The Smiley Smile Message Board

Well, we're nearly there. Only four shows remain before the Boys head overseas for another couple of dozen shows.

So what did everyone think? Did the 50th anniversary celebration shows live up to expectations?

What surprised you? What disappointed you?

Do you hope to see it again?

Any and all comments welcome, especially as the final shows unwind this week.

A remarkable achievement for ALL involved.

I'm amazed they all survived it, that was some trek

I don't think anyone here expected it to be this good. I had my doubts that they would even finish the tour when it was first announced. The setlists are long and varied. Everyone in great vocal shape. Audiences really enjoying themselves and most importantly, The Beach Boys name is out there in a bigger way than we could have imagined.

The one mistake I think is that the CD was released too late into the tour.

A great success. 

A long, varied, rotating setlist featuring wonderful renditions of hits and deep tracks....I mean, really, we just heard The Beach Boys featuring Brian Wilson play stuff like IJWMFTT, Our Prayer, Please Let Me Wonder, Kiss Me Baby, etc. etc. etc.

Mostly positive reviews. A hit album along the way.

what's not to love?  it's a great time to be a Beach Boys fan.

Absolutely amazing achievement, especially when you remember that something like this seemed absolutely impossible a year ago. Only disappointments I'd say were the live autotune in the first batch of shows (mine included) and I wish I could've seen Add Some Music and California Saga. All that aside, I'll never forget that May 4th gig!

Without romantic bias or sentimentalization, I can say, having seen three shows, that the tour and all the related promotion and performances on TV, web, etc. have been, variously and collectively: genuine, artistically rich, dynamic, emotionally deep, exuberant, and loving.  I could not have hoped for more. The interviews and specials have been insightful with fair and just attention paid to members and their work; the critical reception has evolved from the "they are only capable of committing self parody" to "heavens, this is great." In a battle with age, history, sorrow, division and time, the BB have won, not by defeating these forces but by embracing the darkness as a bride, hugging it in their arms. The battle is epic, the stakes nothing short of immortality, now secured ten-thousand fold.

Waiting on the next single, album and LA show. . . . .

A complete success.

Each member rose to the occasion and gave it their all and what we got was a dynamic and VIBRANT tour with some amazing performances and challenging set lists to boot.   I think we're all pleasantly pleased how it all turned out.  Here's hoping they decide to do it all again, real soon!

The last year has been a great time to be a Beach Boys fan. We went from a great set of Brian and Michael and Bruce tours last year to the Smile box. Now we've come full circle with the reunion and the new record. I'd say it's been a runaway success.

As I only could afford one show, I really wish I could've seen more. Musically speaking, I think this was the best I've heard any of the BBs themselves. If there was anything disappointing, I would say the show wasn't long enough  :lol Depending on many factors, yes I would really love to go see them again. This tour though will be pretty hard to beat.

With more to come, in the way of a new compilation and box set this Fall. Hopefully, there is more on the way for 2013.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Your fingers should have refused to type that. This tour has been so far beyond my expectations that the word expectations will never be the same.

Ain't that the truth! Run, run, wee, ooh! ;)

As some of you know, my biggest disappointment was that the concert I attended only had a 19 song set.  :'(

I feel lucky to have seen two shows this tour (one towards the beginning and one towards the end) and I was more than impressed and happy with how the tour turned out. Long shows, vocals sounded great, David Marks being the man on guitar and we got better set lists than I was expecting. So happy I got to hear songs like This Whole World, Marcella, California Saga, All This Is That, IJWMFTT, Pet Sounds, etc.

I swore off seeing the Beach Boys live after Carl passed because I felt he was such a huge part of the sound and blend, although I have seen Brian live three times solo. For this reunion, I of course relented and had planned on seeing two shows.  They so far exceeded my expectations that I saw a third, with my fourth show coming up this Sunday in Tahoe before they leave the US.

Seriously, much better than I thought it was going to be, helped greatly by Brian's back up bad. But the 5 principles did a great job, and really rose to the occassion. I didn't think they had it in them....so glad I was wrong, and got to see 2 shows.

