Al Jardine - 2026 Tour Thread (Plus Archived 2018-2025)

[baseball95]

Santa Ana Winds:

https://youtu.be/zIOnZZOv2Ck

[RubberSoul13]

Santa Ana Winds:

https://youtu.be/zIOnZZOv2Ck

LOVE it! Thanks for sharing! Please...Jardine Family, come back to the MD area with a deep cuts show!

[Tony S]

Thanks much for posting Santa Ana winds video. That sounded great. Wish Al would have done the whole song. But it was great to hear that, it's been a long time.

[SamMcK]

Was lucky enough to see the April 2nd show at the City Winery in Chicago! Al (and Matt) was in fine voice throughout and me and my wife had a lovely time! Did see a few other young looking guys as well.

I even got to get an autograph and picture afterwards. I was quite nervous and regret not saying anything to Matt who was stood next to his Dad. Ah well, always another time I guess!

[SMiLE Brian]

Nice!

[Rocker]

"Barbara Ann" from Atlanta:

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


H&V from the 29th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB5icwjuJZ8

[HeyJude]

The club type venues are allowing for some nice videos of the tour to surface. But man, while I know it would be a pain to do, I wish someone would capture a full show from beginning to end.

[Rocker]

The club type venues are allowing for some nice videos of the tour to surface. But man, while I know it would be a pain to do, I wish someone would capture a full show from beginning to end.

This user seems to have filmed a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYMDWfYMwM1HRX_ht0X9umQ/videos

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

I was at the NYC City Winery April 1st show, but didn't have time to post a review. Myonlysunshine did a great job already but I wanted to add a few more thoughts:

-- As everyone has said, both Al and Matt Jardine sound INCREDIBLE. Al's voice is a thing of wonder... on some songs where he took over Brian or Mike leads, I felt like he sounded closer to 60s-era Brian or Mike than even Brian or Mike do themselves. And I got goosebumps during a few of Matt's falsetto leads (as dad Al beamed with pride).

-- The setlist is fairly rigid, it's true, and probably looks a bit pedestrian onscreen. But every song sounded GREAT. It was cool to hear such vibrant versions of the classics in such an intimate space. Even songs like California Girls that we've all heard hundreds of times took on a new sheen. I enjoy both Brian and Mike's current groups very much, but in general the trio had more of a punchy, gutsy, early-60ish sound than I am used to hearing on these songs. There was something thrilling too about hearing such a small group doing the work of a much larger band on these songs. It left a lot of 'space' to hear what each musician was doing.

-- California Saga sounded terrific with those soaring harmonies on the chorus, and was probably the highlight of the night for me.

-- As polished as the songs were, Al's stories for the most part didn't leave quite as much of an impression. An early story of the primitive first recording sessions with the other Beach Boys was cool. A few of his offhand comments during Vegetables and Heroes and Villains suggested how chaotic the Smile era must have been to a fairly straightlaced guy like Al... I felt like there was a more interesting story waiting to be told there.

Such a great night of music. The audience seemed to be made up of fairly hardcore fans and I think more deep cuts would be welcome, but I can't imagine a single person left disappointed.

[HeyJude]

Updated the top post with some additional setlists that have been posted. I'd still beware a bit of the precise veracity of at least one or two of them. As I've mentioned in the past, there's a regular user with a BB-themed nickname on the setlist.fm who appears to sometimes post setlists without full verification (e.g. sourcing setlists from a message board post saying "last night's show had pretty much the same setlist as the night before", etc.).

In the case of Al's shows, it doesn't appear he's made huge changes from night to night, so I don't doubt these setlists are generally correct.

[Juice Brohnston]

The snippets I am seeing on YouTube are really great. SA Winds-awesome. Really cool seeing Al crank out a bit of dirty lead guitar on Surfin' Safari!!

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Just a thread bump & reminder that Al's great touring show is coming to UT and CA in June. Hope some lucky folks out there can make it! Ticket info:

http://www.aljardine.com/calendar.html

[HeyJude]

Al has just added two more shows on a return visit to The Dakota in Minneapolis on May 28 and 30. I've added the dates to the top post.

[HeyJude]

Added a setlist for the 5/30 show to the top post. Cool to see that "Santa Ana Winds" has survived.

[RubberSoul13]

Added a setlist for the 5/30 show to the top post. Cool to see that "Santa Ana Winds" has survived.

I'm not saying I printed Al a lead sheet and bribed him to do this...but I am quite proud and find it non-coincidental that it showed up as soon as I suggested Al sing it with the California songs in the show and pointed it out on my "Keeping the Summer Alive" LP, in person that night. If you want requests, he's obviously receptive if you can back it up and maybe remind him which record it's from! 

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Added a setlist for the 5/30 show to the top post. Cool to see that "Santa Ana Winds" has survived.

