Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour)

[Marty Castillo]

- Sail Away was really strong, I had seen several people say how discombobulated it seemed in previous shows, but I thought they nailed it.

I noticed on the soundcheck video that you posted that it sounded more together than most of the previous attempts I've heard.

Blondie is also more noticeably accenting specific portions of Al's lead vocal. I wish they would get Blondie in on a few other numbers, just to do something different. Having Blondie sing the bridge on "Surfer Girl" earlier in the tour sounded like a brilliant quick little blip of inspiration.

Maybe add "The Little Girl I Once Knew" and have Blondie do Mike's little interludes or something.

Change it up a little! Still hoping, even though it's a total novelty schtick moment, that they might add "Monster Mash" soon. Just for something different.

Yeah, Sail Away is strong in the soundcheck video, but was even stronger during the set. There are definitely a number of moving parts to the song, so maybe it took a few shows to get it right.

I don't completely understand Blondie's under-utilization, maybe that is how his contract his written up (i.e. three songs and the encore = X dollars per show guarantee). It would seem like a no-brainer to bring him up for California Saga, even if it was just minimal percussion and some background vocals. Why not, start with a few songs he doesn't sing lead on like California Saga, Marcella, then ease in with Sail Away, Funky Pretty, Sail On Sailor, and then cap off the set with Wild Honey.

I know it was only done during the Venetian special, but I would love to see Hold On Dear Brother added to the set, as well.

The song introductions are always a little awkward because I feel that Brian does not need to explain the songs to his audience unless they are very casual fans. Do any other artist of Brian's stature feel they have to do a dumbed down commentary on their songs when presenting them live?

I completely agree. I think, especially, for the Pet Sounds set it needed no introduction. I rather enjoy some of Brian and Al's introduction to songs, plus I figure it gives everyone in the band a chance to catch their breath, switch instruments, tune their guitars, etc.

Another observation from the Fox Theatre show in Detroit, it was almost completely sold out, despite Brian playing the same venue a little over a year prior--this tour definitely has legs if they want to bring it to some of the secondary markets.

[smyleysmyle]

This is from the 28th show at UB in Buffalo NY.  At the 15 second mark is me and my wife walking in to the show.  Pretty funny.  We saw that girl walking around inside too before the show. 

Great show, as always.  One thing that slightly bugged me was the way that Brian seems to be phrasing words, and ad-libbing.  Someone else here mentioned it already, but I got the feeling he was a little bored.  Now mind you, that was hardly an issue for me.  I'd go see Brian read the phone book if he toured like that

Cool interview with Matt Jardine from, I presume, yesterday?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGGXI-OGkKY

What a freaking easy going, cool guy. I'm so glad he's the guy filling that role in Brian's band. I sincerely hope this is the guy that can fill that role in Brian's band for the remainder of Brian's career.

Would definitely love to see (and hear) a long interview with him; between his years in the BB organization, plus Al's band, and now Brian's, there have to be a ton of cool stories. He's shared a few over the years about Carl and whatnot.

[Kid Presentable]

I don't completely understand Blondie's under-utilization, maybe that is how his contract his written up (i.e. three songs and the encore = X dollars per show guarantee). It would seem like a no-brainer to bring him up for California Saga, even if it was just minimal percussion and some background vocals. Why not, start with a few songs he doesn't sing lead on like California Saga, Marcella, then ease in with Sail Away, Funky Pretty, Sail On Sailor, and then cap off the set with Wild Honey.

I know it was only done during the Venetian special, but I would love to see Hold On Dear Brother added to the set, as well.

I know that people like you and I would flip our wigs for stuff like that, but you must realize too, that there is a pretty narrow fanbase out there that is really interested in mining the early 70s output of the Carl band, especially when the focus is Brian coming through and pumping out Pet Sounds and some hits.  If we're going to go down that road, what I would actually like to see is Brian, Al, Blondie and like THREE or maybe FOUR other musicians come through on a stripped down club tour where they play primarily 1967-1977 material and Al and Blondie handle well over half of the lead vocals while Brian gets comfortable with being the primary key player and a secondary vocalist.  Got a snowball's chance in hell of happening, but still.

[HeyJude]

In Denver, during the (rather lengthy and untidy because of real house issues with the sound) soundcheck, there was a lovely moment during the down time where Al was trying to figure out the chords to Magic Transistor Radio and Brian came out on stage and immediately showed him and sang a bit of it. He went right into it as if he had it in his back pocket all along. I caught a little on video and will try to upload at some point. Paul M had to do a lot of (uninteresting) Q & A with audience while the techs were working on the sound system.

Question: When did this Brian speak/singing really take hold (as opposed to his being occasionally clipped/short of breath in previous concert phrasing)? Was it a conscious change of style to accommodate issues with wavering pitch on sustained notes in the past (God only knows that Pet Sounds is so difficult for ANYONE to sing)? Indeed, like many have noted here, he sounded so very strong and on pitch for most of the night, but I was a little startled at the self conscious stylistic change toward a conversational style talk/singing for Pet Sounds in particular. Paul Simon does this kind of thing quite frequently in his approach to lyric interpretation, and one wonders if there was some influence here? Has anyone asked Brian about this change in singing style of late?

