The Smiley Smile Message Board

I have an extra Lawn seat I will sell to anyone that needs one for face value.  I found out my 4 year old doesn't need a ticket.  Hope to see a great show, first concert for my 4 year old and 6 year old.

make sure you tape them at the concert at that so they can brag about it in 40+ years

That's so cool......

Yeah, we are excited, not sure if they are more excited for the concert or staying up late.  They love "Isn't It Time," so hopefully it gets played.

Very cool, Parks Asher! I will be there too! This will be my first Beach Boys concert since 1992 ( after seeing them every year since 1976) and my first with any Beach Boys since Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds Tour in 2000. We should have a good weather night as the humid air is clearing out of here. Hopefully that translates to a good concert.

I hope so, I have never seen the Beach Boys with Brian.  I saw them on the unplugged tour at Riverbend in 93 or 94, that was a great show.  I take it you are a Musketeers fan, so am I, Go XAVIER!

Yeah, wishing I was going to be there.  Enjoy the show!

My last Beach Boys concert was at Kings Island without Mike Love which was interesting. And yes, go Xavier!

Do you remember who sang lead at your show instead?

I obviously wasn't there, but to the best of my knowledge, the last BB shows that Mike Love missed were a short string of shows in 1990. It appears Gerry Beckley sat in with the band, but Al (and at some shows Jeff Foskett) did the Mike leads at those shows. I've heard a really murky show from Ontario in June of 1990 where Al sings all of Mike's leads. It sounds like it would be an interesting show to hear in good fidelity.

Yes, you are correct it was Al who did Mike's leads. And they also did Sister Golden Hair since Mr. Beckley was there. It was a good concert but a little strange with only 3 Beach Boys there (Al, Carl, Bruce) and very little talking between songs. And my memory was faulty it must have been 90 or 91 because my last Beach Boys concert was right after SIP was released and Mike was there. Btw, we were offered a refund when it was announced that Mike wouldn't be there.

I imagine there were probably a lot of flubbed lyrics if Al was doing leads he wasn't used to doing.

Heh not sure, he played these with them for more than 20 years...

But wow, must have been quite a unique concert! is there any recording of it?

I don't know about recordings. I don't recall any flubbed lines. Al was in his late 40's I guess. It was technically a better concert as I prefer Al's voice to Mike's but as I said there was little onstage patter. Instead of the big build up Mike would do with the car song medley it was kind of like "we're going to do some car songs now. I guess imagine a whole concert like the difference in the Caifornia Saga lead with Al instead of Mike. If that makes any sense.

Well hey, as long it sounds good.

I have every confidence both Al and Mike will be here tonight. And that they will not cave to local pressure and add Susie Cincinnati to the setlist.

Sound check is sounding good - up front seats.  Other than some Brian shows this is my first BB show since Carl passed.  Pretty jazzed!

Thanks for the update! Keep us posted!  ;D

I am here! Looks like a little more elderly crowd than at Bonnoroo, of which I am one. It does look like it might be pretty close to a sellout though.

Got a taste of Darlin' during the soundcheck! I also ran into Nelson and requested Vegatables--he laughed heartily and said Mike would totally go for that :lol

YES! Darlin'?!?! Darian sang I presume?

It's a featured number for Cowsill in Mike's band, so I wouldn't be so sure.

Third song in, unfukking believable.

True, he did a very nice job of it when I saw that band two years ago. But Darian knocks it out of the park too...any clarification from anyone? Has it been played yet? We're aparently three songs in...this one tends to show up early in the set.

Coolest guy on stage: David Marks, by far.  My new favorite Beach Boy.

How's the crowd, sold out?

Jeff has "Don't Worry Baby" (pretty much a shoe in considering no one else could do it), then Totten got "Betsy", next either John or Darian get "Darlin"...hey if they're gonna give all the past vocalist a spotlght...fine by me.  Hopefully they'll make it all the way to Scott Bennett too (he did nail "Sail on Sailor" a few tours ago).  If it means more songs to the set and keeping Brian engaged---no arguments from me.

Bruce did Disney Girls.  Am I mistaken or is that a recent add to the stylist?  I seem to recall people saying they wish it would be added

It's been there since the start I believe.

