The Smiley Smile Message Board

Many of you know I became a big fan in the early 90s and started the setlist archive beginning in 1998. My first exposure to the live band on video was the 1980 DC show. It was this show that made me as much a fan of the live band as I was of the studio work. The energy and the dynamics of each Beach Boy's personality and talent, and the synergy of them performing together, was super intriguing for me when I watched this show on video.

I watched it again tonight for the first time since the C50 shows. There is a lot going on here in the band musically and interpersonally. I've probably watched this 100x in the past and I caught things this time that I never noticed before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0KdUAA6Do4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The audience sing along portion of Good Vibrations reveals a lot. Dennis tries to talk over Mike, but Mike ignores him. I never noticed Dennis asked them to sing "One for the hostages! Come on!" At least that's what it sounds like. You can see Carl directing Dennis to go back to the drums after he shouts some unintelligible things on the mic.

Carl makes his vocals sounds so smooth and effortless. There are several singers around today who do a very admirable job of singing Carl's leads. But no one will ever match his vocal quality on these songs.

Brian at the piano is a lot like Brian on the piano during C50, somewhat withdrawn. Though Brian definitely did a lot more leads during C50. On Help me Rhonda, Brian takes over Bruce's keyboard and mimics playing a lot like he did on some of his early solo tours.

Bruce's role here is much like it was during C50. An occasional comment here and there, but mostly just singing, keyboards, getting the audience to clap and participate, and a little mic adjusting of course ;-)

Al back then sounds just like Al now!

Dennis often isn't audible, either his mic is low in the Tv mix, or it was just low at the show. During Help Me Rhonda, Al, Mike, and Dennis seem to be tripling each other on the lead vocal, but only Al and Mike are audible in the mix presented here. Dennis' drumming is definitely solid throughout! When he misses the first few seconds of Surfin USA, his drumming is definitely missed.

It's interesting that a lot of mess ups and awkward moments were televised on HBO. Carl messing up the first verse on Good Timin, Dennis missing the first few drum beats of Surfin USA, the tension during Good Vibrations. Nothing like the sterile and overly autotuned DVD release from C50.

It's also interesting to note that California Girls was not televised, as by this time it was their classic opening anthem.

The audience shots are fascinating. There's a topless woman, some guy smoking weed, and I think I saw Snoop Dogg at one point  :lol. It's weird to think that the children here are now around 40, the 20 year olds are now in their 50s, etc.

Any thoughts?

Eric --

I taped that show and obsessed over it as a kid.  I caught that Dennis thing and yes, he was trying to get people to sing for the hostages in Iran, but his voice was so shot and his mic was so low no one understood what he was saying.

Carl singing "All us people / sharin' each other" on Good Timin' and then his facial reaction to his R-rated mistake as soon as he blurts it out is priceless.

I find it amazing that I didn't understand the hostages comment till tonight. There is just so much going on in that video with the crazy audience shots and band shots. Mike gives a cameraman a weird angry look after the audience participation segment of GV.

I never thought of the lyrical connotations of the accidental lyric switch on Good Timin until you mentioned it. Carl looked thrown off even before h4 started singing. He isn't even close to the mic and has to lean over to sing the opening part before the first verse.

It's interesting that even back then, Mike and Al didn't interact much, though they were standing right beside each other. Just like the C50 shows. But to be fair, I didn't see Mike and Bruce interacting either. Also a lot like C50.

I love this show so much. The first time I've watched this I was quite dissapointed after comparing it to the Knebworth release. I think it was because of the almost too many audience shots (which I am more than fine with now) and most of the in between banter were left out. I always thought Carl got a cold or something because he doesn't seem to be too happy most of the time and I think his nose looked a little reddish at one point or another. There is no Joe Chemay so Carl is doing most of the guitar parts and he does a fabulous job. Catch A Wave smokes so does School Days, I like how Dennis is using the bass drum on this. Some funny moments were mentioned before like Dennis missing his cue on Surfin' USA and Carl singing the wrong line on Good Timin'. Carl looking kind of angry at Brian at the end of Good Timin' as well and Mike and Al seem to be amused at one point when the security are carring a guy away.

