this straight. I love Surf's Up and I have no problem with it being played. Competition isn't in itself a bad thing either. It is just that the impression I have had for some time is that Mike had problems with some of this music. Mike has said different things at different times so it would be easy to find contradictory statements but for example he criticised the lyric to Til I Die as not being positive enough. One of the problems Mike admitted to having with SMiLE was that he wasn't the collaborator. Hence my finding it easy to believe the alleged comment mentioned "over and over".

Scott assures me that it is not true that Mike refused to allow the C50 band to play it - that the subject never came up. I suppose as far as he knew it didn't.  Scott suggested the inclusion for the current tour and presumably Mike agreed to it although he hasn't included it in the M&B sets before to the best of my knowledge. I think it likely that Mike perhaps wanted to raise the bar. There'd been another Brian solo album, soon the film is coming out. Competitive - perhaps but it's a business. We expect that. Also Mojo had voted Surf's Up No 1 in its 50 Greatest Beach Boys Songs (Til I Die was No 5). And Mike seems to like the number 50! Competitive - OK. I just hope sincere. Surely it is on Scott's part as he suggested it.

[The Shift]

Isn't it time. RAH. Now

[drbeachboy]

Ang, why won't you give up the "impression"? You were told by the one person who would know; the Musical Director from both 2012 and 2015. As Musical Director, he would be involved regarding any decisions made about the setlist; adding, subtracting, etc..

General Rant at No one and Everyone: This is what pisses me off about this place most of all. People cannot accept what is told to them. Like adding & subtracting songs is some CIA operation. No one can be trusted to tell you the truth. We want people like Scott to come in here, yet we cannot believe him when he gives us factual information. We always have to be right even when we are dead wrong. People, get over yourselves!

[ontor pertawst]

Isn't it time. RAH. Now

Hope everyone has fun and describes it in detail. Every pointing gesture from those jewel-encrusted fingers!  Extra points if someone bursts into "The Baker Man" at any point.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Scott assures me that it is not true that Mike refused to allow the C50 band to play it - that the subject never came up. I suppose as far as he knew it didn't.  Scott suggested the inclusion for the current tour and presumably Mike agreed to it although he hasn't included it in the M&B sets before to the best of my knowledge. I think it likely that Mike perhaps wanted to raise the bar. There'd been another Brian solo album, soon the film is coming out. Competitive - perhaps but it's a business. We expect that. Also Mojo had voted Surf's Up No 1 in its 50 Greatest Beach Boys Songs (Til I Die was No 5). And Mike seems to like the number 50! Competitive - OK. I just hope sincere. Surely it is on Scott's part as he suggested it.

You "suppose as far as he knew...". Leaving aside the Thatcherian condescension, you've evidently forgotten - or never knew - that Scott was one of the two musical directors for the C50 tour. It was his job to know. This is the second time that it's been strongly implied that Scott is lying over "Surf's Up" and C50. Way to ensure he keeps posting here.

[drbeachboy]

Isn't it time. RAH. Now

Enjoy, my friend!