It's been in and out, mostly in. They skipped it at a few shows where Bruce reportedly said his throat was bugging him a bit. It might have been cut from the hand full of shortened shows they've done for festivals, not too sure.

Intermission.. No surprises yet, and I peeked at the set list on stage and don't see Darlin'. Great show so far!

Mike made fun of Bruce for writing I Write the Songs--"Due to curfew we won't be playing it tonight, but you'll hear it tomorrow at the dentist's, or in the elevator, or...," to which Bruce responds, "Yeah, right after Kokomo" :lol

Scripted dialogue. 

Perfect weather, looks like a sellout or pretty damn close.  Crowd is standing up for 75 percent of the show thus far.  First set just smoked - Dave is great out front on the lead.  Brian is Brian.  The second set starts in a few.

Intermission. Nothing new to the setlist so far. The MVP's are IMO Jeff and Dave. Brian seems OK. I think he has more to do in the second set. I will also give props to Mike. He came out on fire and has pretty much stayed at that level throughout. Looking forward to set #2!

The pattern has seemed to be that when a "new" song pops up in a soundcheck, it takes a show or two before it gets into the actual setlist. Assuming "Darlin'" went okay, I would imagine it'll be in the next show or added within a couple of a shows.

Which is great because I'm going to Saratoga the 23rd!  :hat

Let us know if California Sage remains in the setlist!

Thats what I was thinking....so my favorite beach boys song will be on the set for my Friday concert...right? ;D ;D ;D

More crowded than I expected, a lot of young people in the lawn, great show!

Mike announced tha TWGMTR will be #3 in billboard.

Which was a pretty cool to have announced at my concert. What's cool is at intermission when I checked in here and read that it would be #3, I saw Mike Love on his cellphone (my seats had a view of a small part of the backstage area) I'd bet anything he was getting the word then about the #3 status.

Anyway....great concert! Brian was better than he appeared to be at the videos I saw of Bonnarro. And the backing band was terrific as usual. Dave and Jeff were great as I previously mentioned.

No new songs yet....All Summer Long was done near the end of the second set. I'm not sure if that's been in the setlist all tour or not.

In short, a wonderful night and a wonderrful concert!  :)

Yes California Saga third song in second set, Al on banjo.

And if it wasn't a sellout it was damn close to one.

Were they selling the CD for 5 bucks?

 I'm not sure about this show, but there is a recording in existance of the band in Canada on June 2,1990 without Mike Love.  Al does most lead vocals and Gerry Beckley was there.  It was only an audience recording, but very interesting.

During the Fun Fun Fun encore I waved my Lost Beach Boy book at Dave.. He cracked up, then leaned over and handed me hid guitar pick! What a night.. totally worth it, even though I have to be up in about 2 hours to catch a flight (zzzzz)

One of the best shows I've ever seen them perform - for some old guys they are rocking pretty hard.  The mix was great - we were in the first row behind the pit right in front of Brian.  In the encore it did appear Brian was uncomfortable playing the bass - it looked like he was ready to split.  While it's a nice thought it's kind of painful to watch - he should just stay behind the keys unless he just wants to do it.  I have mix feelings about the Dennis and Carl songs but they were done tastefully.

GOod tip! I'll bring mine next week!  >:D

They played "You're so Good To me" during the soundcheck but not in the show.

Would love to hear any recording there is out there of the band's performance that was done without Mike Love (not that i hate him, just that it would be interesting).

Setlist:

Set 1

Do It Again
Little Honda
Catch a Wave
Hawaii
Don't Back Down
Surfin' Safari
Surfer Girl
This Whole World
Marcella
Then I Kissed Her (The Crystals cover)
Kiss Me, Baby
Isn't It Time
Please Let Me Wonder
Why Do Fools Fall in Love (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers cover)
When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)
Cotton Fields (Lead Belly cover)
It's OK
Be True to Your School
Disney Girls
Ballad of Ole' Betsy
Don't Worry Baby
Little Deuce Coupe
409
Shut Down
I Get Around


Set 2

Add Some Music to Your Day
Heroes and Villains
California Saga: California
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
Sail on, Sailor
All This Is That
That's Why God Made the Radio
In My Room
Forever (Dennis Wilson vocals on video)
God Only Knows (Carl Wilson vocals on video)
Good Vibrations
California Girls
All Summer Long
Help Me, Rhonda
Rock and Roll Music (Chuck Berry cover)
Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman cover)
Surfin' USA


Encore:

Kokomo
Barbara Ann (The Regents cover)
Fun, Fun, Fun

The sound qualoty of the Ontario show is worthless. And as great as Al's voice is, Mike's songs seem to work properly for the Lovester only.

