The Smiley Smile Message Board

I thought it was a great show. Brian was really into it, he sincerely seemed to have a good time, and he sounded great. I think he didn't even use an autocue and made just one tiny mistake (in Heroes & Villains). I did think it was strange that nobody said anything about Al not being there. No announcement at the door, not a word from Brian or anyone in the band, nothing.

The songs they did (not in the right order):

Catch A Wave (opening song) - Surfer Girl - Surfin' USA - In My Room - Hawaii - Fun Fun Fun - Johnny B. Goode - Love And Mercy - I Get Around - Wendy - Row Your Boat (twice) - Do You Wanna Dance? - When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) - Dance Dance Dance - Then I Kissed Her - Help Me Rhonda - California Girls - Barbara Ann - Wouldn't It Be Nice - God Only Knows - Sloop John B. - Caroline No - Heroes And Villains - Good Vibrations (with the regular lyrics) - Do It Again - Add Some Music To Your Day - Marcella - Sail On Sailor (sung by Billy Hinsche) - Drive-In

Yeah it was a great show, too bad it was so short. I thought that Billy Hinsche was going to say something about Al not being there but no... The place still had quite a lot of empty seats - behind me there were 3 or 4 empty seats (and one was occupied by a guy who slept during half the show!).

I was extremely surprised at how enthusiastic Brian's performance was. A lot of banter in between songs (including "Thanks for coming tonight" about 7 or 8 times!) His singing was very good too. Billy didn't mention Alan but did reminisce a bit about his stay in Holland during the recording of the album with the same name. I sat in the second to last row and I could clearly see that although the show wasn't sold out, the theater was quite full, my guess would be that at least 90% of the seats were full. Which, keeping in mind that the tickets were quite expensive, seems quite reasonable to me.

Unfortunately no surprises in the setlist, but because I knew that beforehand I wasn't disappointed. I do hope that next time (if there will be one), there will be new music, or more rarities.

Just came back from the show in Groningen... I drove over 600 kilometers, all alone, for a show I already saw a day earlier... That must make me either a really big fan or a really big idiot. Oh well...

But it was worth it. I sat at the front row this time, about 10 meters away from Brian. The show was cool. Same setlist as in Amsterdam and a lot of the same jokes. Brian was a little less enthousiastic now, but still in a pretty good mood. He smiled from ear to ear when he saw the entire crowd clapping along with Good Vibrations, and it wasn't one of those forced "Oh yeah, my wife told me to smile on stage every once in a while" smiles, but a real, genuine, big smile. Easily the highlight of the day. And just like yesterday, his singing was pretty strong. No autocue, not much backup from Foskett, and still just a few little mistakes (the funniest one was Brian singing the opening line of Do You Wanna Dance while the rest sang the opening line of When I Grow Up, another one was that he started singing the second chorus of the BWPS version of GV and that Foskett shortly took over to bring him back to the regular version). The crowd was much more enthousiastic than in Amsterdam. About halfway through, everybody left their seats. The coolest BW show I've seen so far.

The exact setlists:

Amsterdam, June 21st 2007:
1. Catch A Wave
2. Dance Dance Dance
3. Then I Kissed Her
4. Hawaii
5. In My Room
Row Row Row...
6. Surfer Girl
7. Wendy
8. When I Grow Up To Be A Man
9. Do You Wanna Dance?
10. Drive-In
11. I Get Around
12. Sail On Sailor
13. Sloop John B
14. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
15. Caroline No
16. God Only Knows
17. Add Some Music
18. Heroes And Villains
19. Do it again
20. California Girls
21. Marcella
22. Good Vibrations

1st encore
23. Johnny B Goode
24. Help Me, Rhonda
25. Barbara Ann
26. Surfin’ U.S.A.
27. Fun, fun, fun

2nd encore
Row Row Row...
28. Love And Mercy


Groningen, June 22nd 2007:
1. Catch A Wave
2. Dance Dance Dance
3. Then I Kissed Her
Row Row Row...
4. Hawaii
5. In My Room
6. Surfer Girl
7. Wendy
8. When I Grow Up To Be A Man (first attempt was a false start with Brian singing Do You Wanna Dance)
9. Do You Wanna Dance?
10. Drive-In
11. I Get Around
12. Sail On Sailor
13. Sloop John B
14. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
15. Caroline No
16. God Only Knows
17. Add Some Music
Row Row Row...
18. Heroes And Villains
19. Do it again
20. California Girls
21. Marcella
22. Good Vibrations

1st encore
23. Johnny B Goode
24. Help Me, Rhonda
25. Barbara Ann
26. Surfin’ U.S.A.
27. Fun, fun, fun

2nd encore
28. Love And Mercy

Thanks!

Groningen was my first Brian Wilson show, after years of wanting to see the guy, and it sure didn't disappoint. I've been to dozens of concerts over the years, and this was without a doubt, the very best.