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

[NateRuvin]

At this point, I'd rather just see BW do a set of BBs greatest hits, like the first half of his show, because he's so enthusiastic. The PS stuff obviously bores the hell out of him. It's odd that he actually seems more excited to sing car songs than his masterpiece(s).

[HeyJude]

At this point, I'd rather just see BW do a set of BBs greatest hits, like the first half of his show, because he's so enthusiastic. The PS stuff obviously bores the hell out of him. It's odd that he actually seems more excited to sing car songs than his masterpiece(s).

Well, there's the armchair psychology aspect where we can guess that PS, for all its accolades, is more of a "loaded" era/topic for Brian than those early hits (kind of like how he feels about "Smile", just not nearly as intense).

Also, I often remind people that Brian was not regularly active touring for 1965-1976 and 1983-1998. That's 26 years worth touring where Carl, Al, and Mike (and Bruce for most of those years) sang all those "meat and potatoes" songs every night. The point being that Brian hasn't performed his own "oldies" nearly as much as Al or Mike have, and clearly even Al and Mike strangely aren't totally sick of the material. Brian has been touring for a while now, so my point was more salient back around 2007 or so when people were complaining about Brian doing songs like "Shut Down", where in fact the evidence was that I as a fan had probably listened to more live recordings of that song than Brian had in his career.

I'm surprised after nearly two years of touring PS, and this year and at least some of last year featuring Brian's "unique" vocal approach to the PS songs, that some interviewer hasn't asked Brian if he's sick of performing the album.

[KDS]

At this point, I'd rather just see BW do a set of BBs greatest hits, like the first half of his show, because he's so enthusiastic. The PS stuff obviously bores the hell out of him. It's odd that he actually seems more excited to sing car songs than his masterpiece(s).

Just a theory.  But, it could be that Brian has grown weary of his career being defined so much by Pet Sounds.  There's a belief (especially outside of hardcore BB/BW fans) that Pet Sounds is sort of the be all / end all of his 50+ year career.  A lot of the pre Pet Sounds classics get dismissed by music afficionados as disposable pop music, while a lot of the most PS material might not be as well known to non hardcore fans.  

[B.E.]

It's odd that he actually seems more excited to sing car songs than his masterpiece(s).

Perhaps, but I don't think Brian looks down on his early material like some fans do. I could be wrong, but I get the impression that he digs just about everything he's ever done, musically. And why not? Also, I suspect it's just more fun for him to sing the car songs in a concert setting.

Any chance Brian's band performs Run James Run? If only for a few shows...

Edit: KDS kinda beat me to it.

[KDS]

It's odd that he actually seems more excited to sing car songs than his masterpiece(s).

Perhaps, but I don't think Brian looks down on his early material like some fans do. I could be wrong, but I get the impression that he digs just about everything he's ever done musically. And why not? Also, I suspect it's just more fun for him to sing the car songs in a concert setting.

Any chance Brian's band performs Run James Run? If only for a few shows...

Edit: KDS kinda beat me to it.

I think Brian and the band feed off the audience a bit too.  And the audience, for the most part, loves the hits.  Even during the PS portion of the shows, the biggest ovations are always for WIBN, SJB, and GOK. 

[HeyJude]

There is of course an obvious reason most PS shows were booked. A PS tour gets more bookings and sells more tickets.

There's little chance Brian could book 100 shows per year (at the scale he does anyway) just continuing the "No Pier Pressure Tour" sort of touring. I'm guessing they had a lot of offers during the 2016 tour that they couldn't fulfill, and got more after the tour. Note that the 2017 tour was a mixture of second or third shows in markets that one got one or two shows last year, as well as markets that weren't hit in 2016, and then various other bookings as well.

Brian did in 2017 what the "Beach Boys" couldn't do in 2013, which was to capitalize on renewed/ramped up interest and book more legs of touring.

While it seems to make sense that he'll either go light on touring in 2018 and/or do a "regular" non-themed setlist, we don't know for sure. One article in recent weeks implied he's not only booking more shows into 2018, but that they would be more PS shows! The writer may not have intended to imply they would be PS shows, I dunno.