I'm not saying I printed Al a lead sheet and bribed him to do this...but I am quite proud and find it non-coincidental that it showed up as soon as I suggested Al sing it with the California songs in the show and pointed it out on my "Keeping the Summer Alive" LP, in person that night. If you want requests, he's obviously receptive if you can back it up and maybe remind him which record it's from! 

Thanks and well done!

I'm still quite surprised Cotton Fields hasn't made it to the setlists. Al sounds SO great singing it (it was one of the songs that really blew me away at the C50 show I attended), and the story of Al wanting to have the group rerecord it with a new arrangement seems tailor-made for the storytelling format.

[RubberSoul13]

Added a setlist for the 5/30 show to the top post. Cool to see that "Santa Ana Winds" has survived.

I'm not saying I printed Al a lead sheet and bribed him to do this...but I am quite proud and find it non-coincidental that it showed up as soon as I suggested Al sing it with the California songs in the show and pointed it out on my "Keeping the Summer Alive" LP, in person that night. If you want requests, he's obviously receptive if you can back it up and maybe remind him which record it's from! 

Thanks and well done!

I'm still quite surprised Cotton Fields hasn't made it to the setlists. Al sounds SO great singing it (it was one of the songs that really blew me away at the C50 show I attended), and the story of Al wanting to have the group rerecord it with a new arrangement seems tailor-made for the storytelling format.

You're welcome! 

Someone called at "Cotton Fields" in Annapolis and Al said something to the effect of "this next song is WAY better than Cotton Fields"...and well, it was "God Only Knows" 

[adamghost]

Hope somebody posts the Santa Ana Winds video on You Tube. Must be 40 years since I've heard that one performed live.

It would indeed be exactly 38, as the BBs only ever did the song on select dates on the 1980 tour. Nothing before or after.

I *believe* Al was slated to perform the song back in the early 2000s when he was scheduled to play the "Pop Overthrow Festival", but that gig got canceled. I also believe Adam Marsland considered pitching the song to Al when they backed Al at a gig, but some other guy in the band didn't like the song (??), and that ended up being the gig where Al first revisited "Honkin' Down the Highway."

How bizarre to see this, since this is the first time in about a million years I've been on this board and then only to look at this thread (and loved the "Lookin' At Tomorrow" clip btw).

That is absolutely true. I was all for doing Santa Ana, someone else in the band shot it down firmly. We did do Honkin' and the rest is history. We also winged a version of "Vegetables" at an in-store the day prior - totally off the cuff, he just started playing it, me and Alan Boyd had to run up and do the backups - and I think of that every time I see he's doing that one now. I take zero credit for inspiring Al's solo tour but I do remember that day also really urging him to just go out and do something in the acoustic direction so I'm thrilled to see he's at least doing little bits like this. One of the few things that makes me wish I was back in the states!

Funny thing - I was supposed to be on the IPO gig as well. I had forgotten all about it until i was working on a project I've been doing assembling my own history, and I found a reference to it somewhere.

I have to echo everyone's sentiments here - his voice sounds just wonderful. Go Al!

[HeyJude]

Hope somebody posts the Santa Ana Winds video on You Tube. Must be 40 years since I've heard that one performed live.

It would indeed be exactly 38, as the BBs only ever did the song on select dates on the 1980 tour. Nothing before or after.

I *believe* Al was slated to perform the song back in the early 2000s when he was scheduled to play the "Pop Overthrow Festival", but that gig got canceled. I also believe Adam Marsland considered pitching the song to Al when they backed Al at a gig, but some other guy in the band didn't like the song (??), and that ended up being the gig where Al first revisited "Honkin' Down the Highway."

How bizarre to see this, since this is the first time in about a million years I've been on this board and then only to look at this thread (and loved the "Lookin' At Tomorrow" clip btw).

That is absolutely true. I was all for doing Santa Ana, someone else in the band shot it down firmly. We did do Honkin' and the rest is history. We also winged a version of "Vegetables" at an in-store the day prior - totally off the cuff, he just started playing it, me and Alan Boyd had to run up and do the backups - and I think of that every time I see he's doing that one now. I take zero credit for inspiring Al's solo tour but I do remember that day also really urging him to just go out and do something in the acoustic direction so I'm thrilled to see he's at least doing little bits like this. One of the few things that makes me wish I was back in the states!

Funny thing - I was supposed to be on the IPO gig as well. I had forgotten all about it until i was working on a project I've been doing assembling my own history, and I found a reference to it somewhere.

I have to echo everyone's sentiments here - his voice sounds just wonderful. Go Al!

I remember someone back all those years ago (Alan Boyd?) posted in the aftermath of the canceled IPO festival gig some of the songs Al was considering, and especially at the time it was an impressive list of rare cuts, including stuff he has *still* never gone back to touch, like "Lady Lynda."

An extra bummer about that IPO gig cancelation is that, if I'm recalling correctly, Al had to cancel because he got roped into court stuff pertaining to the lawsuits in the early 2000s over use of the band name/trademark.

