The Smiley Smile Message Board

The need to bring back "This Whole World" into the setlist. I think us hardcore fans would flip if they kept that one. It's a shame that they haven't done it since opening night.

And I just figured I'd start a thread with this title so maybe they'd notice and sneak it back on the setlist for St. Augustine!

But yeah, I think its about time they start switching some songs up. "This Whole World", "Good Timin'", "Caroline No", maybe even "Getcha Back".

Please guys, just a few more different things!

They should add one obscure song a night, In my opinion.

Agreed. I am a bit crestfallen that "This Whole World" has been left out, while they continue to do "California Dreaming" - a great tune, but not one that they are known for!

Cool, Cool Water

this song gathered so much applause in the 70's, it was done so well live, time to bring it back! indie people would flip over it too!

Some have questioned the wisdom of a setlist rich in deep cuts, saying the commerciality and cultural pervasiveness of the early BB's hits makes them all but required.

I would look at it slightly differently - while many of these early hits should be included, a focus on more obscure material can serve to drive sales of the groups's catalogue records, which is especially advantageous this year, as Capitol is likely planning to reissue many of these less-commercially successful albums.

So, by playing "The Night Was So Young" or "Cool Cool Water" alongside "Good Vibrations" and "Kokomo," they can effectively raise the commercial value of those lesser-known tunes.

Yeah, I gotta admit it seems weird that they have kept "California Dreamin'" in every night so far even though its a cover that they did in the '80s that was much of a hit for them. I seriously think they are playing for the people who have downloaded The Beach Boys version of it thinking that it was them who did the original version, and not The Mama's and Papa's. Kinda like how Weezer started playing that song "Teenage Dirtbag" after stupid internet people kept wrongly attributing it to them.

And as cool as "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is, do they really have to do that one every night? It was never a big thing for them, and once again kinda brings on more of the "county fair oldies revue" vibe that they've otherwise pretty well eschewed this tour.

The only real explanation for the lack of different stuff might honestly be Brian. Maybe he's not comfortable doing "This Whole World" after that first show. But i dunno.

Please...please do IJWMFTT. It would be so well received, and the indie crowd/hardcore fans would love it. Cabinessence too. If they did that I might just fall over.

Second that opinion. It's a great gem.

Setlist is good as it is. I'm sure certain numbers will come and go and small changes will be made.

According to a poster on the Blueboard, This Whole World is back on the set list.

SO MUCH POWER. I CAN FEEL IT.

DO SURFS UP NOW!

Again as we've previously discussed some (although obviously not all) of how much the setlist varies depends on what Brian Wilson is willing to do up there on a nightly basis and how much he is willing to embrace/engage these performances.  In many ways Brian's level of comfort is the lynch pin in all of this at least in my opinion.  If as the tour goes on, Brian becomes more receptive to experimenting with the setlist that I believe we will see more deep cuts rotated in and out.  If he is just going through the motions then I wouldn't be surprised to see the boys stay aligned to familiarity, wagering that playing a routine set on a nightly basis will make for a less stressful experience for Brian onstage each night.

I would love for them to do cuts like "Aren't You Glad" (Mike and Brian), "Girl Don't Tell Me" (Al or Brian on lead), "All I Wanna Do" (a longshot), and hell, even "Deirdre" (Bruce).

I feel guilty complaining about the setlist but the one that I can't figure out is Little Honda. They never really did it live with the classic lineup.
 It was never a hit for them, there are 4 car songs right behind it. Is that really an important part of their 50 years?  That would be the one I want to see replaced. Surprised there is no Breakaway..(Brian and Al did this in '06) Darian can do a phenomenal Darlin' but it seems like they want Brian, Mike, and Al do as much of the leads as possible. Good Timin or Girl Dont Tell Me would be another candidate as well as something else from Pet Sounds. All would be better served than Little Honda.
I'm surprised California Dreamin and Fools made it in as well. Sounds like Al and Brian are doing a great job on CD so maybe they really like it and want to keep it and Mike and Bruce have become absolutely obsessed with Fools as if it were a #1  hit. But those make a little more sense to me than Little Honda.

Drop "Then I Kissed Her" and "Barbara Ann". Add "Surf's Up" and "Marcella".

Looks like they listened! Apparently it was back in the set according to someone I know.

That is great! Now here's hoping it makes the setlist on Wednesday in St. Augustine!

I think it's there for Al to take a lead vocal (maybe?), and the song was on at least one fairly well-known greatest hits set from years ago, so fans know it. I always liked their cover, of course nothing can top the vibe of the original and nothing ever will.

Yes please!!!

Has Mike & Bruce ever done Surf's Up live?  I doubt it. Maybe the lyrics to the song are too esoteric for Mike. He reiterated that one more time on the CBS Morning Show today. They're too far out and don't make sense to him. He doesn't go for the lyrics to the Smile songs. 'Cept for Heroes & Villains. Carl did Surf's Up with The Boys live in the early 70's though.

But coming off the heels of The Smile Sessions, they should be playing more Smile tracks.

It was great seeing them do This Whole World back in 1988 - completely unexpected.

Little Honda has been a concert staple since the mid-90s, it's actually a highlight for me whenever I hear it live!  The band genuinely seems to be having fun whenever they play it!  Please don't drop it!