It'll be interesting to see if he goes light on touring next year, perhaps only doing those three symphonic shows in May that are currently scheduled, or if they ramp up for more touring next spring/summer. I think a rest for Brian and the band and a move away from PS would result in a potentially great show next year. A true revamp of the setlist, including giving Al and Matt and Blondie (if Blondie continues on) some new tracks to sing, would make things perfect.

[baseball95]

If they do a new tour in 2018 they should honestly make it a point to not do any of the songs M&B do unless they’re one of the big must play hits. I want to hear Breakaway or Time to Get Alone stuff that he’s played but would sound that much better will Al aboard.

[the captain]

There's about a 0% chance of that. And I'd guess a full 90-95% of attendees would be furious and/or disappointed.

Think of how many different opinions there are as to what the "big, must-play hits" are. Lots of hits. Must-play is very subjective. And the rarities and deep cuts just aren't popular enough with enough preople, including big fans. Hits are hits because people like them.

[HeyJude]

Ironically, the PS shows make it maybe slightly harder to do *other* deep cuts. PS is famous enough and well-known enough that some mid-level and even "casual" fans pop in. Now, I don't think most Brian shows feature lunkheads screaming for "Barbara Ann" like you get at some Mike shows, but you might get some quiet non-recognition for non-PS deep cuts at a Brian show due to the way the shows are marketed.

But frankly, I don't think Brian's current setlist isn't  "deep enough." I'd argue the problem is more that it's too static. But as deep cuts go, his current setlist is plenty impressive. The majority of PS songs are "deep cuts" in any context other than the last two years of touring, and he's doing multiple WH tracks, Al's "Cal Saga" is relatively deep, plus "Feel Flows", "Salt Lake City" is semi-deep, arguably even "Little Honda" to some degree, as well as "Let Him Run Wild."

It's really not a problem that the show is front-loaded with 4 or 5 "classic" meat and potatoes numbers, and they're mostly sung by Al to boot.

[NateRuvin]

Yeah, I have no problem with hearing the hits- Brian's band plays them very well. I actually prefer to hear M&B play the surf/car songs, because John Cowsill really amps up the energy by pushing the tempo a little bit- like a real rock group. Brian's band plays the hits at a more balanced tempo.

I honestly would play to see Brian's show with Brian just playing piano. Or not even doing anything, as long as he enjoyed himself. (Doing his little hand motions like SOS) I just want to see Brian happy onstage, and during PS, he seems rather unhappy, compared to the hits. If  just playing the hits made him happy, I'd see him play hits. If playing mostly deep cuts made him happy, I'd see that. If he wanted to just sing or just play piano, I'd be happy with that.

He just went through so much pain in his life, I want to see him enjoy himself.

[HeyJude]

If they do a new tour in 2018 they should honestly make it a point to not do any of the songs M&B do unless they’re one of the big must play hits. I want to hear Breakaway or Time to Get Alone stuff that he’s played but would sound that much better will Al aboard.

Brian has done "Break Away" with Al in the band. But certainly, I think most of us would love to see that become a regular.

But there's no way Brian's going to skip "Good Vibrations" and all of that. Unless he wants to book club shows and cut his band in half in order to (maybe) not lose money.

Brian (nor Al frustratingly) seem to be interested in scaling back and doing super-deep-cuts shows in clubs in front of small groups of diehard fans, and thus not making any money and fighting to not lose money. Al had a decade to do it in the 2000s and he never did it, choosing instead to book a few "Surf City All Stars" shows here and there. Same with Brian. He obviously has mixed feelings about the pros and cons of touring, but if he all of a sudden has to scale back on accommodations and play all clubs and be lucky to clear a few grand per night, he just isn't going to do it. (Outside of one-off events like the Roxy gigs or BB Kings, etc.).

Going forward, I think the best case scenario would be a 30-35 song setlist (with about 10 more songs freed up if they're not doing PS), with at least five new setlist additions (or super-rare additions; "Let It Shine" or "Break Away", etc. would be fine), at least five additional songs swapped out with some tracks he hasn't done regularly in quite a while (e.g. "The Little Girl I Once Knew", stuff like that), and swap out a few songs for Al and Blondie and maybe hand over a little mid-show mini-set to Al and Blondie where Brian can relax off stage.