Re: "Magic Transistor Radio": Amazing! That's the sort of stuff that makes me long for some sort of even one-shot show or even just an in-studio album where it's just Brian and a piano, and maybe someone to throw titles at him. Nothing else.

As for the speak/singing thing, I would assume it's partly due to the epic tour schedule. Not so much that it's a stamina issue, but simply that now that they're on the 80th or 90th or whatever it is performance of "Pet Sounds", I can't imagine there isn't at least a little bit of boredom that sometimes creeps in. Which is why I find it extra puzzling that they haven't rejiggered the first set setlist at least a little more to keep things a bit different after so many shows, and have instead reverted it back to material from last year (e.g. "Sail Away", "You're So Good to Me") and dropped the newer additions (e.g. "Funky Pretty", "Honkin'", now even "Little Honda" has been gone for several shows). They haven't even been rotating Al's song much lately, sticking mostly to "Cal Saga" and not rotating "Then I Kissed Her" or "Cotton Fields" in as much.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Agreed-- the thought of Al noodling with and Brian busting out "Magic Transistor Radio", just out of the blue, made my heart skip a beat.

Hey! Maybe they're talking about fleshing out Mt. Vernon & Fairway into a full-length animated musical! Darian and Brian have the Disney connection, after all...

(I know that's completely unrealistic)

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

I can see it now in lights!" The Magic Transistor Radio Tour" coming your way soon! Focus will be on Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland and Carl and the Passions material plus selected cuts from Brian's solo albums. Yeah, baby! 

[Scaroline No]

I can see it now in lights!" The Magic Transistor Radio Tour" coming your way soon! Focus will be on Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland and Carl and the Passions material plus selected cuts from Brian's solo albums. Yeah, baby! 

I'm all over this like beaks on eagles 

[Debbie KL]

I can see it now in lights!" The Magic Transistor Radio Tour" coming your way soon! Focus will be on Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland and Carl and the Passions material plus selected cuts from Brian's solo albums. Yeah, baby! 

I'm all over this like beaks on eagles 

A great theme, for sure - and great music.

[Marty Castillo]

I don't completely understand Blondie's under-utilization, maybe that is how his contract his written up (i.e. three songs and the encore = X dollars per show guarantee). It would seem like a no-brainer to bring him up for California Saga, even if it was just minimal percussion and some background vocals. Why not, start with a few songs he doesn't sing lead on like California Saga, Marcella, then ease in with Sail Away, Funky Pretty, Sail On Sailor, and then cap off the set with Wild Honey.

I know it was only done during the Venetian special, but I would love to see Hold On Dear Brother added to the set, as well.

I know that people like you and I would flip our wigs for stuff like that, but you must realize too, that there is a pretty narrow fanbase out there that is really interested in mining the early 70s output of the Carl band, especially when the focus is Brian coming through and pumping out Pet Sounds and some hits.  If we're going to go down that road, what I would actually like to see is Brian, Al, Blondie and like THREE or maybe FOUR other musicians come through on a stripped down club tour where they play primarily 1967-1977 material and Al and Blondie handle well over half of the lead vocals while Brian gets comfortable with being the primary key player and a secondary vocalist.  Got a snowball's chance in hell of happening, but still.

I guess my point was that they are already doing songs from CATP and Holland without him, why not cluster it with the other three songs he does during the set and include him on those additional 1-2 songs? He already comes out for the random song, from time-to-time to do an interpretive dance and play the tambourine.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I agree, Marty

[the captain]

-I disagree with an earlier poster- Blondie ruled the roost when he was out there and was absolutely captivating.  I wish that one day in my life I could be half as cool as he was that night.  Their version of Wild Honey was awesome because it was an extended psych guitar shred session by him.  Probably a bit jarring for some of the fans but super appreciated by me.  He came back out for the last part of the set and alternated between guitar and tambourine, during the latter prancing around, checking in with other members of the band while singing backups, and engaging the audience while weaving in and out of the stage monitors.  Hail Blondie.

Guessing you're referring to me. I want to clarify that I didn't mean he wasn't good, just that I didn't think the sound on his guitar was good--at least from where I sat--and that the audience didn't seem appreciative of the dramatic shift in the tone of the show from classic pop / rock n roll to, well, Blondie. I like him and think he was great. I thought I said, but maybe only elsewhere, that I'd have loved to see him more fully incorporated into the show. Not necessarily for more guitar soloing (at least at length), but just in general, because he's a fabulous musician and entertaining performer. (It was the first time I'd seen him live.)

[Bud Shaver]

If anybody has (or knows of) an extra ticket for the Portland show tomorrow (10/7), I would love to buy it and go to the show.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to beg 

[wilsonart1]

The Mpls. paper tell's of the  $500 meet and great .  That was it 13 minutes with the great Brain Wilson in action.  Jon Bream  wrote the article.

[thorgil]

 

I can see it now in lights!" The Magic Transistor Radio Tour" coming your way soon! Focus will be on Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland and Carl and the Passions material plus selected cuts from Brian's solo albums. Yeah, baby!  

