Brian Wilson - 2017 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds - The Final Performances)

[NOLA BB Fan]

Here's a review of the 29 March concert from one of our local rags:

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/thelatest/archives/2017/03/30/you-still-believe-in-me-brian-wilsons-goodbye-to-pet-sounds


Let Him Run Wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsMo7KePnsE

Feel Flows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4TfxUHHFYY

[Debbie KL]

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night at the Prairie Band Casino in Mayetta, KS.  This set list looks so wonderful.

[Debbie KL]

Here's a review of the 29 March concert from one of our local rags:

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/thelatest/archives/2017/03/30/you-still-believe-in-me-brian-wilsons-goodbye-to-pet-sounds


Let Him Run Wild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsMo7KePnsE

Feel Flows

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4TfxUHHFYY

Thanks so much for this.  Loved the review:

Great line:

“…But he's Brian Wilson, a big beam of light and the reason for everyone being there. “Please be seated,” he joked, maybe. following his opening ovation…

And another reason why we love him and another reason to see the shows…who else could do that?  So funny:

“..Wilson, still seated, shook hands with Chaplin while he was in the middle of a guitar solo…”

It’s a tough world out there.  Brian still makes it better.

[Bicyclerider]

Saw the New Orleans show - band was great as usual.  Loved seeing Billy Hinsche on keys.  Blondie was at his best - much better vocals than when I saw him with Brian in Biloxi last year.  Al as always was great.  Sound was flawed - too bass heavy and the lead guitar was at times inaudible.  I felt like running up to the stage and yelling like Murry, more treble on the guitars - turn the treble all the way up!!  Dance Dance Dance really needed the top end on the guitars.  Feel Flows was great but the flute was barely audible.

Then there was Brian - told the audience to be seated at least three times - I guess he didn't like us standing up and clapping!!  Did Row Row Row Your Boat, asked the women and then the men to scream several times.  Priceless -" this is a song Carl wrote before he died" - I much prefer those to  the songs he wrote after he died!

The bad - Brian's vocals on Pet Sounds were horrendous.  He "talked" most of the vocals and seemed to be reading them, at times not even in synch with the music.  He changed the lyrics to several songs and cut out some verses.  On God Only Knows - "you never need to doubt it - I'll make you so DAMN sure about it" with emphasis on the damn!  Dont' Talk - "don't talk, put your head right on my shoulder" plus other ad libs.  The singing coordination between he and Matt for the high parts of the songs sounded abrupt and awkward.  The whole thing made me glad I saw the first Pet Sounds tour with orchestra and with Brian singing all the songs, all the way through.

But then BEFORE Pet Sounds, and after, Brian sang great!!  His vocal on The Night was So Young was perfect.  Love and Mercy - great.  It was very bizarre.

Overall a rocking show but Pet Sounds was unfortunately disappointing.  Maybe it was an off night for Brian.

[beatle608]

Were they very strict about no signing? Almost unbelievable that you can't even get one thing signed for $500...

At least at the show I was at, there was no way you would be able to get anything signed via the meet and greet. The woman who manages the whole VIP thing is right in front of you taking pictures, and she said multiple times there won't be any signing. I wish they stuck to the two personal items thing that they used the last leg of the tour.

That's a real bummer. I've often advocated that the $500 price tag for these meet & greets were reasonable due to the value of the ticket and the value of the items you could get signed. Not anymore. I assume the book was pre-signed? Any chance we could see a photo? After the debacle with Premiere Collectibles, I would be hesitant of anything "signed" by Brian that I didn't personally witness...

https://ibb.co/fHPirF < There's a picture of the book I got with the package. Yes it was pre-signed, so I'm not going to trust that it's authentic. I honestly didn't think it was even close to being worth it. The meet and greet felt like people said it was during C50, enough time for a quick handshake and picture before you got rushed out. The whole thing was finished in 10 minutes, so it's not like they had to stop doing signing due to time.

There's a picture of it if you follow the link above. Definitely physically signed.

Yep, looks good to me. Interesting that they had him sign in silver marker on that page instead of the usual title page.

[HeyJude]

One of the soundcheck videos on YouTube shows them running through "You're So Good to Me", so we may see that one back in the setlist at some point coming up.

[NOLA BB Fan]

But then BEFORE Pet Sounds, and after, Brian sang great!!  His vocal on The Night was So Young was perfect.  Love and Mercy - great.  It was very bizarre.