So a setlist something like this (keep in mind this isn't my dream setlist by any means, but it's a mixture of things that seems plausible and best-case scenario-ish):  

1. The Little Girl I Once Knew
2. California Girls
3. Little Deuce Coupe
4. I Get Around
5. Shut Down
6. Run James Run (or something else brand-new)
7. In My Room
8. Surfer Girl
9. Heroes and Villains (Al on lead)
10. Lookin' at Tomorrow or Santa Ana Winds (something new from Al)
11. Don't Worry Baby
12. She Knows Me Too Well (or Let Him Run Wild, or some other new falsetto bit for Matt)
13. Aren't You Glad
14. Let It Shine
15. Your Imagination or Cry
16. Leaving This Town
17. Something else new for Blondie to sing instead of "Wild Honey"
18. Sail on Sailor

Intermission

19. Hold On Dear Brother (Matt, Al, and Blondie with backing band)
20. Something else for Blondie solo or with stripped down band
21. Something else new from Al solo or with stripped down band

22. Add Some Music to Your Day
23. That's Why God Made the Radio
24. Then I Kissed Her (or Cotton Fields or Cal Saga)
25. God Only Knows
26. Wouldn't It Be Nice
27. Sloop John B.
28. Surf's Up (Matt on lead)
29. Goin' On (something new from the back catalog)
30. Darlin' or This Whole World (Darian)
31. Marcella
32. Do It Again

33. Good Vibrations
34. Help Me Rhonda
35. Barbara Ann
36. Surfin' USA
37. Fun Fun Fun
38. Love and Mercy

And then I would pick maybe 5-8 of those songs to be "swap out" selections that alternate. "Please Let Me Wonder" instead of "Add Some Music", "Little Honda" instead of "Little Deuce Coupe", etc.

[NateRuvin]

I'm going to adjust Hey Jude's set a wee bit to fit my taste...

1. California Girls
2. Surf City
3. Little Deuce Coupe
4. I Get Around
5. Shut Down
6. Run James Run (or something else brand-new)
7. In My Room
8. Surfer Girl
9. Heroes and Villains (Al on lead)
10. Lookin' at Tomorrow or Santa Ana Winds (something new from Al)
11. Don't Worry Baby
12. She Knows Me Too Well (or Let Him Run Wild, or some other new falsetto bit for Matt)
13. Aren't You Glad
14. Melt Away
15. Your Imagination or Cry
16. Leaving This Town
17. Something else new for Blondie to sing instead of "Wild Honey"
18. Sail on Sailor

Intermission

19. Hold On Dear Brother (Matt, Al, and Blondie with backing band)
20. Something else for Blondie solo or with stripped down band
21. Something else new from Al solo or with stripped down band

22. Add Some Music to Your Day
23. All I Wanna Do
24. Then I Kissed Her (or Cotton Fields or Cal Saga)
25. God Only Knows
26. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Al on lead)
27. Sloop John B. (Al on lead, Brian on harmony)
28. Surf's Up (Brian & Matt on lead)
29. The Night Was So Young
30. Darlin' or This Whole World (Darian)
31. Marcella
32. Do It Again

33. Good Vibrations
34. Help Me Rhonda
35. Barbara Ann
36. Surfin' USA
37. Fun Fun Fun
38. Love and Mercy

[baseball95]

Both of those sets would be complete winners in my book.

Here’s my adaptation on that


1. California Girls
2. Do It Again
3. Little Deuce Coupe
4. I Get Around
5. Shut Down
6. Run James Run (or something else brand-new)
7. Please Let Me Wonder
8. Surfer Girl
9. Heroes and Villains (Al on lead)
10. Lookin' at Tomorrow or Honkin’ Down The Highway (something new from Al)
11. Don't Worry Baby
12. She Knows Me Too Well or Time to Get Alone
13. Aren't You Glad or Let The Wind Blow
14. Melt Away or Walk The Line
15. Your Imagination or Goin Home
16. Leaving This Town
17. Hold On Dear Brother
18. Sail on Sailor