There is a little bit of footage out there of the Hawaii Mike Douglas show december 1980 and they smoke too, though Brian is missing. The boys doing most of the instrumentation themselves and still a couple of new songs from LA and KTSA and a few rarities here and there. The last time the band kind of progressed on stage as well with the hard rocking sound. The end of an era. After that Carl would left, when he returns Dennis and Brian would be missing a lot of shows, lots of sidemen were used and they'd be turning into a greatest hits band ignoring almost everything they did between 1969 and 1980.

It's interesting to look at band members' interaction. I was very pleased to see Mike and Al interact and joke with each other during the C50 show I attended. They took pictured with their cell phoned and looked at each other's. As much bitterness and acrimony as there has been between these two, I'm sure there is also warmth and respect. Love can't save a marriage sometimes, let alone a working relationship between two members of a rock group/corporation.

I saw this Beach Boys concert on video very early in my fandom. The first thing that knocked me out was the sheer size of the crowd! For quite some time I thought that they'd opened with Darlin' before realising that the footage had been edited :-[

One of my favourite moments is the extended intro to Do It Again.

Re: The Mike Douglas Show, one of the neat things about it is that the camera focuses on Carl when he plays a lead guitar solo, something that frustratingly doesn't happen nearly enough >:(

I was at this show.  It was typically hotter than the hinges of hell that day, but we had a cooler of beer and ice so it was fine.  Dennis actually spoke about the hostages twice- he went to the mic at the end of the show and exhorted the crowd again.  Someone skipped a frisbee off Brian's piano near the end of the show and he bolted off the stage for a bit- they left that part out of the tape.  He was pretty subdued that day.  The best part for me was watching the crowd, which was massive, maybe 500,000.  During "Wouldn't It Be Nice" everybody old and young seemed to know all the words and sang along, which made me teary-eyed.  I walked to the front (easy to do, everyone had spread out blankets early in the day so there was room to move) and noted at least three topless girls vying for camera attention.  When they showed it on PBS in the 1980's they left the topless shots in, but they edit them out now.

It's interesting how well Dennis drums at this show because if you've seen the video floating around of him being interviewed by a female reporter prior to the concert he can barely string two sentences together. He was very out of it

I had never seen this whole video before (thanks for posting). Looks like the crowd had a good time that day. I can almost envision James Watt walking the Mall long after the show ended and just shaking his head at the thousands of empty beer cans and bras littering the lawn.  :lol

Just to be technical about the timeline...July 4 1980 was still Jimmy Carter's presidency and the 1980 election had yet not been held, so unless James Watt was in the crowd as a fan he had nothing to do with the 1980 DC show at all.  :)

If he were in the crowd and getting sprayed with beer and garbage surrounded by topless women partying...I'd imagine he'd look like Iron Eyes Cody as a tear slowly ran down his cheek.... :lol  And quite possibly one of the only men in the crowd that summer day wearing a blue suit, tie, and wingtip shoes.

About the show itself, it does have that certain live energy from the band, warts and all. Quite an event for any musician to look out at a crowd with that many people moving and grooving to your music. And it also speaks to the way concerts were thought of previously versus now - You do not need to micromanage every single note of a show, the real joy and energy comes from the performance in that moment, and the interaction between the band and the crowd that drives it. A few bum notes or missed cues mean nothing in the live context.

Am I right in saying that this show was also `fixed` to some extent though?

yep

Going back to 1964 "In Concert" was "fixed" too, where they tried to pass off one studio recording as live by adding crowd noise, and it still got to #1 on the album charts!  :)

I know most live albums are fixed, but I was thinking more of the fact that you can still see and hear such obvious flubs and mis-steps as posters mentioned above instead of having it be a 100% note-perfect and sterile affair that was subjected to micro-fixes and obsessive editing in favor of the live feel overall, even if it too was fixed.

Which song was a studio recording?

I Get Around?

Yes, that's the one.

There were after-the-fact vocal overdubs done to I Get Around, Fun, Fun, Fun, Little Old Lady From Pasadena, Hawaii, and Johnny B Goode.

For many years I suspected I Get Around and Fun, Fun, Fun were touched up. Those two sounded just like the studio versions - one or both might have been slightly sped up.

You are right. Both of those were "fixed"

I remember watching the DC show in 1980. I think it was on HBO at the time. My friend recorded it on his Betamax for me. I still have it on a Sony Beta tape!

