The Smiley Smile Message Board

I need, for my BW live list, the date and venue of the closed show in LA that was shot for the "Beautiful Dreamer" DVD: amazingly, the info isn't in the package and I can't find it anywhere. All I know is, it was late 2004. Really appreciate it if anyone knows. Thanks.

Was the venue Disney Hall?

Looks like there were 2 shows at Walt Disney Concert Hall in late 2004: 11/2 & 11/3.  The 11/3 show is on Eric's site, 11/3 isn't.  Maybe this means 11/2 was a closed show?  Hope this helps.

You might be on to something. According to this amazon.com editorial review, the filmed material on the DVD is indeed from a performance at Disney Hall. Not sure how trustworthy it is, but it's something.

http://www.amazon.com/Brian-Wilson-presents-Natalie-Imbruglia/dp/B0007YKL2G

Thanks, but not really. I'm pretty sure the show was shot in Burbank.

And definitely not Disney Hall - I just had a look at it. This was a closed show for maybe 200 people on a soundstage.

OK, found it (assorted friends came through in spades). I was right about it being a Burbank soundstage.  ;D

Assume this is what you're looking for, AGD. I have Brian Wilson on a Burbank soundstage in September, 2004 with an invited audience of 500. It was a 10-camera shoot. Still working on a date.....

That rings a bell.  I have a friend that I'm pretty sure went to that show. I called and left a message, since he didn't pick up( probably knew it was me)
I'm thinking I might even have gotten the tickets for him...

September 26, 2004, one of the greatest days of my life. There were two shows taped at a small soundstage in Burbank (I could probably find the name of the company if that were necessary). I am re-posting here part of a long previous post about that day and my life-long history with Brian and The Beach Boys:

Late summer, 2004 - I get an email from a friend whom I had not heard from in years, though I was aware that she was producing most of Brian’s DVDs since his move to Chicago. She wrote to me (knowing full well my extensive collection, knowledge and love of the music) saying that they were going to re-film the SMiLE concert in LA (David Leaf did record the full London premieres, but for many reasons, BRI-MEL – especially MEL – were not happy with it. They wanted a happier, more upbeat and polished SMiLE, a smiley-er SMiLE, if you will). Maggie and I (and the director, John Anderson) exchanged lengthy emails (I sent a note by note, dream shot list, based on the kind of instrumental coloring and emphasis that classical music DVDs use in their very useful and tasteful direction). I was listening to the Albert Hall concerts for my reference. Turned out that the director already had a 40-page shooting script, with every instrumental and vocal detail accounted for. They invited me to spend a week in LA to attend the rehearsals, to watch the taping of inserts, to shoot some hand-held behind the scenes footage, and attend both shows. It was one of the greatest weeks of my life. Stayed at a hotel with the Chicago contingent (Paul, Jim, and Bob) and got to talk to them quite a bit. I was introduced to Brian within five minutes of arriving on the lot, and, as I was ready to tell him just how much his music has touched my soul or "was the soundtrack of my life" (like virtually everyone else who meets him), he quickly shook my hand and said “Thank you” and then walked away for lunch. I had lunch that first day with Darian and Probyn and they were just great, answering every question I had for them. Later in afternoon I walked into a rehearsal room and had a virtual “private screening” of the entirety of PET SOUNDS and some of GIOMH, as they were rehearsing all of it for Nelson, who was a newcomer and still learning his bits. That was incredible, glorious - standing up against the wall and hearing them so close, without any distractions. I kept thinking that someone was going to throw me out, but the atmosphere was so loose and fun and Brian was in great spirits and incredibly patient all week long. Met and talked with all most the people I had read about all those years, including David Anderle (who indeed remembered Brian’s inscription on the cement slab that I now have in my house that surrounded the Laurel Way pool – you can clearly see these cement squares in the Sloop John B "jumping in the pool" promo - he also told me that he still has THE painting...), Steve Kalinich (who was overcome with joyful tears after the show), Van Dyke (who, to our great consternation, told my friend that Song Cycle was “a waste of time…a waste of time.”), Tony Asher, and Melinda (who, I must say, seemed to be a remarkably benevolent presence for the crew and the band – and her husband). Left work one day and Brian was walking out by himself at the same time – again, I stumbled something out about how great the rehearsals were going, he said thanks, and then I watched him – rather shockingly – get into his Mercedes and drive himself home on the freeway. So much for braking for Brian Wilson…

