The Smiley Smile Message Board

I've seen BW 10 or 12 times, & this was the best yet!  Brian was more lucid, happy, & engaged than I'd ever seen him, & he actually PLAYED that piano in front of him — a lot!  :o  For the first time I saw BW with *genuine* smiles — it was truly amazing.  His singing voice was great, relied far less on the tele-prompter, & he was very talkative, & cracked everyone up — especially when he said he didn't wanna play "Sailor," calling the lyrics "sh*tty," & "bull****."  No "Marcella" last night, but "Heroes" brought everyone to their feet for a standing ovation.  Scott asked the audience to get-up & boogie for "Do You Wanna Dance?," then Brian commanded us to "be seated" for "Sloop."  It was a crazy show.  Anyway, here's the setlist:


SET 1:

Do It Again
Dance, Dance, Dance
Girl Don't Tell Me (BW dedicated it to John Lennon)
Then I Kissed Her
Surfer Girl
[Row, Row, Row Your Boat]
In My Room
Salt Lake City
Custom Machine
Soul Searchin'
Desert Drive
Please Let Me Wonder
Don't Worry Baby
I Get Around
Sail On, Sailor
Heroes & Villains [Cantina]
Roll Around Heaven
California Girls

SET 2:

Little Girl I Once Knew
Your Imagination
All Summer Long
Add Some Music To Your Day
Shut Down
Little Deuce Coupe
Do You Wanna Dance?
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice?
God Only Knows
Midnight's Another Day
Goin' Home
Southern California
Good Vibrations

ENCORE 1:

Monster Mash
Johnny B. Good
Help Me Rhonda
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA
Fun, Fun, Fun

ENCORE 2:

Love & Mercy

BTW, Chuck Kelley was in the audience.

hope he is "on" this sunday night.
glad you had a great time!

I had very low expectations & was prepared for the worst because I was told Brian doesn't like these so-called 'greatest hits' type shows, & is only engaged in new material, like TLOS.  But WOW, I was shocked!

I'd be willing to pay extra for a BW show if he'd leave Barbara Ann out. Always a downer to hear that piece of cr*p after all that brilliant music.

If he doesn't like this song they should finally consider not playing it anymore. Play the fairy tale instead. ;D

This sounds like a man on form -  great to hear!

Piece of crap? It's just a blues song. Do you hate the blues?

Uhh, that's gotta be wanna the weirdest claims ever, and I mean EVER! I IV V doesn't mean blues, man. And Barbara Ann certainly blows.

I don't know a lot about music theory, but Barbara Ann always sounded like a doo-wop song to me...and yes, it's horrible!

Great to hear  ;D

How was the attendance?

It was pretty packed but not sold out. People were buying tickets right up until showtime, which is a good sign. Last year at the Keswick it DID sell out and there were college kids outside begging folks for tickets.

To hear Brian curse and be that relaxed, was priceless.

If people were buying tickets right until show time I'd say it did reach very near sold out. Which is good considering Brian played there little over a year ago.

Wonder why Brian is enjoying this tour so much.

Well, unlike the hits tour last year, he has the full band. That makes a real difference in instrumentation and vocals -- it's fuller. Also, you have to wonder if touring might be a refuge at times for him. He's on the road, and all he really has to do or think about is the night's performance. And let's face it -- if he wants to do something off-the-cuff, like Monster Mash, the band bends over backward to do what he wants.

Sounds like it was an awesome show to see, you're lucky you caught him on a good night! 

I'm not too familiar with his setlist lately, so I have to ask - does he typically perform the Cantina version of Heroes?  I would think that since BWPS, he would do that version.

It is a doo-wop song. And it's great. Unfortunately the current BB-versions (and in fact the Beach Boys from at least the late 70s on) don't do the song justice. The studio version is nice, but check out the original by The Regents. That's very good. Jan&Dean's studio version is nice, too

The Beach Boys live doing BA back in the 70's and 80's was just great. They would all line up and do a Rockettes type of routine, which the audience loved. It showed they were really having a great time up there. That made me happy.

Got me psyched for the 11-1 show!  See you there Steve and Daniel!