Oh my, OSD, you just made me dream... 

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

-I disagree with an earlier poster- Blondie ruled the roost when he was out there and was absolutely captivating.  I wish that one day in my life I could be half as cool as he was that night.  Their version of Wild Honey was awesome because it was an extended psych guitar shred session by him.  Probably a bit jarring for some of the fans but super appreciated by me.  He came back out for the last part of the set and alternated between guitar and tambourine, during the latter prancing around, checking in with other members of the band while singing backups, and engaging the audience while weaving in and out of the stage monitors.  Hail Blondie.

Guessing you're referring to me. I want to clarify that I didn't mean he wasn't good, just that I didn't think the sound on his guitar was good--at least from where I sat--and that the audience didn't seem appreciative of the dramatic shift in the tone of the show from classic pop / rock n roll to, well, Blondie. I like him and think he was great. I thought I said, but maybe only elsewhere, that I'd have loved to see him more fully incorporated into the show. Not necessarily for more guitar soloing (at least at length), but just in general, because he's a fabulous musician and entertaining performer. (It was the first time I'd seen him live.)

When Blondie played his first guitar solo-- must have been Wild Honey-- at the Easton gig, the sound guy was going nuts trying to get it mixed right. For most of it, it was more "noise rock" than "70s rock guitar," and even my nasty little ears couldn't make much sense of it. By the end of the solo, you could finally hear individual notes emerge from the wall of distortion. His second solo of the night was fine from the get-go. In both cases, the solo went on *a little* too long, even for my nasty little tastes, but maybe he would rein it in a bit more if he got to take a bite out of a few more songs during the show.

[Marty Castillo]

The Mpls. paper tell's of the  $500 meet and great .  That was it 13 minutes with the great Brain Wilson in action.  Jon Bream  wrote the article.

Maybe the meet & greet review was in the print edition only? http://www.startribune.com/brian-wilson-has-good-vibrations-in-orpheum-theatre-performance/395596051/#1

I know that the VIP soundcheck and meet & greet solicits mixed feelings and reviews. I totally understand, as $500 was no small fee for me, but it is my personal view that it is a decent value. Here is how it breaks down for me:

Front row ticket - hard to gauge actual value, as they all include the soundcheck and meet & greet, but the packages without the meet & greet are $250. The soundcheck is 30 minutes, of which, Brian was on stage for 20-25 minutes. Hard to put an actual value on the soundcheck, but it is definitely a magical experience. In my mind, $150 for the concert, $100 for the soundcheck--definitely worth it.

Meet & greet - they put a value on it of $250 (as you can buy the concert/soundcheck package for $250). I'll assign no monetary value on "meeting" Brian, Al and Blondie and getting a photo with them. Each attendee of the meet & greet was given a poster and God Only Knows lyric sheet music and instructed that we could have two signatures from each of them (on any item). To further simplify things, say you got two Pet Sounds LPs signed by only Brian and Al--reselling them on eBay certainly tops $250, if not more. One of the signed posters by Brian, Al and Blondie recently sold for $399 on eBay. I have no plans to sell any of the stuff I got signed this time, but they certainly have monetary value equal to $250.


Is it a manufactured encounter with them? Yes. Chances of meeting Brian randomly outside of a meet & greet? Pretty unlikely. Brian does kind of go through the motions, but Blondie and Al were both quite animated. I understand it's not for everybody, but I've done it twice now in the past year and felt like I got value both times.


Part of Al's enthusiasm may have been my shirt (custom made locally since I wasn't satisfied with the Redbubble t-shirt quality):




When the band came on stage, both Al and Matt were pointing and smiling at me. Al hooked me up with a pick at the end of the show--too bad he doesn't get personalized picks anymore:

[PS]

Portrait of Brian Wilson ("Hindsight is 20/20")

10.4.16
Paramount Theater (soundcheck)
Denver, Colorado

[You Kane, You Commanded, You Conquered]

Part of Al's enthusiasm may have been my shirt (custom made locally since I wasn't satisfied with the Redbubble t-shirt quality):




When the band came on stage, both Al and Matt were pointing and smiling at me. Al hooked me up with a pick at the end of the show--too bad he doesn't get personalized picks anymore:

Very jealous right now!

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

yeah, me too

[HeyJude]

Brian backstage in Portland with Mike's sister Maureen:

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Wow....cool photo!

[undercover-m]

Good to know people are buying those RedBubble shirts... You are all slowly and steadily providing for a small fraction of my student grocery funds.

Anyway, I was hoping I could get a quick answer, but for the VIP packages: will there be time between the meet & greet and the show for folks to grab dinner, etc. in between? I mean, I'm assuming "yes," because hungry, cranky fans aren't all that appealing. I just would like to know exactly when, I guess.

Thanks in advance.

[Bud Shaver]

Got to to say hi and get a quick picture with Blondie after the Portland show:



Saw and said thanks to everyone else besides Brian. Told Matt Jardine I missed the ponytail, to which he replied,"I don't!"

[Bud Shaver]

[Bud Shaver]