At the time, I remember my friend commenting how effed up Dennis was and suggested that he'd touched some condiments. His timing was off on at least a couple of songs but he caught up. The edited tape shows a blonde girl, her eyes looked like slits, on top of her boyfriend's shoulders pulling up her top. Damn! Just missed it. I know there was more. Yeah, a lot to see on this tape and I watched it many a time. At the time, we didn't even fathom that Dennis was in and out of the band and having troubles with alcohol, drugs, and other stuff and wouldn't last much longer. We just figured he was in a good party mood and sweatin' bullets. Bruce on keys would look over with a serious look on his face when Dennis or something wasn't right. We made fun of Bruce's white shorts. The big crowd seemed to love all of it.

Took a little over 14 minutes but Bruce finally adjusted his microphone.

This show was also broadcast live on the radio.

Look again.

6 seconds into 'Darlin'.

I remember listening to this show broadcast over WLS. I was 16 that summer and I dragged my stereo out to the backyard and listened to the concert while "baking" in the sun. It was great hearing the band playing cuts from KTSA and LA along with the hits. I was a little disappointed when the HBO concert aired and so many songs were cut, but it still was unbelievably cool to see most of the show. There weren't many of us Beach Boys fans in Wisconsin in the late '70s and early '80s and any chance to try to convert others was welcomed!

I taped the live radio broadcast in DC. At the time, it seemed like a pretty lame performance but, in light of the events of the past 34 years, it's fascinating to listen to now.

Following on to the hostages comment, IIRC if you listen carefully to "Help Me Rhonda" on the Long Beach concert, you can hear someone in a low gutteral voice say something that sounds like "I love Shawn!"

Camera's not on the person saying it, but I have a pretty good guess who it was.

A tree falls over in the woods and no one is there to hear it. The tree has still fallen over.

The same applies here. Whether you see it or not, Bruce adjusts his microphone.

Who's doing the falsetto on this show?

Bruce.  Al also did a few falsetto parts.

Another highlight of the show. Dennis playing Rhonda on the piano, then jumping on top of it shaking his timbers. Then the girl with the tube top on the guy's shoulders as the camera pans out into the crowd afterwards. Oooooooooooooweeeeeee!!!

The cameras are focused on Bruce and Al during "I Get Around" and neither are doing the falsetto part.

This show is really great. This show is really great. Damn you School Days interrupting an otherwise excellent show. Damn you schooldays! Also: Bruce first adjusts his mic at right about the 1:00 min mark. I'm surprised you missed that? NHC ...

(http://s27.postimg.org/qe7aj1go3/mikiesdreamgurl.jpg)There ya go, Mikie.

Didn't see the topless woman, but it seems there wasn't a single bra worn in D.C. that day.

That's the one!!  The headlights are on!

When it's ice cream weather all the girls will look better, roll down your tube tops and ride!
They'll be sleepin' in the sand dunes, dancin' in the streets, they're just tryin' to keep the Summer alive!

1. California Girls 
2. Sloop John B 
3. Darlin' 
4. School Days 
5. In My Room 
6. Good Timin' 
7. God Only Knows 
8. Do It Again 
9. Little Deuce Coupe 
10. Catch a Wave 
11. Hawaii 
12. Merry Minuet 
13. Santa Ana Winds 
14. Some of Your Love 
15. Keepin' the Summer Alive 
16. Lady Lynda 
17. Cotton Fields 
18. Heroes and Villains 
19. I Write the Songs 
20. Surfer Girl 
21. Help Me, Rhonda 
22. Be True to Your School 
23. Wouldn't It Be Nice 
24. Rock and Roll Music 
25. I Get Around 
26. Surfin' U.S.A. 

Encore:
27. Good Vibrations 
28. Barbara Ann 
29. Fun, Fun, Fun 

During the 70's, Al and Carl traded off high parts. When Bruce rejoined them the year before, he resumed doing high parts. It could only be one of them because Foskett hadn't joined the band yet and that left Figueroa and Carter and Meros and they didn't sing falsetto as far as I know. Unless Billy Hinsche was hiding back stage with a microphone.....he was known to sing high at times, but I don't think he was there.