Evidently Brian has made a decision to sing the Pet Sounds songs differently from the rest of them. The exception I noted in my review was Sloop John B. Maybe he sang in a "regular" style because he was singing alternate verses with Al.
I have noticed that he sometimes has trouble with the lyrics, particularly with "Here Today," trying to get the words out, particularly such as "it makes you feel so bad, it makes your heart feel sad" etc.
Of course, these songs weren't easy to sing 50 years ago when Brian was at his peak vocally

[RubberSoul13]

As legendary as the record is, I'd imagine Brian (and company) could be getting a bit tired of singing it for well over a year now...it really is time for a new tour concept. *cough cough* SMILE *cough cough*

[Bicyclerider]

But then BEFORE Pet Sounds, and after, Brian sang great!!  His vocal on The Night was So Young was perfect.  Love and Mercy - great.  It was very bizarre.

Evidently Brian has made a decision to sing the Pet Sounds songs differently from the rest of them. The exception I noted in my review was Sloop John B. Maybe he sang in a "regular" style because he was singing alternate verses with Al.
I have noticed that he sometimes has trouble with the lyrics, particularly with "Here Today," trying to get the words out, particularly such as "it makes you feel so bad, it makes your heart feel sad" etc.
Of course, these songs weren't easy to sing 50 years ago when Brian was at his peak vocally

Yes I noticed that for some reason he sang Sloop better than the rest of the PS material.  Maybe he didn't want to piss Al off?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

As legendary as the record is, I'd imagine Brian (and company) could be getting a bit tired of singing it for well over a year now...it really is time for a new tour concept. *cough cough* SMILE *cough cough*

I wouldn't be surprised. I know I certainly would be if it was me. That said, I've never seen Pet Sounds live, so there's that.

Hey, it's the 40th anniversary of Love You...there's a tour for you

[Emdeeh]

New date: July 7 at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

[Wirestone]

 Heading out tonight. A little birdie told me to watch for Honkin' at an upcoming show, so fingers crossed.

[Debbie KL]

Heading out tonight. A little birdie told me to watch for Honkin' at an upcoming show, so fingers crossed.

Sorry I missed you last evening.

A few brief notes:

I was hoping someone would post a set list, since I just go to enjoy and don't make notes.  I think my friend may have a few photos soon though.

Brian came onstage bright-eyed and happy, and he was hilarious in his usual way.  His vocals were strong.  This was a show that was a bit shorter than I saw last year with no intermission, but wonderfully well done. 

"Feel Flows" is as impressive as people say.  Everywhere I go, people simply fall in love with Blondie.  While I've not had a conversation with him since the late 60's, I think he's still the delightful, funny, sweet man I met back then.

Matt was pure perfection, per usual.  "Let Him Run Wild" - frikkin' amazing.  I think that the flow between Brian and Matt vocals is better now than ever, as well.  And his Dad was in really strong voice.  Wonderful.

Everyone in the band seemed relaxed, in good humor and ready for whatever Brian might want to throw at them.  It was a wonderful chemistry.  There is no one else like Brian and the band appreciates his brilliance and his quirky humor.

Even though I tend to prefer symphony halls to a casino ballroom, I was impressed with with the fact that the sound people did a good job.  The first couple of songs, Brian was low in the mix, but they got that fixed and Brian sounded excellent.  I was impressed after a lot of years of a variety of theater sound challenges with how they handled it.

Oh, and I like Billy's new hat!

When I'm ready to write more on a busy day, I'll see what I have to add.

[Fall Breaks]

New date: July 7 at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

What's the deal with so many festival shows?

[HeyJude]

No 4/1 setlist up on setlist.fm yet, but someone posted one for last night, 4/2, and it looks like they've added "Drive In" and "Honkin' Down the Highway", taking the place of "Little Honda" and "Do It Again" as performed at previous longer shows. 

Might be the first time since 1977 or so that two songs from "Love You" were in the setlist for the same show.

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/brian-wilson/2017/hartman-arena-wichita-ks-33e6a06d.html

[HeyJude]

New date: July 7 at Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

What's the deal with so many festival shows?

The festival gigs are good for PR and indie cred and all of that. Younger audiences, coverage and notices from different media outlets that aren't going to necessarily cover gigs at the Cleveland Rib Cook-Off.

Better for industry cred and all of that than for hardcore fans I suppose in some cases, as festival shows are indeed often shortened to varying degrees and aren't always the most convenient, comfortable experience.

But I think Brian's tours have booked well in this aspect; a good mixture of theaters, some sheds (during appropriate months), festivals, and some casino gigs to hit certain markets.

[Kid Presentable]

He is a very wide-appealing grab for a large spectrum of festivals out there, he probably gets paid similarly to a theater gig, and the expectations are usually no more than 45-60 minutes.  Sounds perfect for the Brianator.

[Rocky Raccoon]

So there are now two Love You songs in the setlist?  That's probably never even been done since the late 70s!

[SMiLE Brian]

Brian loves you!

[Emdeeh]

Thanks so much for the links to LHRW and FF!

[Wirestone]

A bundle of impressions from the Prairie Band Casino show.

