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Wasn't even a constructive review, bothered the hell out of me while I was reading it in college.

http://www.thedaonline.com/a-e/dazed-and-confused-by-brain-wilson-s-antics-1.856121 (http://www.thedaonline.com/a-e/dazed-and-confused-by-brain-wilson-s-antics-1.856121)

Crappy review - the journalist went with a preconceived notion.

That review was too long and lacking in energy.  Did she let someone else write the (misspelled) headline?  I didn't like all the short paragraphs, either.  Doesn't she have anything of substance to say? Guess not, since she found the sweat pants to be the more "noticeable aspect of the evening" than the band's musicianship. Wish I had stayed here and not clicked the link. 

Apparently, this gal has no compassion let alone musical sense/history. It never occured to her that many Brian was having a bad night....God forbide any artist to "let the show go on". That was the 8th show out of 20 so far, and Brian has seemed to be having a good time with it. He is human, and maybe he just wasn't feeling well last night...... Cut the man some slack.

I was at the show last night. It was fantastic, all the way around. Brian was in terrific form, chatting with the audience and playing more piano (like at previous shows this week from what I hear). Brian and the band delivered more than just the hits. It was unbelievable!!!

How was the attendance, she described it as empty.

Brain's- excuse me, I mean "Brian's"- shows are based on a unique relationship among him and the band and the audience.  He's not there to dazzle you with his stage-presence.  What flows back from the audience is at least as important as what flows forth from the stage.  You're there to celebrate something with thousands of anonymous friends- something that meant more to you than you could really express any other way.  You're all there to say "Thank you" to Brian Wilson and share an evening of his music with him and his band, and to help keep him moving forward in his strange and difficult life. If you really don't get that, and you're focused on his sweat pants, then yeah, you should have stayed home.

Best moment for me at any Brian show was at the Roxy in 2000.  It was right around the time the last TV movie debacle came out- not too long after, and a lot of people were still talking about that.  Hoping I'm recounting all this correctly. I think Brian was setting up "Be My Baby" and he asked if people in the audience had ever had a "really favorite, favorite song"- one that was above all the others.  Someone yelled "Good Vibrations!" and everyone cheered. Brian said " Wow, thank you." and someone yelled "No, THANK YOU" and the whole place went up. A really touching moment that captured the feelings of everyone there.  Then in the lull that followed someone else yelled "MIKE LOVE SUCKS!" and everyone started laughing, including Brian, who really spontaneously just totally cracked up, which was really, really great to see. He looked startled as he busted up.  Then he made a "tsk, tsk" type gesture- he wasn't having it- but he was still smiling.  Great moment to be there.

Beautiful post, man. Thanks.

It wasn't sold out, nor was it empty. It was full until you got to the back of the theater. I didn't really pay much attention, I was just so happy to be there. But it wasn't empty. Some others here who went could probably clarify.

No, THANK YOU!

 ;D

Wow, so Michael Love has started writing concert reviews using a pseudonym.

Ha, I love the total ambush of negative comments she has received  :lol

Will make her think twice next time

First of all, where WERE you again?  Steve and I kept waiting for a call.  We had the chance for beer and wings and conversation.  Hey Dan, did you see Jeff take the album from the person front and center just after L&M, and hand it to Brian to autograph while he was still at the keyboard.....?   That was the wife!

For those who weren't there I'll review briefly;

The show was great.  Lots of energy.   And Brian gave the crowd his best.  He sang so hard that he got a bit hoarse in a couple places on the last set. But on much of the material he sang solo, no one backing or doubling his voice....and I watched closely from the 3rd row of the pit.  The LOS material was strong and damn near PERFECT.  He does better with material written for his current vocal range and tone.  He played the piano....some of the time...mostly when he wasn't singing.
Marcella simply had to be seen and heard.....absolutely a knockout.

All in all, all things considered, the best BW and band show I've seen.

I'll let Dan and Mayo add there comments.

And the size of the crowd?   Not sure but damn near a sellout....packed for the most part save the last 3 or so rows.

Obviously, the reviewer expected something other than what she heard. She went in without knowing anything (see: cluelessness at the every-show cigarette lighter and Row, Row, Row... bits) and was unpleasantly surprised, despite admitting the quality of the music. While it's entirely fair to be put off by Brian's oddity, one ought to at least look into what she's about to hear before publicly sharing such disappointment. It's almost as if she were expecting a state fair BBs show (by a young BBs). Well, that isn't a Brian Wilson show.