Just watch here: http://youtu.be/v0KdUAA6Do4?t=36m36s (http://youtu.be/v0KdUAA6Do4?t=36m36s)

Not Bruce or Al (can see them singing), and it's not Carl (can hear him singing).

Pretty sure I was told by somebody (it may have been Bobby F. himself) that Bobby F. was doing a lot of the falsetto at this gig.

The falsetto isn't all that strong or projected a lot of the time, so I suspect this is the case.  He's really the only candidate on tunes like "I Get Around."

The above post isn't quite right.  Bruce actually didn't sing falsetto live all that much, and Carl rarely -- Al was the guy who most often covered Brian's vocals.  Billy Hinsche as well, when he was around (he sang "Surfer Girl" on IN CONCERT).

One song I remember Bruce DID do the falsetto lead vocal on was "I Get Around" (during his first go 'round, not in 1980 obviously), and you couldn't hear him very well.

I don't get how Dennis isn't good during this show. I guess I do. But I don't agree.  I mean, he's not slick or anything. But he's got a good feel.  seems like standard 'Dennis pushes the tempos' stuff. it pretty much rocks.   

That makes sense. It's definitely not overly prominent in the mix, but it sounds good.

Surprisingly limited backing back in this period. It was just Meros, Figueroa and Carter, right?

Carl sounds good on those guitar leads, and it was funny to see Bruce playing keyboards with a bass around his neck late in the set. He went from playing two instruments in one song during that era to zero today.

You sure? Always thought Al sang Surfer Girl on "In Concert".  I know Al and Carl traded high parts on "Don't Worry Baby" and of course Carl sang Brian's lead on "Carol I Know".
Listen to Bruce at the very end of one of those Washington 1980 songs. He could sing high clearly with no problem. Ooooooeeeeeooooooeeeee!

Bobby Figueroa is doing Brian's part on "I Get Around" at the 1980 gigs. He wasn't doing all the falsetto parts, but he did in that song. He's not projecting very loudly, and/or they just didn't mix his voice up very high on either the Knebworth or DC releases.

Here's my old-ish review of the DC Region 2 Japanese DVD release: http://beachboysopinion.blogspot.com/2014/05/reviews-from-archive-vol-1-celebration.html?m=0

(http://lh6.ggpht.com/-YKRtUKkyYys/U3TeHWXANeI/AAAAAAAAAEg/vIT2ZgIDVB8/s280/IMG_20140514_231410_829-1.jpg)

Might off a tad here, but I don't think they'd met by summer 1980 (Jon ?).

Really cool to watch this concert again, 34 years later.  Yeah, School Days is definitely a low point in the concert, and a song way too uncool in for the BBs to have covered in 1980.  (With absolutely no disrespect intended toward Chuck Berry's 1957 original, which worked quite well in the fifties.)

As far at the falsetto in I Get Around, this concert underwent some sweetening after the fact, right?  So who knows.

Never realized it's Billy Hinsche singing the main lead on Surfer Girl on the BBs In Concert album.  Amazing to learn that all these years later.  Just went back and listened again, on the new BB In Concert vinyl, and noticed that the composer credit goes to "Wilson-Morgan" on this 2014 pressing, just as it is listed on the original Nov. 1973 vinyl as well as two other vinyl copies of BB In Concert I purchased in 1977 and 1979.  The Beach Boys In Concert vinyl is the only place I've ever seen "Morgan" (would that supposedly be Hite or Bruce?) listed along with Brian Wilson as a co-writer, as opposed to The Beach Boys in Concert CD as well as all other vinyl albums, singles, and CDs which feature Surfer Girl and list only BW as the composer.

Nice review, and great that you have a DVD copy in much higher quality than that on YouTube.  But when you state, "It’s certainly a more surly, energetic crowd that the gingerly-moving baby boomers in Hawaiian shirts you see at Mike Love’s shows these days," I'm wondering how many of those 1980 "energetic crowd members" are some of the 2014 "gingerly-moving baby boomers in Hawaiian shirts you see at Mike Love’s shows these days."

this is actually the first time i'd seen this all the way through. what a day... it was a much different time wasn't it?

amazing how young Carl is looking. he is only 33 here!
amazing too how little camera time Brian received.

