I'll keep this brief as the day is getting away and in a few hours I'll be setting off to the city to go to The Lucky Old Sun show:
Fans get together was unbelievable - it all seems like a dream
How do i say this any other way but scream it from the roof - BRIAN WAS THERE!!
I'll give a quick run down in point form:
* Brian and Jeff Foskett arrived at 4.30 and stayed for 45 minutes. Brian signed autographs, posed for photos and cracked jokes with people there. Tony Sykes sang You're Welcome and Brian joined in. Joy had a rich chocolate cake for Brian which he graciosuly declined as he is on a low sugar diet (Too Much Sugar and Too Much Cake!!). I was fortunate enough to get my vinyl SMiLE LP signed by Brian.
*Brian looked nervous as he arrived and stood looking at everybody in the room and then he spoted Laurence Lavery, "The Professor", who interviewed Brian for BBA back in '86 at the 25th Anniversary show - The Prof hasn't seen Brian since then but Brian pointed straight at him smiled and said hi - who says Brian's memory isn't good? Brian soon relaxed and settled down to meet the fans. Jeff Foskett made sure everything went smoothly around Brian until they departed, he also did his own autograph signings and chatted with fans.
* That was one hell of a way to start the day!
* Next up was Surf Music/Beach Boy historian and author Stephen McParland who did a Q&A touching on subjects as diverse as Landy, Gary Usher, The Rovell sisters, Murry Wilson and the "legendary" Australian Rarities LP which was withdrawn from sale within in days of release - we now have another reason why it was withdrawn and this one really does make sense!!
* While this was going on Probyn Gregory and Nelson Bragg arrived and mingled and chatted with people, very casual and very relaxed. They ended up staying for around two hours having dinner and chatting.
* Glenn Love, his son James and Tony Sykes lead a sing-a-long of some more obscure Beach Boy songs including Time To Get Alone and Hang On To Your Ego along with the standards - Tony Sykes made sure we all got the rounds correct on the vocal tag to God Only knows.
* Then we had a number of special greetings sent to us from various people in the Beach Boys world:
# Alan Jardine sent his personalised greetings to the fans plus three 60 to 90 second sound bites from his new album including: Poatcard from California, his new version of Big Sur and Honking Down The Highway featuring Brian Wilson
# David Marks sent his personal greetings, some photos and an update on what he is doing these days plus an update on his health.
# Stephen Kalinich sent his own message in his own personal way - via poetry
# Van Dyke Parks sent his own message and urged us all to further embrace and spread the word on Orange Crate Art
* A special power point presentations was put together and shown so that we remembered Carl and Dennis on the day.
* We then ran through a great list of well wishes sent by fans from around the word - a great sentiment and way to wind the day down.
I'm sure I have forgotten something - and I'm sure somebody will correct me - the day would not have happened the way it did without the wonderful work of Robyne Wilson and her partner Rick Dunstan - so a huge thank to Robyne and Rick.
The Domian show on Saturday night was a huge success for Brian with crowd estimates varying from 50 to 80 thousand - bottom line is that the park was full and people partied as Brian did a greatest hits show with the most obscure tracks being Add Some Music, Sail on Sailor and Marcella (not very obscure at all) and the show rounded out with fireworks to Good Vibrations at the end of the encore - No Love & Mercy. 90 minutes of wham bamm thank you mamm!!!
Tony
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Here is an update for the Fans Get Together and the Sydney Festival shows:
Posted 8am Sydney Time - Thursday 3rd January.
Sydney Party! Fans Get Together – Sunday January 6th:
When:
Sunday, January 6 - from 4pm to 10pm. Do not be any later than
6pm now
4pm.
Location:
Orient Hotel – Roof Top Bar
89 George St (corner of Argyle St)
The Rocks – Sydney
URGENT UPDATE: Thursday 930am
Due to a change in plans by one of several special guests it is strongly advised that you be there no later than 4pm - if you miss this guest's appearance you may very well regret it. I repeat - please be there by 4pm.We have organised a number of special guests and surprises. It will be big and unlike anything Beach Boy or Brian Wilson related held is Australia for a very long time!!
It’s free to attend. There will be a bar (pay as you go) and meals will be available from the bistro and will be delivered to our function. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow fans from Australia and around the world, learn a lot about the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson world and have a sing-a-long to your favourite BB/BW songs.
We do ask you email and advise if you will be attending as we have to keep and eye on numbers. Please email Tony Wales at:
tonywales@optusnet.com.au(FYI : I’m off to the cricket all day Friday so will respond to emails on Friday evening. Emails sent after 11am on Saturday will be responded to on Sunday morning as I will be in the city on Saturday afternoon and evening for the Domain show)
The Domain Show - Saturday January 5th:
If you want to join fellow BW/BB fans for the Domain Show on Saturday night please be aware of the following information:
Paul Kelly will be on stage from 8pm to 9pm – Brian will be on stage from 9.15pm to 10.45pm. Entry to the Domain is via Art Gallery Road (near St Mary’s Cathedral) - access is not possible from Hospital Road.
There will be a very big crowd – a number of fans will be arriving early and plan to be near the front of the stage just to the right of centre – just in front of where Jeff Foskett will be on the stage. Unfortunately we don’t know what “arriving early” actually means as this stage so we are going to play it by ear on Saturday – I will send out emails today (Thursday) with my mobile number to everybody who has contacted me so you can phone or SMS me on Saturday to find out details as they become available (if you want my mobile number please email me at the address above – I won’t post it on a public forum).
Don’t leave it too late to arrive at the Domain as we have reason to believe authorities will close off sections of the crowd around the stage as they reach capacity. Also remember that Alcohol is banned – do the slip, slop, slap thing, particularly if you are arriving early and plan to spend a good chunk of the day in the park. Weather forecast is a bit dodgy and there might be some rain so take some wet weather protection.
State Theatre Shows – Monday 7th, Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th:
There is a bar (The Statement) in the State Theatre but it will become very crowded pre show and difficult to find each other so anybody who wants to meet up and have a quite chat before the show should go to the St James Hotel, Street Level Bar, 114 Castlereagh St (near corner of Market Street) from 6pm onwards. The St James Hotel is on the site of the old St James movie theatre for those who can remember – and only about a 2 to 3 minute walk to the State Theatre. Map:
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=114+Castlereagh+St,+Sydney,+NSW+2000,+Australia&sa=X&oi=map&ct=imageWell, it’s getting close folks and it’s going to be a busy few days – bring it on! I look forward to seeing everybody over the next week.
Oh yeah – and from me a massive thanks to Robyne Wilson for all the great work she has done in getting the “talent” organised for Sunday. Thanks Rob!