I went to read them and I can't figure out any way to access them. Maybe they took them down??

Looks like they did take them down. I wrote one of them-- I just told her she should have done some research into Brian's career, life and musical legacy before she went to the show. She clearly just didn't have a clue.

Nice comments Donna....

But IMHO, no make that an observation, This wasn't a bad nite...it was quite good.....both the band and Brian...very loose and easy and just a damn good time and show

No offence, but I really don't see the big deal. God forbid a musician would ever get a less than perfect review. Brian's a big boy. He can probably handle it. This place is starting to look a little blue.

Bite your tongue Jay!!!! I was at the Milwaukee show, and it was very good too. There was a glitch in the sound, but since Richie wasn't working.......well....you know.

I'm just glad that Brian is having a good time and seems looser on this round of tours than ever.  This gal was making a big deal about the sweat pants.....do we give a hoot about that????NO! It seems consistently good that Bri is singing and playing at each show, something we haven't really seen in the last few years, which is great!!! I know I went to the South Bend show last fall, then 3 days later to the Chicago show....he was different at each, SB being the lesser of the two. It seems he's getting better at this tour business, and dare I say, maybe even liking it alot????

Yeah, I'm not terribly bothered by it.  Although it seems evident that this critic might not be a BW fanatic, it wasn't that scathing of a review.  And let's face it: Brian Wilson is a lousy performer.  Yep, he is.  But the fans (myself included) don't care about that.  It's just great to see the guy onstage (even if he doesn't always seem comfortable up there).  Sure beats him hiding in his bed.  This particular critic might not be aware of all of BW's trials and tribulations.  That sort of makes the review somewhat objective, if anything else...

Who wrote that article, an old women in her 80's? She was complaining that the concert went past 9:30. There have been times where I've gone to a concert and not gotten home until 3:00 AM.

Interesting - just 17 comments yet they removed them all !

And yes, Brian is, on average, not the most dynamic of live performers - something the reviewer would have known had she done her homework properly (or at all, come to think on it). Again, bad, bad journalism.

A very strange review...the reviewer apparently disliked what she heard and thought the audience were disappointed....yet she reports there were standing ovations.

I think the reviewer is the confused one.

Deleted the comments huh? Sounds similar to the kind of thing that that towering pillar of journalistic integrity (sorry, I meant "incestuous pile of journalistic twaddle")  the Daily Mail would do. Let's move on, nothing left to see here folks...

Yep, I was there and remember that as well. Also remember someone shouting out "we love you, Carl" after Brian's introduction to God Only Knows, and Brian again saying "Thank you."

Deleted all the comments huh, ah well, screw em.

The review was downright silly.     And provincial in terms of knmowledge of pop culture.     This was the same Brian (sober and minus many pounds) about whom Rock journalists have written volumes for several decades.  Eccentric, lovable, odd, unpredictable, wearing Sunday afternoon football watching lounge attire, and demonstrating asperger level interpersonal skills with the audience.  And the same man who WROTE, arranged, and produced most of these classic songs in their original form.

I would have disappointed to see him dressed any other way.  And confused if he had behaved differently.

This review would be comparable to someone reviewing Bob Dylan and observing that he plays as if to an empty room and that his outfit was odd...that his band was better than he deserved, that he didn't sound like the record...and that his version of Blowin in the Wind sounded nothing like the Peter Paul and Mary version.  And assuming that the entire audience felt the same.

Once again, I'm embarrassed to be associated with this state.

That's so cool, Southbay- what a night. Wonder who else here was in the room with us?  I stood over next to Melinda, who was sitting at a table with her friend- Brian would have been a little to my left.  Who was that guy who warmed up?  Didn't he have Pete Buck from R.E.M. playing with him? I remember the bright red jacket...

One thing no one has mentioned- this was just a college kid. She was probably sent by the school paper to cover it and was clearly clueless about Brian- probably read an article about Brian being in bed for years and the collapse of SMiLE, listened to  Pet Sounds, and thought (reasonably enough) that she had done her homework. And face it- Brian's not destined to have many people "get" him or his work. Hard as we were on her, I was hoping the comments would be helpful to her, give her a little insight, in case she wants a career as a writer.

I don't know what I find worse. That the article is so poorly written or the person writing couldn't handle taking the heat for how bad it was. 

Youth is wasted on the young. They must have mercury or asbestos in the water at the school she's in.

College newspapers (unless it's a really big/respected school) have no standards.