Mike is pretty awful. less nasal than he is now, but singing so flat.
Dennis looks kinda rough, but solid drumming for the most part.
Al and Bruce are Al and Bruce. and sounding great.

wonder why they cut CA Girls and some of the others?

Could well be some of the same folks. I never suggested otherwise. I do think though that it's quite possible the mean or median or average age at a Beach Boys show in comparison to, say, the age of the group members, skewed younger than it does now, especially looking at adults.

I was also referencing how a free show on that scale probably would also bring in younger folks.

As Mike is now 73 I`m not sure that`s really possible...

Also, and I`m not trying to direct this to you, but I wonder whether some of the comments about the Mike and Bruce shows are from those who don`t actually attend. When I type in `Beach Boys 2014` on Youtube these are two of the first concerts that show up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57M5QaY6ko8

The camera does a round at 32.00 and shows that there are loads of young and old people in attendance.

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

People of all ages clearly in attendance.

That matches my own experiences of attending the shows.

Is adamghost referring to the Long Beach concert - in 1981?

I know people say Billy Hinsche sang that lead on Surfer Girl, but I would swear that's Al Jardine. It sounds so much like his phrasings and  you can't hear Al anywhere else in the harmony and you can ALWAYS hear Al on the Surfer Girl harmony.  I would maybe buy Billy on the "little one" at the end.  While I know Billy did high parts for them in the 70s , every other recording I have heard is Al dating back to '65 and up to the 80's.

What "people" say it's Billy Hinsche on Surfer Girl? This is the first time I've read/heard that. I bought "In Concert" in November '73 and all these years I thought it was Al singing the lead on that. I still do. Did Billy himself say he sang it? Otherwise.....

Yes, it was Long Beach. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI5TcuwPOHA

A friend supplied me with a tape of the Washington broadcast back in 1980.  Most of it was mono; an edit from FM and AM recordings.  But no sweetening for the initial broadcast.  I thought the band sounded great this tour... there was a great Carl Wilson extended guitar rift that bridged the end of Barbara Ann with the intro to Fun Fun Fun in that tour that really kicked ass.

Ah phooey, so he is. Duh.

Yes, he did.  

Check the lead vocal credits thread elsewhere in this board for the part that covered IN CONCERT.  My recollection is that we asked him because to OUR ears, the falsetto and middle solo vocal did not sound like anyone from the group.  And Billy confirmed it was him.

Surfer Girl - Alan, with Billy Hinsche on falsetto

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,5525.msg73887.html#msg73887

OK, well then, from the horse's mouth!  :)  Always thought pretty much the whole song was falsetto, but it makes sense that Billy sang a part while Al sang lead.

And while I was there, is see the credits for Marcella didn't include Brian on the background vocals. Thought it was agreed somewhere that he was doing a 'counter' vocal at the tag. "Hey yay Marcella" or something like that. And I didn't know Toni Tennille helped Dennis with the vocal on Cuddle Up either. I always liked hers and Daryl's version.

As this has always been the show I’m most nostalgic about as well, due to playing it a million times on VHS over the years, I’ve picked up a few trivia tidbits regarding the show over the years:

Back around 2002 when they were prepping the “Knebworth 1980” DVD and CD, I recall that Bruce mentioned he would have preferred releasing the Washington DC show instead. The reasoning makes sense: Bruce worked on both projects. But to him, the DC show was a “finished” project. The did the show, did some overdubs, and it was “released” via its airing on TV. “Knebworth” on the other hand was something fiddled with after the fact (some indications suggest they made more than one attempt to go back and do overdubs) and then shelved. This attitude would also explain one potential reason Bruce asked them to drop “I Write the Songs” from the Knebworth release.

Word some years back (ten or so) was that the “raw” footage of the DC show was *not* in the BB’s vaults, only the finished hour-long TV edit (the BB’s have always of course held the multi-track audio masters). However, it appears they may have since tracked down the raw footage, as one of the early TV commercials for the 2012 “C50” tour, which used a hodge podge of quick-cut clips from over the years, had some footage of “California Girls” from the DC show, which is not in the hour-long TV edit.

Because I’m so into this show, the uncut, raw footage from this show is probably my holy grail. I tried to rustle up some info on if the raw footage had surfaced back when that 2012 TV commercial aired, but nothing came of that.

