The Smiley Smile Message Board

Location:
Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway

Date & Time:
July 31th, 2012 - 19:30 (GMT+1)

Setlist:
• Do It Again
• Little Honda
• Catch A Wave
• Hawaii
• Don't Back Down
• Surfin' Safari
• Surfer Girl
• You're So Good To Me
• Then I Kissed Her
• Please Let Me Wonder
• Getcha Back
• Wendy
• Kiss Me Baby
• Come Go With Me
• Why Do Fools Fall In Love
• When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
• California Saga
• It's OK
• Darlin'
• Be True To Your School
• Disney Girls
• Don't Worry Baby
• Little Deuce Coupe
• 409
• Shut Down
• I Get Around

Intermission

• Pet Sounds
• Add Some Music To Your Day
• Sail On, Sailor
• Heroes And Villains
• I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
• Good Timin'
• All This Is That
• Cottonfields
• That's Why God Made The Radio
• In My Room
• God Only Knows
• California Dreamin'
• Sloop John B
• Wouldn't It Be Nice
• Good Vibrations
• California Girls
• All Summer Long
• Help Me, Rhonda
• Rock And Roll Music
• Do You Wanna Dance
• Surfin' USA

Encores:
• Kokomo
• Barbara Ann
• Fun, Fun, Fun


Review:
So at 9 AM, me and my friend Martin got in the car and started the six hour drive to Oslo, loaded with all our Beach Boys CDs, t-shirts and good spirits! We arrived in good time before the concert, and even caught a glimpse of Mike as he walked across the glass housed bridge between the hotel and the arena, waving at his fans, and it gave us plenty of time to check out the merchandise store! The doors opened at 19:10, forty minutes late, as there had been some issues with one of the light fixtures. This didn't dampen the mood at all though, and at 19:45, fifteen minutes after the schedueled start, the lights went down on the sold-out crowd of 7000, and out of nowhere, bright stagelights flashed on, and John Cowsill started hammering like a maniac. Gradually, the backing band entered the stage, before Jeff Foskett did the formal introduction for the boys themselves, who came on to rapturous applause (Brian in particular), before heading straight for "Do It Again".

The band then kept a solid pace for the first six songs, only stopping for Mike to wish us welcome and do a brief intro to "Surfer Girl". After that it was steady rolling until "Darlin", which Mike and Brian introduced as a tribute to Carl, with Darian Sahanaja on vocals (doing a terrific job!). After a brief comic intro to "Be True to Your School", another set of track-after-track, before Mike took the mic before "Little Deuce Coupe" to tell us that there would be an intermission after the next four songs, because the band "were old and needed a nap". The crowd were on their feet as the band played the four car-themed songs back to back, before leaving the stage for a 20 minute intermission.

About 20-25 minutes later, the light went down again, and David Marks entered the stage to do "Pet Sounds" with the backing band. After that, the rest of the band joined him, and stood with Brian at the piano for "Add Some Music to Your Day". They then took their instruments and fired off again, with two Brian numbers, "Sail on Sailor" and "Heroes and Villains", both with the crowd on their feet, singing along. Then, everything went silent and the crowd sat patiently and graciously, listening to Brian performing "I Just Wasnt Made for These Times", one of the highlights of the evening, for which he recieved a three minute standing ovation from a tearful audience.

The rock show resumed, with the audience on their feet, singing and dancing, and it didn't stop until the band left the stage (with the exception of the brief moments of solitude for "God Only Knows", which also recieved a lengthy standing ovation, and "In My Room"). The band re-entered the stage for the encores, doing "Kokomo", "Barbara Ann" with the audience singing along, before rounding of with "Fun Fun Fun", waving goodbye and thanking the audience for a terrific evening.


The good and the bad:

Good:
+ Brians solo numbers, especially "God Only Knows",
+ The backing band doing a terrific job,
+ Al's voice, just as good as in 1964!
+ The crowd singing along to pretty much every song in the second set,
+ Mike's banter with the audience, gave us many laughs!

Bad:
- "That's Why God Made the Radio" and "Kokomo" both fell short of what they shouldve been like,
- Mike's bass voice is gone, and it is quite noticeable on his solo parts. Luckily, it's not to audible on too many songs.
- No vinyls being sold, and super-expensive merchandise.


Overall grade: B++ (A-)


PS!
Pictures and video coming soon, they are on a different computer.

Nice review, thank you !
But why don't you just post it here: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,13961.0.html


BTW I disagree about Mike's bassvocals. They were clear and strong in Berlin.

Ah, there was a thread! I didn't find in the "Concert reviews" section, so I just posted it here :)

Yeah, a friend of mine was in Berlin aswell, and he said it was alot better, so maybe he was just having a bad day :) His baritone vocals were superb tho!