I'm loving Al doing "Santa Ana Winds" now, though it's bugging me that he's changing one of the chords, holding the third chord in the verses through the entire line instead of switching chords.

[HeyJude]

Added a setlist for the 5/30 show to the top post. Cool to see that "Santa Ana Winds" has survived.

I'm not saying I printed Al a lead sheet and bribed him to do this...but I am quite proud and find it non-coincidental that it showed up as soon as I suggested Al sing it with the California songs in the show and pointed it out on my "Keeping the Summer Alive" LP, in person that night. If you want requests, he's obviously receptive if you can back it up and maybe remind him which record it's from!  

If you mentioning the song was the final straw that led him to do it, then that's awesome.

I can say that I've talked to folks "behind the scenes" and there folks who have been pitching "Santa Ana Winds" to Al *for years.*

I think this solo gig was really the first opportunity for him to more easily add the song. On C50 or Brian's tours, Al seems to have little say in the setlist. They might throw one of his suggestions in, but he seems to have little impact on those setlists. Meanwhile, in past years doing his "Surf City All Stars" and other similar full-band solo gigs (essentially doing "Family & Friends" gigs without Carnie or Wendy), his dates have been so sporadic, and the nature of the shows (venue type, length of the show allowed) has rarely allowed to venture into deep cut territory, especially in the few years before 2012 when he was also doing a few things from his solo album.

As it is, it seems to be that Al is still somewhat sensitive to feeling he needs to do "hits" on these solo gigs. Otherwise, he surely would be venturing into more deep cut territory, especially as far as searching out stuff that works for a 2 to 3-man acoustic arrangement.

[RubberSoul13]

Totally agreed. However, I think he is learning from this tour just how receptive folks are to the deep cuts. His impromptu performances of segments of "At My Window" and particularly "Take Care of your Feet" were evidence of that in Annapolis.

I recall in one interview, perhaps it was the Rolling Stone interview in May of 2012, Al mentioned how he had been pushing for Mike and Brian to add "California Saga" and eventually it showed up...I think in early June on that tour. I know it was played when I saw them at Merriweather on 6/15.

[HeyJude]

Totally agreed. However, I think he is learning from this tour just how receptive folks are to the deep cuts. His impromptu performances of segments of "At My Window" and particularly "Take Care of your Feet" were evidence of that in Annapolis.

I recall in one interview, perhaps it was the Rolling Stone interview in May of 2012, Al mentioned how he had been pushing for Mike and Brian to add "California Saga" and eventually it showed up...I think in early June on that tour. I know it was played when I saw them at Merriweather on 6/15.

"California Saga" on C50 is a good example of illustrating the point that Al had little say. By all accounts and everything I've been able to tell, it was his *sole* direct, personal pick for the setlist. I recall fan anecdotes about comments from Al during the tour suggesting he was specifically shot down when suggesting songs like "Custom Machine." He also mentioned just before the tour at one gathering that he had to "ask" Mike to include a song in the setlist. It has also been established by others (I believe Mike's "autobiography" and a Joe Thomas interview) that they viewed the studio/album as Brian's domain, and the live tour as Mike's domain. No mention of anything involving Al's say or suggestions.

But yes, on his current solo outings (which we may not see much more of soon past June since Brian's tour dates ramp up starting in July) there is certainly far more room and far more chance of Al adding some cool stuff. I believe Al also briefly sang a bit of "Winds of Change" at one of his solo gigs in the last few months. Frankly *that's* the type of song that would be better pulled-off by this three-man lineup than something like "Lady Lynda."

Al did a truly deep cut setlist at the early 2014 Rubin Museum show in NYC, including *both* "TM Song" *and* "Transcendental Meditation", "At My Window", "Wake the World", and "Cabinessence."

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

His impromptu performances of segments of "At My Window" and particularly "Take Care of your Feet" were evidence of that in Annapolis.

Oh wow, I didn't know he played those there. That's great!

[Pretty Funky]

Another story, with news for fans of vinyl...

Jardine will also celebrate the re-release of his 2010 album "A Postcard from California" on vinyl in two months.

"We just closed the deal today," he said. "Vinyl is popular again. So it will be great for people to be able to hold the record in their hands and see the artwork on the cover."

https://www.parkrecord.com/entertainment/original-beach-boy-sends-a-postcard-from-california/

[Rocker]

Another story, with news for fans of vinyl...

Jardine will also celebrate the re-release of his 2010 album "A Postcard from California" on vinyl in two months.

"We just closed the deal today," he said. "Vinyl is popular again. So it will be great for people to be able to hold the record in their hands and see the artwork on the cover."

https://www.parkrecord.com/entertainment/original-beach-boy-sends-a-postcard-from-california/

That's nice. I'm glad for Al. Recently I played his live album for the first time in years. A mighty fine record. If you haven't listened to it or if it's been a while, give it a spin.