That Japanese DVD I reviewed was very difficult to track down. It was issued during the very early days of DVD back around 1997. I believe it had previously been issued on VHS (don’t know about laserdisc) back in the 80’s or 90’s in Japan. I actually tracked down a kind fan in France who purchased it at the Virgin Megastore in Paris as a Japanese import, around 1999. I then had to track down a DVD player that would play “Region 2” discs. That Japanese DVD quickly went out of print.

As for overdubs on the DC show, if you listen to the DVD with headphones, you can more easily discern what’s going on. It sounds like they mostly added a layer of electric keyboard overdubs. You can actually heard the electric piano almost “punch in” at certain points. It sounds as though there isn’t a ton of vocal overdubbing going on. The intro to “School Days” is obviously re-recorded (or heavily overdubbed). If anything, the backing vocals are often buried in the mix. If they overdubbed backing vocals, they still chose to keep them lower in the mix. But overall, there isn’t a ton of tinkering going on with this mix. The lead vocals, the drums, etc. are all original and live.

For some reason the Washington DC show always seemed a bit lifeless to me, at least compared with the Knebworth show. One of the highlights for me was seeing/hearing Brian interact during the tag of Good Timin'.

Brian is frustratingly quiet throughout both performances and I love the Knebworth rendition of Surfer Girl where his part is being introduced by Dennis. One of the group's most magical moments that was ever caught on video tape.

I completely agree. IMO Knebworth is better in every way, especially visually.

I recall one of the reasons Bruce cited for preferring the DC show to Knebworth is that he thought Dennis looked "terrible" in the Knebworth footage. I'm of the opinion the opposite is true. I think Dennis looks great and gives major energy and balls to the Knebworth concert...on the other hand he looks compromised and tired in the DC footage. A lot has to do with camera angles and the fact that Dennis had cut off his hair and beard which revealed a face which had aged quickly since '75. But aside from that Dennis is a more powerful figure in the Knebworth footage, his body language is far less powerful at DC...to me DC is the signal that he's losing it, or already lost it. Plus I absolutely hate the daytime stage wear the BB's are sporting at DC, and the whole thing seems scattered despite the amazing audience energy. Knebworth has a focus, and a visual appeal that is missing in the DC footage for me.

In case someone missed these:

1980 Hawaii

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzOODarjt84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxT-r4nTkFs

1980 Holland (thanks to Klaas)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgvWCG4fo7E

I agree with you on Phirnis and Jon about Dennis and Knebworth. He plays well all night, the "Ladies and Gentleman, Brian Wilson" on Surfer Girl is great, and I love his interaction with Mike Meros on Surfin' USA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU9-uY_32uA

Dennis certainly still had the "spark" then.

I agree with the above comment about Brian on Good Timin' in DC. He looks and sounds totally disinterested in his Sloop John B opening vocal (Knebworth is better), but his singing and facial expressions look like the Brian of better times on Good Timin'. I see Carl's gesture as a reminder to Brian to sing his counterpoint vocal again.

Ya I remember when that thread was taking place. I'm still baffled by that because there are plenty of other times when both Al and Billy were on stage together and Al always sang the lead/falsetto as well as the middle 8.

Brian looks pretty disinterested and disengaged at pretty much every 1980 show I've seen or heard. 1979 for that matter. Back in 77/78, he could still occasionally have a bit of a spark on stage, at least energy-wise.

His disposition was probably just as unmotivated in 1981-1982 as well, but he was forced to be more engaged since he had to take a bunch of Carl's leads.

Careful, careful. That is almost an invitation to post that clip again.  ;)

The only time I remember Brian "sparking" and having one helluva good time on stage was in 1978. I think it was the Largo show. He musta snorted some looooong hog rails before that concert!!  Runnin' all over the place and getting into the singing - yelling into the mic. There may be others that I'm forgetting, but that one stands out in my mind.

Never cared much for Brian's "part" on "Good Timin" at the 7/4/80 concert. It was very shouty, his part wasn't really necessary, but most uncomfortable was the way he had to depend on Carl for his cue, like he couldn't remember when to come in.

Two better than average 1979/80 Brian performances - both televised - were the Midnight Special (1979) and that Fridays TV show (1980). 