Unfortunately or not, "Barbara Ann" was the BB's first Top 10 and highest charting single of the 60's in many countries. I think we should thank Barbara Ann for that. It was their biggest hit in Europe until "Kokomo"!

 I hope he does "Barbara Ann" @ The B101 Bash 11/4/09!
 

 More Free Tix:

 http://www.eagletribune.com/pulife/local_story_303123327.html?keyword=topstory
 

I'm still thinking about how different Brian's behavior was at that show...  even the guys in the band seemed stunned!  Is it possible his medications have been adjusted or something?? 

I didn't know about that...  I guess they did that for financial reasons?  Who wasn't on the tour last year?  And why did they decide to do the full band this year?

I'm not sure what you're asking here...  I believe the version they did live is like the one on BWPS.

Dunno why they include SOS. Brian can't hit a note in the whole song. really doesn't suit his voice.

can you describe anything else that happened during the show?  sounds like a great time!

What about WIBN, GOK, SJB, Darlin', Do It Again, Cool Cool Water, Surf's Up, Mess of Help, Marcella, Sail on Sailor, California Saga, etc? I was always under the impression that the Beach Boys were like the second coming of the Beatles in Europe in the late 60s.

Half of those songs were released in the 70s. EDIT: Being an idiot, I didn't read the second half of the quote, so the 'late 60s' thing doesn't really apply to the initial quote, which said "until Kokomo." I assume your inclusion of 70s songs was meant to address that part of the initial quote. Though I must say, even with their acclaim in Europe (compared to the states) in that time frame, I still wouldn't be surprised that the likes of those songs didn't top B.A. I mean, it might be simple and dopey, but it was fun pop and in hindsight an obvious hit.

I was just confused because the "Cantina" version and the BWPS are two different versions, and I thought it odd that Brian would do the "Cantina" version post-BWPS, as was indicated in the original post.

Nice to see him having dedicated Girl Don't Tell Me to John Lennon. It's by far the most Beatlesque song in the catalog. Good thinking.

Barbara Ann, incidentally, is pure Baroque. I happen to have a fancy footwear recording of Bach playing that tune. That man could rock.

Sorry for the confusion.  I was just trying to indicate that they did not do the short, single version — they included what I thought was called the 'Cantina' section.

they also did the bicycle rider section in there too!

You have something specific in mind?  Another funny thing was how Brian kept adjusting the elastic waistband of his track pants!  :lol  Always blows my mind how he has ZERO stage-presence.

Was it recorded for posterity? I hear rumours. I do, of course, mean bo official tapes.  :-[

According to his Twitter account, Brian did "Take me Home Country Roads" last night in West Virginia. That must've been interesting.

From friends I do know that went, I heard it was excellent.

Brian really seems to be switching it up and having a good time on this tour..

That would be so interesting to hear! *very innocent looking smiley* Wonder if it was just an excerpt or the entire song?

Go see this tour.  If you are a true and hard core fan who loves BW, warts and all, see this show.  He is putting out and interacting with the audience,,,in his own inimitable fashion,  as well as any 67 year old survivor still out there....

Brian and Taylor on Marcella must be seen as well as heard!

WOIHFOIEHGOIEWJG

John Denver is my second favorite musical artist of all time! (Beach Boys et al is my first) That would've been so great to see.

I will. As soon as someone borrows me $600 for the plane ticket to New York.  :( 

they played about 20 seconds of the song as brian walked out for the encores.

Hmm...  anyone know why they didn't do "Marcella" in Phila last week?  ???

For the U.S. hits jaunt last summer, they had "the magnificent seven" as Jeff called them. IIRC, it was Jeff, Nicky, Gary Griffin, Scott (on drums!), Probyn (on bass!) and Nelson. Missing were Paul Mertens, Taylor, Darian (although he had a replacement) and a regular bassist and drummer.

My recollection is it had less to do with financial issues and more to do with logistical ones -- not everyone was available, and it was only a handful of shows. Quite interesting to see, though. FWIW, I think shows without Darian miss something really crucial.

true don. i think this was the highlight of the show for me. the band rocked on that tune.
and i keep hearing that song over and over for some reason...  ::)