-- Brian in strong voice, good pitch and projection. An outstanding Love and Mercy.

-- Band, as ever, tight and responsive. The musical quote band intros continue to amuse, and this one included a shout-out to Kerry Livgren of the band Kansas, who was in the audience. (They played about 20 seconds of "Carry on Wayward Son.)

-- The venue was ... peculiar. A ballroom without permanent seating. A (much) older casino crowd. Folks around me talked for the entire show.

-- I'd been told beforehand that the band was told to do 90 minutes, and I've never seen the group go quite as fast at the start. For me, BW shows always take some time to lift off -- something about getting all those voices and instruments and Brian's mood aligned can take 20-30 minutes. Or maybe it's just getting myself in place to appreciate them. But with this show, they were practically done with the first set by the time that happened!

-- I think the shows should be billed differently. It's great to have a group show, with a bunch of shared leads, but I think the audience gets a mite confused when attending a "Brian Wilson" show to see Al, then Matt, then Blondie dominate the first set. They eventually figure it out, of course, but Brian's role in these shows is definitely different than it was seven or eight years ago.

-- The peculiar phrasing BW uses in the Pet Sounds material worked great when I saw him last summer in KC. This time, it didn't persuade me as much. The thing is, these aren't standard blues progressions of the type Bob Dylan uses. The PS material is composed, and the lead melody line needs to be clearly stated for the harmonies and backing instrumentation to make sense.

-- In the encores, BW handled the first verses of Surfin' USA and FFF, with Al then taking the second verses. I'd never seen that done before, and it was very effective.

-- Brian did the booming Mike bass vocal on LHRW.

-- I really wish I could have seen a full-length show.  

[Wirestone]

Love and Mercy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac1B7KsnOQI

[Debbie KL]

A bundle of impressions from the Prairie Band Casino show.

-- Brian in strong voice, good pitch and projection. An outstanding Love and Mercy.

-- Band, as ever, tight and responsive. The musical quote band intros continue to amuse, and this one included a shout-out to Kerry Livgren of the band Kansas, who was in the audience. (They played about 20 seconds of "Carry on Wayward Son.)

-- The venue was ... peculiar. A ballroom without permanent seating. A (much) older casino crowd. Folks around me talked for the entire show.

-- I'd been told beforehand that the band was told to do 90 minutes, and I've never seen the group go quite as fast at the start. For me, BW shows always take some time to lift off -- something about getting all those voices and instruments and Brian's mood aligned can take 20-30 minutes. Or maybe it's just getting myself in place to appreciate them. But with this show, they were practically done with the first set by the time that happened!

-- I think the shows should be billed differently. It's great to have a group show, with a bunch of shared leads, but I think the audience gets a mite confused when attending a "Brian Wilson" show to see Al, then Matt, then Blondie dominate the first set. They eventually figure it out, of course, but Brian's role in these shows is definitely different than it was seven or eight years ago.

-- The peculiar phrasing BW uses in the Pet Sounds material worked great when I saw him last summer in KC. This time, it didn't persuade me as much. The thing is, these aren't standard blues progressions of the type Bob Dylan uses. The PS material is composed, and the lead melody line needs to be clearly stated for the harmonies and backing instrumentation to make sense.

-- In the encores, BW handled the first verses of Surfin' USA and FFF, with Al then taking the second verses. I'd never seen that done before, and it was very effective.

-- Brian did the booming Mike bass vocal on LHRW.

-- I really wish I could have seen a full-length show.  

Clay - I tend to avoid casino venues, but the show is always so excellent that it was worth it, and it's priced more moderately as well. 

I must have had an experience similar to yours.  Obviously, the acoustics in a ballroom aren't the same as the Kauffman (superb), but I thought 2 songs in that the sound crew really had the mix down in that difficult venue and Brian did sound great.  I was 8th row/center (exactly where I like to be), so that may have helped.

I think the biggest problem with casino venues is the audience.  I had a woman behind me with the loudest, most piercing "whoop/screech" I'd ever heard, and she chose to project it throughout songs like "God Only Knows."  I was eyeing my banquet chair with the thought of picking it up and knocking her out (I think when she complained about "Don't Talk" at the top of her lungs) but thought better of it. I think she must have accidentally doubled her meds and then drunk a lot.  My hearing in my left ear actually went out for a few hours thanks to that creature.

Brian and company do such a great show, but no one can control the audience.  I still loved it - always a great treat.

[joshferrell]

saw him last night in Fort Collins Colorado and all I can say is WOW!!!!!  He was in great voice and great spirit, Al was also in great voice and Spirit and Blondie ROCKED!!!!!!Matt Jardine impressed me with his singing... people really got into the whole experience,,,

[joshferrell]

By the way he did "Row row row your boat" in the middle of "Pet Sounds" which I thought was kind of funny....