I watched this show for the first time ever last night. While I don't think it was the man's best moment and I'm not usually one to single him out in a good way, I still was thankful for Dennis's presence. Even in moments when his drumming was a little sketchy in time or missing a beat here and there, his drumming was absolutely alive through the show. (He was the same in the Knebworth show being discussed here, of course, and throughout his career.) There are drummers with brilliant technique and that kind of raw energy but sadly they didn't seem to be in the Beach Boys' band very often. And in a live environment, if forced to pick one element or the other, I'd go Dennis's direction more often than not.

I saw quite a few shows in 1980-1983 when Dennis started drumming late on Surfin' USA... letting the guitar intro and Mike's first line play before starting to drum... I always thought it was intentional, adding more power to when the drums finally did kick in.

I'm pretty sure I've heard at least one early 60's performance of the song like that as well.

Beach Boys at the CNE in Toronto, August of '81. During the encore (or close to it), Brian got up from the piano and made an exaggerated sneak toward the guitar amps on stage. He then pantomimed turning the volume dials up.

Mike then said 'Oh no! Brian has just turned all the guitars way way UP!'  

It was a playful, unexpected moment. I love those 'Brian' moments.

(also during the unplugged casino shows in Vancouver, circa '06 - during the lineup bow at the end of the show, Brian unceremoniously lifted his shirt high above his belly)

Is it just me, or does everybody seem mad about something at that DC show? Mike, Al and Carl all look angry about something. During Good Timin', Carl almost misses his cue at the start, then looks really frustrated with himself for messing up the words. During the intro Mike wasn't even on the stage. Mike looks downright pissed off during much of the show. The concert itself is pretty good though. Dennis plays great and almost sounds like he did in the old days. This show really proves what an amazing guitar player Carl was. He was on fire!  ;D

I would say that Bruce also looked upset at times. I would stop short at saying that any one of them looked mad for the entire show, though. The closest might be Carl...He didn't seem to be smiling much, for sure.

 I think it’s probably overanalyzing it to take away that they are angry or upset. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were a bit stressed out or frazzled. While I doubt they had any “stage fright”, the gig may well have been, up to that point, the largest audience they had ever played for. Perhaps that concept, coupled with the logistics around the concert (working with the various departments putting the show on, etc.), along with the regular BB stresses (Dennis wasn’t in super shape, Brian was, well, perhaps quiet more than problematic in any way), and perhaps they didn’t have their “happy” faces on. It is a bit odd if they were indeed portraying some negative emotions, because they all knew the show was being shot to air on TV.

But in a weird way, they were more distanced from the audience than they were at a typical show. Perhaps they felt detached from the audience enough that they didn’t have to portray any particular facial expressions (though, again, they would be seen even more close-up when the thing aired on TV).

I’ve seen interpretations that Bruce (or other members) were shooting concerned glances over at Dennis. I think it’s difficult to really tell if that’s the case. It does seem like Carl is trying to reign Dennis in during the “Good Vibrations” middle section, and the band in general perhaps are annoyed or concerned, especially since Dennis is barely understandable when he’s talking.

Perhaps the band were distracted as well, as the audience got rather surly and rough at certain moments. I think this is heard more during the unedited radio broadcast, where they’re talking to the audience. But you can see in the TV edit where Al is pointing out someone getting crushed or smushed or something during “School Days”, asking during the song if the person is okay, and then pointing the person out to the security folks.

Is this the show where Dennis jumps on top of the piano after "Rhonda," then jumps down and gooses Carl on his way back to the drumkit?

That's what I mentioned earlier in the thread! You keep seeing Bruce look over at Carl and/or Mike with a serious look on his face like something's wrong. It's like.......if Mike wasn't completely happy about something, Bruce wasn't happy either. Just speculation, but I'd venture to say it's about Dennis, who was in and out of the band at the time for being intoxicated/drugged up. Maybe just Dennis' presence was enough to piss Mike off. Maybe a little friction going on there.....

Wonder if Ed Roach is reading this. He was at the Queen Mary show in '81 and mentions that Dennis was in a partying mood that day. Maybe he was at this 7/4/80 show in D.C. too.