Regarding "Darlin'": I've heard both - Cowsill and Darian - sing it, although just on youtube. No question for me that, shouldn't a Beach Boy sing it, it has to go to Darian. He absolutely nails that. 

Agreed. When I saw Mike Love's boys, and cowsill sang it, he ran down front and sang it because Stamos was there to drum, but the clips on youtube with him drumming and singing seem to really challenge him, which is understandable. I remember he did the same thing for Help Me Rhonda too, and the place went nuts! :lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MooyPHhDbc4  :afro

Hahahaha, that was fantastic! Thanks for sharing :-D

No more leads to band members, please.
If a BB can't do it, don't do it.

Wait a gosh-darn minute! Haven't The Boys' themselves always stated that the music is the star, moreso than the band? If it is OK for them play the music, then it is OK to sing a few leads that the main guys can no longer manage to do. As for Darlin', I think both Darian & John have put enough time in to deserve a chance to do the lead vocal.

I almost always agree with your posts, Dr., but not this time.
The "music is the star" quote is truthful as it is adequate. But it can be taken to certain extremes I'd rather avoid while I can.

On the other hand, if giving lead vocals to band members helps shutting them up from making "we're above this countyfair merda" comments to the press like they have, I say let them sing the entire catalogue.

Cowsill 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ9Tb5RtAXE&feature=related

Darian 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8STs3-5Dk


Generally I agree with Dr. Lenny though.

The review is in:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120613/ENT03/306130044/Review-Beach-Boys-bring-classic-hits-Riverbend?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Heck, Brian could do Back Home or Wonderful. Perhaps he could even atrempt Darlin', IDK. Or PCH from the new album. Al could do Vegetables or Honkin, Bruce Dierdre, Mike All I Wanna Do or Aren't you glad. But I am more than happy with the current lineup, would be ok if they did not change anything and receive gratefully whatever addition comes in.

I've seen Brian sing Darlin'; he is not very good. It is a very tough song to sing. I would have preferred that Carl sing Darlin' during the Tribute and leave GOK for Brian to handle.

Wasn't there but I heard from someone else that at soundcheck they also rehearsed Vegetables and Graduation Day.

Oh man :o

Oh man oh man. Gotta be Darian for Darlin'.  Also, when people post the setlist, who do they keep telling us that Then I Kissed Her is  a Crystals cover; that Do You Wanna Dance is a Bobby Freeman cover; Barbra Ann a Regents cover and so forth every show?

I wish they'd do "Indian Lake" with Cowsill! But I know that's a bit much to ask.

Because Then I Kissed Her is a The Crystals cover, Do You Wanna Dance is a Bobby Freeman cover and Barbara Ann is a The Regents cover.

Yes but...what is the point? ???

Troll aside, i think it's a good thing people reminds who did the song first (and well, why shouldn't they after all), might help kids who didn't know and might be then interested.

Because they're copied from setlist.fm where they list covers as such. Just no point going to the effort to remove them.

Was Nicky Wonder back with them?

Aw man! I would have LOVED Graduation Day at my show. I had just graduated college  the previous week lol.

I figure what better first post could I have here (been reading this board faithfully since TLOS came out) than writing a review of my first concert by The Beach Boys. I have been a fan since I was a teenager in the 90s, and am probably a little more obsessed with Brian and the Boys than is healthy.  I never got a chance to see them with Carl and I've never seen the Mike/Bruce band or a solo Brian show, so this was my initiation into the Beach Boys concert world.  And one heck of an initiation it was. 