It's been magnificent!

Just for fun, I'd recommend reading some threads from two years ago, for instance. Every time the possibility of a reunion was brought up by a fan, it was immediately dismissed. "Their voices are not strong enough". "The BBs play in your town every year and people don't care who the individuals are... There'd be nothing special to this reunion to the average Joe". "Brian is better off touring on his own". "Brian doesn't wanna play with those guys, he's said so". And so forth...

The made us eat our words. And the BBs saga of redemtpion through harmony has reached its peak at its most unexpected moment. In terms of overcoming defeat and personal limitations through music, there's no moment in the band's history that equals this in its beauty.




Oh! And Jeff Foskett! Once the tour started, no one seemed to complain anymore. He must have done something right.

One of the highlights of their career, IMO.

Yeah, I know...

I saw them very early in the tour (May 12), and they were great. It seems like they've only gotten even better since.

It's amazing a few years ago we were celebrating the fact that they were able to get together for the photo op on the roof. I think a lot of us expected that to be the best Beach Boys reunion we would get. Instead, they come up with a largely terrific album and a kick-ass tour.

From the album to the Carl and Dennis tributes, to the varied setlists, to appearances by Calsaga, Billy Hinsche and Dean Torrance, to the respect they all seem to have shown to the shows and their legacy, I think I can some up the Beach Boys reunion in four words:

THEY DID IT RIGHT

I'd say the 'anti-Mike' posts are down 95% if not more and the 'Mike touring South America' topic was shrugged off for what it was, more than likely a prior commitment. Sure you can't dismiss history but he seems to have made a real effort to be a team player.

So the highlight for me is that they all came together with a mission to do it right and have, and seem to have had some fun doing it.

 VERY well said.

Thanks to this tour, I can now believe six impossible things, and can therefore have breakfast.

Cheers,
Jon Blum

Great topic, Wirestone.

I saw the first show, not because it was first, but because I live in Tucson. Before the show, my biggest fear (we fans always have fears, no matter what) was that we'd simply get a rehearsal for the big New Orleans show a few nights later... this would be a warm-up, so to speak. I still opted to roll the dice, spend the big bucks for the VIP to get the good seats I'd only previously admired from a distance. It was worth every penny. The Beach Boys were great right off the bat for this tour. Maybe I was just so thrilled to see the show that I missed the autotune; I didn't care. It was one of the best nights of my life.

Saw my second and final show three nights ago in Phoenix. Couldn't justify the huge expense again so we ended up with second-tier seats, at least forty rows from the stage. Binoculars helped us enjoy this show, even if the experience wasn't the same. There's no denying, as everyone has said, that the tour has just gotten better, seemingly with every show. I was lucky, for the first and no doubt only time in my life, to get backstage passes for myself and my wife. I had no idea what to expect. It was fun, for sure, but I got something different from the experience than I expected... the realization that all of these folks are working their tails off to give a great... not simply good... performance every single night. I saw the strain, the exhaustion, in their eyes after the show. There's no auto-pilot on this tour; no "mailing it in" because they've done these songs hundreds of times before and could do them in their sleep.

So yes, this entire celebration has been a great success, more than I could have hoped or had any right to expect. The Beach Boys have earned my respect & paid back any past disappointments many times over.

Yeah, it's great to see VDP turned his opinion on the reunion 180 degrees.  ;D

I watched a YouTube clip to relive the Milwaukee show opening number. Seeing/hearing Jeff announce "from Hawthorne the original Beach Boys" and see them emerge one by one as Jeff calls them out is something I will remember until I die.

The last time I saw a Brian solo gig in 2009, it was my 5th Brian show, and afterwards I thought that if Brian was going to do this much longer that he should do it with the Boys one more time. Although I thought it, I really did not expect it to happen.

These guys endured through 50 years of ups and downs. They had their 1st hit record before anyone had ever heard of the Beatles. They survived through disco, punk, grunge, hip hop and more, and still packed the main stage at Summerfest in Milwaukee, almost exactly 37 years to the date as the 1st time I saw them at Summerfest in 1975.