Intermission

19. Meant For You
20. Friends
21. Wake the World
22. Add Some Music to Your Day
23. Breakaway (Brian and Al)
24. Then I Kissed Her (or Cotton Fields or Cal Saga)
25. God Only Knows
26. Wouldn't It Be Nice (Al on lead)
27. Sloop John B. (Al on lead, Brian on harmony)
28. Surf's Up (Brian & Matt on lead)
29. The Night Was So Young
30. Darlin' or This Whole World (Darian)
31. Marcella
32. Good Vibrations

33. Do You Wanna Dance?
34. Help Me Rhonda
35. Barbara Ann
36. Surfin' USA
37. Fun Fun Fun
38. Love and Mercy

[KC41]

Feel Flows from the 9/23 soundcheck at Radio City Music Hall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Gi8dWi7oA&feature=youtu.be

[All Summer Long]

My question was buried in discussion, which I found very interesting though 

But...since I don't know how to delete a post (if that's possible?)...here's a "re-post" 

Al and Probyn meeting fans after a gag. Al briefly mentions he wanted to do more "Love You" songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2imK2elVfs

Brian and Blondie back in LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiUXyh4kNSc

That was a LOT of people waiting after the show!!! When I met Al after the Montgomery College concert, I had to walk with him from the door to the bus to get my photo signed because he was in such a hurry...he signed my photo by balancing it upon his carry-out container he was holding!    Nice as could be, but he definitely did not have mingling time like he did here.

I'll be seeing Brian, Al, and Blondie at the Zeiterion in New Bedford, MA. How often is it to run into either Al and/or Blondie after a show? Where would they be? Should I risk bringing my copy of Pet Sounds to try to have Al sign it?

Thanks!

[NOLA BB Fan]

Perhaps you can be lucky like I was after the Bossier City concert last year. Al came back on stage and spent a good while (15 minutes) signing autographs. I didn't have anything for him to sign but told him "Great job, Al" - he thanked me and shook my hand

[baseball95]

It honestly depends on the venue, if the exit to the bus is easy to stand by you have a good shot. Also before the show I’ve seen Blondie walking around and he’ll sign for you. If you’re up close you can probably get Al walking off the stage.

[RubberSoul13]

Blondie is always around before and after. Alan typically takes time to sign for fans from the stage and on his way to the bus. Unless you shell out for VIP, Brian isn't happening.

[Pablo.]

Speaking of lists... has anybody ever compiled a list with all the musical cues used during the band introductions? I recognized quite a few but I didn't take notes.

Also, who made the orchestral versions of BB tunes used as pre-show and intermission music. The Hollyridge Strings? Because I know of a record of them  from 1964, but some of the songs arranged were originally recorded by the BB in 1966.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Blondie is always around before and after. Alan typically takes time to sign for fans from the stage and on his way to the bus. Unless you shell out for VIP, Brian isn't happening.

In June 2015, Blondie stayed for a while and talked to my wife for a bit. Chatted with Paul and Darian for a bit with my daughter,  both nice guys , Nelson too. Actually chatted with Nelson before the show as we were both waiting in an extremely long line for the rest room;nobody seemed to recognize him. I did but played dumb; mainly talked about what a ripoff the food was!

[RubberSoul13]

Dammit...they played the Wild Honey songs last night and I wasn't there. 

This is absolutely hysterical and so typical of the Beach Boys...

Mike and Bruce's tour is literally "The Wild Honey Tour" and they played ONE song (Darlin) from the record when I saw them in OC.

Brian and Alan's tour is literally "The Pet Sounds Tour" and they played FIVE songs from the record when I DIDN'T go because it was advertised as the same show I had seen twice before.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Dammit...they played the Wild Honey songs last night and I wasn't there. 

This is absolutely hysterical and so typical of the Beach Boys...

Mike and Bruce's tour is literally "The Wild Honey Tour" and they played ONE song (Darlin) from the record when I saw them in OC.

Brian and Alan's tour is literally "The Pet Sounds Tour" and they played FIVE songs from the record when I DIDN'T go because it was advertised as the same show I had seen twice before.

    So true!

[HeyJude]

Dammit...they played the Wild Honey songs last night and I wasn't there. 

This is absolutely hysterical and so typical of the Beach Boys...