I met a cousin and his son at the gate a good two hours before showtime and we were fortunate enough to hear a good chunk of the soundcheck.  I got really excited to hear them rehearse "Darlin," thinking maybe I'd get to hear it's tour debut, but they didn't play it in the show. Also, I don't think, as was stated earlier, that the band rehearsed "Graduation Day," but they were playing the Four Freshman's version over the PA as we walked in, so maybe that's what was heard.

I read some bad reviews of the venue online beforehand, but I found Riverbend to be an excellent setting for this concert.  Were in the first few rows of the second tier under the pavilion, dead center to the stage, and I have to say, there couldn't be a bad seat in the house. Even my cousin's son who sat in the lawn had a great view and the sound there was fantastic too.  The audience throughout the show was really good. Lots of energy, though there was more sitting and standing (standing for the BIG hits) than I would have liked. I think I'd have stood through the whole thing, except I'm really tall, so I block 2-3 rows when I stand if they're sitting.  About an hour before showtime, sitting alone in my section, Scott Bennett walked passed me on his way to the soundboard. I stopped him with a "Hey Scott," and I think he was surprised I knew who he was.  It was right as "Ride" by The Wondermints was playing on the PA and I told him I was a huge fan of his and the Wondermints, meaning both separately, and I think he thought that I thought he was a Wondermint and he said, "oh thanks man, but there's only a few Wondermints. Everybody thinks we all are, because Brian called us all the Wondermints for so long," and he left with a handshake and a chuckle.

Anyway, on to the band and the songs....

I have seen U2 (my other favorite band) twice, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Santana and scores of younger, "hipper" bands and I have to say that this was probably the best concert I've ever been to.  The sound was amazing.  The mix, the blend, the backup band...all stellar. Oh, someone asked about Nicky Wonder earlier...no, he was not present on stage at this concert. 

Growing up in the 90's it was easy for me to be on the "Mike Love sucks" train, and I was. Last night, though, he was superb. He was in fine voice, he was kind and respectful to Brian and everyone, he was funny (in his own corny way) and he really just seemed like he was having a blast. He also told us we were the first audience to know that the album was going to be #3.

Brian was about like I expected him to be, based on reading this board. Vocally, he was superb on his solos.  A couple of times he conducted the audience or waved his arms or snapped his fingers, but for the most part, he sat there stoically. 

Al Jardine...the man is quite simply an amazing singer.  He flubbed the rhythm of "California Saga" pretty badly on a verse, so badly that the band almost had to stop, but they all got back on track. Other than that, he was really stellar all night.  What a voice that guy has after all these years.

Bruce...I'm not a huge Bruce fan, but "Disney Girls" was nice and a highlight of the show was his vocals in the tags on "God Only Knows" and "California Girls." He sounds pretty much just like the records.

David Marks was the absolute star of the show to me. He just oozes coolness. His solos were at once faithful to the originals and creative and new.  His presence with the band adds such an authenticity to the early material, and his playing on the latter material, especially stuff like "Marcella" and "Sail on Sailor" just kicks ass.

The setlist was phenomenal. They have more hits packed into half of one set than most bands have in an entire career. I was thrilled to hear two of my favorites back to back in "This Whole World" and "Marcella."  The tributes to Dennis and Carl were very moving and very well done, IMO. 

I think I should stop rambling on my first post, or I may get kicked out quickly  :)  I'm just so thrilled to have had such a wonderful experience with my favorite band, my favorite musician ever (Brian)...my heroes, really...I could go on and on, but I won't. 

Happy to be a part of the board in a more official way now that I'm no longer just a lurker. 

Actually that smiley REALLY looks like Darian.

Brian may not be able to pull off an amazing "Darlin'", but I think he could do as well on it as some of the other songs he's doing on this tour and has done on recent solo tours. I thought he sounded rather weak on "This Whole World" all the way back in 1999, and he's still singing that one 13 years later. I think "Darlin'", with the key lowered as heard on the Roxy live album, would sound okay with Brian singing.

I'm quite OK with Darian singing "Darlin'" -- he did a superb job of singing it at Brian's Gershwin tour show in Atlanta last year. He's spot on with the emotive aspect of the song.

Hi all.  Just joined this site a few weeks ago.  This is my first post other than the introduction.