I know it happened.................. but I still don't quite believe it.

Caught the Hollywood Bowl show which was phenomenal!  A lovely experience to soak them in there, and one of the best concert setlists I've ever heard

Ready for tomorrow's show in Calgary - the Saddledome isn't renowned for great acoustics, but I'm sure it will still be a great concert!! Have the boys played any other hockey stadiums on this tour?? Seems like an outdoor affair primarily this tour....about to meet with Probyn, Darian, Scott & Tim for a visit to a synth museum we have in town - gonna be a fun next 24 hours or so for me!

They nailed it.
They did it for all the right reasons and the sound and setlists were incredible.
Best case scenario all around.

Between the fans and the press, this has to be the most heavily-documented BB tour in my memory, and I've been a BB fan since nearly the beginning.

I got to see one show (wish it could have been more) -- and it was great! I love these long, deep setlists. I'm hoping, wishing, and praying for another American leg of the C50 tour. There are a bunch of major towns in the heartland that didn't get a C50 show -- Memphis, for one.

It was a life-affirming event when I absolutely needed it.
Which lends an appropriate context to the band's relationship with most of us Smiley Smilers over the past 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 what have you years!

I wonder if 'ol Luther made it to a show.... ;D

I also think it's great that massive size crowds have been exposed to the backup band and David Marks. That true to the recordings sound was absent through decades worth of Beach Boys shows throughout the majority of their touring career. It really makes the sound............and it could not be better.

AND ........David on the Fender is priceless.

Don't think that anyone can think its gone better than it has. Each show seems to be a celebration of and by the group - the fans coming away happy and satisfied. The reviews complimentary; the interviews of the guys showing a sheer enjoyment of being together (harmony). The performances seem to be tight and the setlists providing something for everyone.

While I've enjoyed the "Mike and Bruce" and Brian and his group shows, this tour shows that "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts". I don't think that since the mid 70's (Endless Summer), there's been such positive vibes about these guys.

Hopefully, when this tour is done they make arrangements to visit the studio again foir another release because TWGMTR is a very enyoyable CD and anything similar (in terms of quality and performance) would be appreciated. Another tour would be great but I'm not sure it would have the same public interest that a "celebration of 50 years" naturally provides. Yet, at an artistic level like they provide now, it would be welcome.

Truly, while everyone hoped that something like this might happen someday its doubtful anyone truly believed it would happen. The guys deserve immense credit for getting it together, doing it and doing it in an excellent way.

It was everything anyone could hope for and much more. The sets were satisfying, the tour lasted, Mike behaved, they kicked the autotune, the set length was fulfilling, the original members were perfectly showcased, the backing band didn't miss a beat, Foskett didn't end up inappropriately drowning anyone out, the album turned out to be one of the best... This reunion was done properly, to say the least. I don't even feel iffy saying or thinking that. I just wish I could have seen the show more than once. I would go 10 more times if I could.

I really can't add anymore to what's been said - the attention to detail and the breadth of the setlist have been stunning. I think we all kind of 'hoped' that the sum would be greater, but seeing it all come together has been exciting, inspiring, and wistful.

When I think of how these shows were set up long before anyone knew definitively how it would all work - they really showed some courage here. Add the album and all the teevee promos for the album, and it's amazing how they kept it all together and rose to each challenge.

As I write this the band is getting ready for their last (for now?) US show. I have dug up a old thread on some serious and tongue in cheek requests from prior to the tour. Fun to read now!


http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,11982.0.html


Can I just say congratulations to all concerned. Many, including myself, wondered could Brian last 50 shows? Sure he looks pooped but he has been a trooper. Including TV shows he and the others have played those great songs for a total of almost 2500 times but have managed to sound fresh each and every time despite up to 5 shows a week.

Well done all.

Those weren't my reasons, but I was one of them.  And when I'm wrong, I admit it.  I was wrong.