Well, Brian simply hit it out of the park for the first show, and it was unforgettable – a roomful of 500 of his friends, family, and these people who were all so deeply invested in this music. The whole thing came full circle for me when I turned around to the row behind me and saw Van Dyke Parks, with his head down, cupped in his hands, weeping during Surf’s Up…It truly was a dream come true, that whole experience, and offered me a great deal of closure to the part of my life that began by spinning BREAKAWAY in a record store I worked at some 35 years earlier. After the first show, I filmed Brian’s exuberance as he came backstage and proclaimed to John, Maggie, Alan (Boyd), and Stephen that this was the very best performance of SMiLE they’ve ever done. I walked out in the hallway with my head spinning, and saw Van Dyke chatting it up with David Anderle and Jeff. it all seemed so dreamlike and yet so natural and right. The live DVD of SMiLE is it for me, much more alive and dynamic than the CD release. (BTW, I think its one of the best rock DVDs ever done, in terms of John’s detailed and knowing direction, Maggie’s prodding of Brian to be at his best and to stop constantly reading the video prompters, and Mark’s superb surround mix). I spotted myself in the audience in 16 different shots, so its become a great personal keepsake for me.

I shot 9 hours of "casual" footage during that week that was never used (no extras on the concert DVD after all), including a lot of great backstage stuff (including footage of dear Markus, the young cellist who was to soon lose his life to the tsunami) and some of Brian alone, inside himself, lost in thought.... Perhaps I'll post some of this material on Vimeo for you all to see. It seems like it may be a good time to do it now, in anticipation and celebration.

Hope that helps.


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I love this place. Gone from not having a clue beyond a rough location and very rough date to minute details in something like 25 minutes.

You guys rock. And probably roll, too, but we won't talk about that.  ;D

Great f*ing story!

Thanks!

thats a great read!

PS that was a fantastic post ... thanks for posting it!!!  8)

BOOOOOOOOOOOYAH! Nice! Thanks for the story man. Totally amped me up and threw BWPS on.

I love this place!

AGD,

To be more precise:

Sunday, September 26, 2004.

CenterStaging, Burbank, CA.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdlk4hmTee0)

Two shows: 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

And AGD didn't even have to get out of his chair and put clothes on to get this info!

How cool is that?  :-D

Wait, AGD trolls the Smiley Smile Message Board NAKED?!?!?  :o  :thud

Had just celebrated my 16th birthday.. ah those were the days

Sir, I don't troll anywhere. I leave that to other people.  ::)

Thanks for that - right now, thanks to many responses, about the only thing I don't know is the name of the guy from the Burbank Fire Department who delivered the hose.  ;D

Great post PS

Around the same time, Brian appeared in Burbank on those shows too:

Sep. 22 - Burbank CA (Ellen DeGeneres Show, NBC Studios Season 2 - Episode 13)
Sep. 29 - Burbank CA (Tonight Show with Jay Leno, NBC Studios Season 13 – Episode 8)

 :)

OK, so we know it's going to be Judgement Day on the 21ofMay, but what happened on the 18thofMay?  Birthday? Soccer day? Foster's beer day? It came and went without fanfare!

In the spirit of celebration for the forthcoming Sessions Box (I still can't believe it's actually happening, after reading you guys and gals speculating for years about this...), I will start posting some of my home videos from the glorious week that I spent in Burbank with Brian and the Band preparing and performing the SMiLE concert for the DVD (see above). Here is the sound check of an unplugged, PARTY style Surfer Girl, assembled together right before show time. It was practically a private screening, just me and the band, a few techs milling around and Mark L in the control room. I was shooting pretty casually on DV (HD was still quite new in '04 for all of us non-pro's) and I was just recording the sound with a basic mic attached to the camera, nothing fancy (in fact, you can hear the sound level change when I thought I might be overloading).

But you can tell that Brian was locked in already, and in great voice (the band even hit that blue note at the end!). I can't describe how magical that night was because it was really performed for their wide circle of family and friends, especially the first show. So much love and good will everywhere. This little soundcheck was so thrilling for me, as I was able to see and hear them without any social interference whatsoever (I swear to you, EVERY concert I go to in the last decade or so, including the one that evening, I inevitably encounter an A-hole who ruins it for me one way or another). Here I was just partaking in the group atmosphere and the camaraderie that had developed from hanging with these great folks for a week. I will never forget it and am glad to share it with you all, you who REALLY get it and continue to share it, keeping this SMILEY joint alive and kicking all these years now, leading us together to the arrival of the Box.

or the apocalypse, whichever comes first...

http://vimeo.com/24036109

phil (the guy who exclaims out of sheer gospel-like joy, "yeah!!!" before the fade...)

Very nice Phil! :thumbsup :thumbsup

We will take whatever you have got.

Thanks.

Wow. Absolutely Incredible.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Exciting to read.  Thanks for sharing!   You have HOURS of unreleased footage?