This was my 5th BB show and 1st of this tour.  Very 1st was in 1973, most recent was maybe 1980 or so.  Was lucky to score Pit row 4 tickets on tm.com a few weeks ago.  just lucked out - logged onto tm right as they were releasing some great Pit seats.  was seated right at the edge of Brian's piano, and just to the left of Jeff F.  Really great view!  I took my 69 year old sister with me.  It was her 1st BB concert.

For about 1/2 hour right before the show, i could see Brian seated side-stage behind a crack in the curtains...

(http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy241/bassetbo/abrianwilson.png)

(not a very good pic, had to enlarge and crop it.)  he looked very ancient and was perfectly still most of the time with his eyes closed.  it was almost scary and i wondered how he could go on in the condition he appeared to be in. 

I'll spare the song-by-song reviews and just say this...

WOW!  they were truly great!  it was possibly the most fun i've ever had at a concert, and i've been to a lot!  seen almost every classic band.... Stones 34 times, Aerosmith 11 times,  Paul McCartney and Wings,  Pink Floyd 5 times, J. Geils Band maybe 10 times, Todd Rundgren, The Who, i could go on and on.

First the minuses....  I was really looking forward to "It's OK" and "Marcella", but to tell you the truth, i don't think they did a very good job on either one.  I wish B. Johnston would have performed "Deirdre" instead of "Disney Girls".  I really love "Deirdre" and find DG kind of bland by comparison, IMO of course.  He did a nice job, though.  It may be just me, but i also thought the new songs were not as good as on the cd and i LOVE TWGMTR.  "God Only Knows" was too fast.

Now the pluses.... EVERYTHING ELSE!!! was really shocked how well some of the songs were performed and loved "Be True to Your School", "Kokomo", and "Barbara Ann".  was not expecting to like those songs live and was totally blown away by them.  "All This is That" was better than i expected, and i was expecting a lot on that one. 

Would like to give a more thorough review, but the wife is in the hospital.  She had back surgery a few weeks ago and it did not go so well.  It was all i could do to make this show.. drove down from Columbus and was awake for 42 hours straight before finally getting back home after the show.

I would just like to say what a wonderful group of fans you all are.  I've been reading all your posts since signing up.  The Beach Boys have the classiest fans on earth.  It is a tribute to them and to you!

Hi to all the new members/first time posters !


From Facebook:

(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/484211_10150972489437188_66627712_n.jpg)


BTW what is that about "Vegetables" ? Did they rehearse that?  :o

Vega-tables sure would work well in the California Dreamin'/California Saga Al slot...

I did not hear them rehearse "Vegetables."  I admittedly wasn't able to hear all of the soundcheck, but I did hear most of it and "Vegetables" wasn't in what I heard. I heard them working on "Isn't It Time," "Darlin," "Please Let Me Wonder," "Good Vibrations," " You're so Good To Me," and "Dance, Dance, Dance."  YSGTM, DDD and Darlin didn't make the setlist for the show.

I also just realized that earlier I said Al messed up the rhythm to "California Saga" pretty badly, but actually it was "Cottonfields."  Totten had to conduct the band to try and speed up to catch up to Al, but by then, Al realized what was going on and slowed down the lead vocal. 

a post here:

http://www.brianwilson.com/cgi-bin/community/viewmessage.cgi?r=133956882317381186171&l=level2

... claims that they did Heroes & Villains/Our Prayer (snippet)

WHAT?! is someone high? Are they just confusing the normal H&V ending with Our Prayer?

I'd imagine if they actually did this, this board would be on top of it.

They didn't do "Our Prayer."  It was just the normal acapella ending to Heroes....

Someone is definitely just not familiar with Smile and the non-single version(s) of Heroes

Is Al experimenting with a new hairstyle, parting his hair of the other side? I did notice he was sporting a small hairpiece for this tour...

Unless you were joking, I don't think he's got a piece....it just seems to be grown out a tad longer than usual...a combover maybe? Yeah...by a stretch  :P

Photos of the show:

http://www.f lickr.com/photos/scottpreston73/sets/72157630118754952/

 I don't know why it's showing foderr  instead of f lickr on the board?!? And I can't change it!?! So when you wanna use the link just copy it and delete one blank spot in the name of the site!!!
 ??? ??? ??? ???