Mike and Bruce's tour is literally "The Wild Honey Tour" and they played ONE song (Darlin) from the record when I saw them in OC.

Brian and Alan's tour is literally "The Pet Sounds Tour" and they played FIVE songs from the record when I DIDN'T go because it was advertised as the same show I had seen twice before.

I share setlist frustrations; I've seen tours from artists where the show I saw was either *before* a cool song was added, or *after* it was dropped.

But really, they're never warrantying anything about the setlist when they publicize shows, with the exception that on a "Pet Sounds" tour, you know at least 13 of the songs performed will be the full PS album. But from year to year, even when they don't *drastically* change the setlist, you're bound to get some changes. I saw two shows in 2015 (opening night in June, and then a one off in September), and even less than three months apart, there were some setlist differences.

It's just part of the crapshoot when you pay to see a show. I've had it both ways. I got to hear the first performance of "Let It Shine" in 2000, I got to see opening night in 2015 and hear Brian (not Al) sing "Wake the World", I got to see Al play with Brian twice in 2007, and then on the other hand I recall seeing an early show on the 2001 tour before they added something interesting (maybe "Surf's Up"?).

[KDS]

Dammit...they played the Wild Honey songs last night and I wasn't there. 

This is absolutely hysterical and so typical of the Beach Boys...

Mike and Bruce's tour is literally "The Wild Honey Tour" and they played ONE song (Darlin) from the record when I saw them in OC.

Brian and Alan's tour is literally "The Pet Sounds Tour" and they played FIVE songs from the record when I DIDN'T go because it was advertised as the same show I had seen twice before.

I share setlist frustrations; I've seen tours from artists where the show I saw was either *before* a cool song was added, or *after* it was dropped.

But really, they're never warrantying anything about the setlist when they publicize shows, with the exception that on a "Pet Sounds" tour, you know at least 13 of the songs performed will be the full PS album. But from year to year, even when they don't *drastically* change the setlist, you're bound to get some changes. I saw two shows in 2015 (opening night in June, and then a one off in September), and even less than three months apart, there were some setlist differences.

It's just part of the crapshoot when you pay to see a show. I've had it both ways. I got to hear the first performance of "Let It Shine" in 2000, I got to see opening night in 2015 and hear Brian (not Al) sing "Wake the World", I got to see Al play with Brian twice in 2007, and then on the other hand I recall seeing an early show on the 2001 tour before they added something interesting (maybe "Surf's Up"?).

Yep, I know in recent years, the Stones has a setlist they played with from night to night.  Took me three shows over four years to finally hear Paint It Black in person.

I consider myself lucky that I saw one of Brian's NPP shows before Surf's Up dropped from the setlist. 

[HeyJude]

And frankly, my preference, especially in the internet age of the last 20 years when setlists are readily available as tours progress, would be for bands to wildly vary the setlist from night to night. I get it, Brian isn't skipping "Fun Fun Fun", etc. Al will probably never get away with not doing "Rhonda" at a gig for the rest of his life. But they could take roughly half of the setlist and shake it up. Take a pool of 30 songs and rotate stuff in and out of, say, 15 slots per night.

Outside of avoiding discussing tours with fellow fans, there's no way to avoid "spoilers", so there is a bit of disappointment in going to a show and knowing top to bottom what the setlist will be, outside of a selection here or there that might rotate in or out. I recall finding it laughable some years back, I think around 2001, when Ringo did another tour and "big change" was swapping the first and last songs, so that "Photograph" opened the show and "It Don't Come Easy" was near the end, instead of the usual vice versa.

I've at least been lucky enough, probably because I'm on the west coast, of seeing the opening shows on some tours. Perhaps most thrilling was seeing opening night on McCartney's 2002 tour in Oakland, his first "proper" gig since 1993. Most had *no idea* what the setlist would be for that one. Very cool to hear the first ever live performance of the full "Hello Goodbye."

Similarly, opening night on Brian's 2015 tour was cool. Granted, we had some 2014 setlists to go off of, so there weren't a ton of surprises. But the "Wake the World/Busy Doin' Nothin'" combo for the first time ever was a pretty cool moment.