I think the whole band did a great job on "Darlin'" in the DC show. Carl belts it out like there's no tomorrow and the background parts blend nicely. You can hear Mike's part stand out and it sounds real good.

I might be wrong but I think I remember there is footage somewhere of Mike and Dennis shaking hands after the show.

Short Dennis interview from the day of the DC show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjnuj22Wunw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjnuj22Wunw)

I really dug their 1980 arrangement of "Darlin'." It veered so far from the original 1967 version that I almost treat it like a different song. I was kind of bummed when, later in the 80's and into the 90's, they changed the arrangement, most likely in an attempt to get it a bit closer to the original recording. They slowed it down and gave it a bit more of an R&B sound (albeit with 80's and 90's synths). The 1980 versions make it sound more like a rock or "powerpop" kind of song.

Mike and Dennis kind of awkwardly shake hands backstage after the main set and before the encore. This is seen in the TV broadcast.

You can see Jerry Schilling talking with them backstage during this same portion.

It would probably be cost prohibitive in terms of clearing publishing costs (considering they won't even put out live CDs where they pay a flat mechanical rate), but this would be a great candidate for a live DVD boxed set. They have a number of shows on video in their vaults. I know some of them (e.g. the Seattle 1983 show) have flawed sound that make them arguably unreleasable. But there is stuff like the DC shows (1980 and 1984), and some other things that have good audio to go along with them. They could at least cherry pick some stuff and do a compilation. I know we're unlikely to get the full Largo '77 shows for instance.

These shows may have their flaws, but there is nothing better IMHO than seeing the Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, Brian and Bruce together on stage. Yeah, DVD's, bring 'em on!

Love this show!

Some great moments:

• Dennis at the end of Darlin has to swivel around on this stool away from the drums in order to resist continuing to bash away ;) ...... Love his intro hit!

• During the Do it Again into, Mike's dancing away with such informal abandon and seems to realize this, and it makes him a tad uncomfortable, so he reigns it in and returns to his normal stage moves.

• Al/Bruce in unison doing the falsetto on Sloop.

• Dennis is right in the pocket the whole show. His drumming on Sloop is exceptional. Check out his fill at the end of Little Deuce Coop. It's quite complicated and when he's done, he has this really casual "Yeah, that's right" look on his face ;)

• Bruce wears tiny white shorts. Bobby wears tiny white shorts too, and white socks pulled up to his knees! Hey, it was 1980.

• Carl plays some very beautiful Gibson guitars. Al seemed to generally stick to Fender back then.

• Mike does a Jim Morrison "guitar fellatio" thing to Carl on Catch A Wave. Carl seems pissed. Mike stands up and smiles at Carl and laughs like "just a joke" but his smile fades as Carl scowls and turns the other way.

• Carl and Dennis are rocking hard on School Days. Carl plays a great solo but the cameras strangely stay on Dennis mostly. We only see Carl shredding away in the background.

• Carl messes up twice on Good Timing. First during the intro, but he kinda shrugs it off, then gets pissed when he blows the second line. Hey, it was a new song!

• Mike's voice is great here compared to the Knebworth show.

• Dig the guy in the Nixon mask and prison scrubs nodding creepily at the camera after I Get Around.

• I like how Carl strolls off with a beer when they do their intermission. Mike wanders off with a duffle bag. I wonder what was in it. He goes over to where Jerry Schilling is and talks with some guy who Dennis throws his arm around. Dennis then says something to Mike and the two of them shake hands.

• There's a shot during the Good Vibrations breakdown where Brian is singing and looks really really into it.

• No one seems pissed to me at this show. It was a big gig and they just seemed to be taking it seriously.

• Greatest band ever.

Yes!  This is how I experienced it.  Hearing them live on the radio was like pandemonium.  Warts n' all.  Ah, man....  heaven.

Is the pre touched up radio broadcast circulating?

Didn't he become totally disengaged when he was removed from bass duties and pretty active singing, center stage, to hiding behind a piano in the far left of the stage?

Great post!

Sheriff, Brian,s part on Good Timin is one of my favorites of the show.  I was going to comment on that.  sure, it was a shadow of the former Brian but it was a genuine and beautiful snapshot of the BW of the day.   a keeper for sure imo.
I wait for that moment each time I see this show.