Unfortunately, no one seems interested in pushing for a somewhat more obscure and ambitious setlist, hope to be proven wrong later but doubt it. It might also lead to additional stress for Brian, which if so is a very legitimate case against it, but if not it's really too bad, and a cop-out. I hope Mike and his allies in the band are not the driving force behind the relatively uninteresting tour repertoire, because there is a built-in audience for this tour so they have carte blanche and it is their last opportunity to showcase their more creative, unconventional material and go out on a triumphantly credible note. Esp. on the heels of TSS, only doing H&V from it is definitely anticlimactic. Wonderful would be another fine choice from SMiLE for inclusion. Lets hope more progressive heads will prevail as the tour goes on, again only if it will not cause too much anxiety for Brian (he has stated his disinclination to perform more SMiLE music, so perhaps relatively obscure gems from other albums). At least there are All This is That and Disney Girls, but IMO that is not sufficient.

Mike actually loves playing the obscure stuff, as do Bruce and Al, and most likely Brian.  Over the past decade, Mike & Bruce's band has extended their average setlist to about 38-42 songs, often doing lesser known stuff, without much fanfare or recognition. Each of the touring bands have done their share of lesser known songs that they were not obligated to do, but did anyway, extending their shows to 2 1/2 hours at times, when they could have easily just played 33 hits in 90 minutes and called it a day, much like they did 1995-1997.  In the past 5 years, Mike & Bruce have done Feel Flows, Til I Die, All This Is That, Forever, Disney Girls, Let Him Run Wild, Everyone's In Love With You, Good Timin, Getcha Back, Bluebirds Over The Mountain, Sail On Sailor, Salt Lake City.  Similarly, Al has done Lookin At Tomorrow, California Saga, Girl Don't Tell Me, Wild Honey, Sail On Sailor, I Can Hear Music, Honkin Down The Highway.  And Brian has done countless deep cuts.  So I don't think it's a matter of them not wanting to do it...it's more that they are catering the setlist to the audience and the venue.  It takes a lot of guts to perform "All This Is That" for the 500 fans out of 15000 in the audience who know and love it, knowing full well that there 5000 out of those same 15000 who are waiting for "Kokomo" or "Barbara Ann".  They're just trying to make as many happy customers as possible, which I don't blame them for doing.  I am happy with the current setlist, but do I wish they'd add more?  Definitely, but if they don't, I understand why, and I will go and enjoy the show anyway!  That being said, hey please add "Keepin The Summer Alive!"

I am well aware that the touring Beach Boys have dipped deep into the back catalog, as well as Brian's solo concerts of course. But the higher profile of this tour and the magic of seeing them doing those songs together would be magical. If everyone else in the band does like to do them, then it probably is in deference to Brian's comfort level and to please the broadest # of fans that they are not being a bit more adventurous. But those fans have had zillions of opportunities through the years to hear California Dreaming and Kokomo, the Beach Boys have earned the right to do things on their own terms and I am a bit disappointed by their relative conservatism.

I'm not advocating a list that is heavily weighted towards obscurities (much as I and many others would like to see it), I know that's unrealistic (and inappropriate). Just a bit more adventurous.

I can relate to what you're saying, and agree with just about all of it...but I still am so excited about this tour that they could reprise a standard 1995 setlist and I'd still be in awe of what I was seeing!  :-D

Yeah, I agree.  I say keep the current setlist, add 7-8 songs and make it an even 50!!  :)

They played it last night in Raleigh so that's a good sign.

I agree with what someone said that they should do one or two other Smile songs as they just recently had a hit record with the album. "Wonderful" shouldn't make any problems for anyone (Mike) to accept. Al did "Vega-tables" at both Record Days so that would be a candidate too. They certainly wouldn't do songs that were finished for BWPS but only "Beach Boys-versions". "Surf's up" of course could be a possibility but I strongly doubt they would even attempt to try it

Glad to hear This Whole World is back!  Hope it stays in the set.

Oops, just noticed I said "the magic would be magical" earlier. Morphing into Doug Henning (anyone remember him?), not prudent! Obviously, the song count is more than adequate (partly to justify higher ticket prices). Glad the Carl & Dennis tributes are so good. Just come out of your comfort zone a little more, guys, unless it really would be a mental hardship for Brian. I know this is a pretty grueling tour for him already.

I know it's possible that switching to more obscure stuff might be tough for Brian, but at the same time, doesn't he usually seem to perform better when its material that they don't do all the time?

I would add

Slip on Through

Deidre

The Night Was So Young

I'll Bet He's Nice

to that list!

So seeing as for this St. Augustine show they are taping it for a TV special or whatever, hopefully they really make this show special and do some different songs. And of course, I really hope they do "This Whole World" and "Please Let Me Wonder" especially. Here is hopin'!

they really need to DROP sail on sailor

If they drop it then they need to add at least 2 other songs from the Holland album.

i don't get it. Brian has stated outright that he doesn't like Sail On Sailor... yet he's singing it on this tour.
he has said in interviews how much he loves things like Cool Cool Water, Child Is Father of the Man, the Friends and Love You albums, etc.  seems like with Jeff/Darian/Scott/etc in Brian's corner they could have included some of that stuff.

Bruce called Sunflower his favorite Beach Boy album and it made Rolling Stone's Top 500 albums. at least they're playing This Whole World. SMiLE was just released after 45 years along with a series of youtube videos saying how incredible it all is, but they are barely acknowledging it on this tour. Mike said he wants to do some a capella stuff on the tour. Why not Our Prayer? He has also called Wonderful one of his favorite songs.

Mike says "we have the best jobs -- and the best fans -- in the world." He knows how crazy the fans are about SMiLE and lesser-known stuff. Recent compilations like Sounds of Summer, Warmth of the Sun, and Classics selected by Brian Wilson have all featured deeper cuts. Mike always likes to mention how the Beach Boys were just as hip as the Beatles or as rockin' as the Stones. Yet he's up there playing the usual 95% pre-Pet Sounds material, going on about cheerleaders, and even name-dropping Stamos in his intro to the Dennis tribute.

...sigh...

On second thought, never mind.