The fourth-night-in-a-row thing probably had a lot to do with it. 

The vocal experimentation thing is really interesting.  In Red Bank, one or two lines of "Love And Mercy" were spoken ("well, it's just not fair") and it was really effective.  He seems to be really going out on a limb regularly vocalwise on this tour, but it's not entirely a new thing...does anyone remember the performance of "Love And Mercy" at one of the shows with Al at the Beacon in NYC a few years ago?  He actually changed the lines in the "news came on tv" verse to something like "a lotta people out there scared, and so am I."

Morristown, New Jersey, the second show I've caught on this tour, and unfortunately probably the last.  No seats priced below 70 bucks, but still a very respectable size crowd.  It wasn't sold out, but probably 75 percent full.  I don't know if it had anything to do with the miserable rainy and windy weather, or if something else was going on but Brian didn't seem as comfortable as he was when I saw him a few weeks ago in Red Bank.  It really seemed like he wanted to push the show forward, often launching quickly into song introductions before applause for the previous song had even died down.  More Rolling Stones comments... he started the show by saying that they are not as good as the Rolling Stones, then immediately followed that by saying that the show will make us all forget about the Rolling Stones by the time it's over.

 It appears the band has finally dropped "Sail On Sailor" for at least for a while, which makes sense after all the comments Brian has made on this tour about how much he dislikes it.  The swearing phenomenon continued in Morristown.  At one point Brian announces that if we in the audience don't like the next song (it might have even been God Only Knows) that we should all just say "f*** you, we don't like it."  Pretty hilarious and endearing.  But it seemed like that insecurity thing might have been real - at various points during the night Brian made self deprecating comments.   He introduced "Custom Machine as a "stupid car song."   At one point he said that "they didn't think that anyone would like the show", at another point he asked people to clap if they didn't like the show, then to clap if they did.  Even later in the show, he actually offered to refund anyone's money who didn't like the show.  Occasionally, it was almost as if he would sabotage his own jokes, then immediately going into self-deprecation mode when the joke fell flat.  He just didn't seem entirely comfortable.  His vocals were mostly beautifully performed, with a few low points and more than a few highs.  He didn't really seem at ease during the beginning of the show, but his vocals were still mostly spot on.  He seems to have a lot of fun doing the deeper-vocal songs like "Desert Drive", but at the other end of the spectrum, he pulled off a beautiful (if fragile) sounding "God Only Knows, and then stated to the audience that he tried to sing it as effeminately as he could and that he hoped we liked it.  I laughed out loud.

Brian's vocals seemed to suffer a little bit near the middle of the show.  "I Get Around" was a particularly strange performance, with Brian's overexaggerated vocal almost approaching Sweet Insanity territory.  And he didn't really seem to be present for "All Summer Long."  But he caught a huge second wind starting with "Sloop John B" - which he oddly introduced by saying that he hated the lyrics but thought the music was ok.  Equally oddly, after "The Little Girl I Once Knew", he proclaimed it his "favorite production that he's ever done."  Regarding "Heroes And Villains" he said that he originally didn't want to do it but that he was glad he did.  Then he proceeded to nail it.   "Marcella" was back in the setlist, and Brian actually really seemed to be into it.  Brian experimented with the vocal a lot on "Goin' Home", often going up to higher registers/octaves during parts of the verses.  It's really interesting to watch him do "Midnight's Another Day"...he seems to really make an effort to connect with that song live.  Brian's vocals on "Southern California" were also very sweet sounding.  Darian's vocal on "Darlin'" was spot on.  Better than John Cowsill's, actually.   I was disappointed that Brian did not sing at all on "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring", and he actually turned his back on the audience the way he used to do during the Pet Sounds instrumentals. Another odd moment - at the end of Spring, Brian said that it was the first time they had ever performed it in front of an audience.  The setlists posted on BrianWilson.com indicate differently.  "Love And Mercy" again began with him sitting in a "crappy movie". He played a pretty fair amount of piano..I'd say about 50 percent of the show, but his keyboard seemed really low in the mix.  But it's really nice to see him in so much more of an interactive band member role these days - even an obvious leadership role at times - as apposed to the late '90s when he was sometimes acted almost as a figurehead.  And even though he seemed a lot more uncomfortable than in Red Bank, he still tried to do a lot of interesting things with the vocals - playing with phrasing and sometimes even octives, to sometimes interesting effect, and it was obvious there was a lot of care in the vocals in general.  The Red Bank show was a lot more satisfying for me (it was after all one of the best Brian shows I've ever seen) but I'm still really glad I did this one.  Sending good vibes for the next leg.

?? is right...what's up with that.

Anyway, Lisa can you confirm whether Disney Girls, Summer Means Fun, and Don't Back Down were *not* performed?  I'd like to add this setlist to the archive on the next update...(yeah, I know it's been a while...but I will get to it! haha)

Eric unfortunately I didn't go to the Ocean Grove show and that's why I wondered what the setlist was like and asked if someone would please post it. I'm sure Scott could tell you for sure one way or the other.

Seriously, I can state with absolute certainty that "Disney Girls", "Summer Means Fun" and "Don't Back Down" were NOT played, despite having been on the setlist.  I was there, and I was stone cold sober.  Ocean Grove is a dry town!

Ok, this is gonna be fun.

Surfin' Safari: Chug A Lug
Surfin' USA: Farmer's Daughter
Surfer Girl: Surfer Girl
Little Deuce Coupe: Little Deuce Coupe
Shut Down Vol. 2: Don't Worry Baby
All Summer Long: God, this is tough...I'm gonna say Drive In
Christmas Album: Little Saint Nick
Today!: some days, In The Back Of My Mind.  other days, Don't Hurt My Little Sister
Summer Days: Girl Don't Tell Me
Party: Devoted To You
Pet Sounds: God Only Knows
Smiley Smile: With Me Tonight
Wild Honey: I'd Love Just Once To See You
Friends: Busy Doin' Nothin'
20/20: Time To Get Alone
Sunflower: This Whole World (historically) but lately Deirdre
Surf's Up: Surf's Up
Carl & The Passions: All This Is That
Holland: The Trader
15 Big Ones: Susie Cincinnati
Love You: Airplane
MIU: Sweet Sunday Kinda Love
LA: Baby Blue
Keepin' The Summer Alive: Oh Darlin'
BB85: Male Ego
Still Cruisin' : Somewhere Near Japan
Summer In Paradise: umm...Strange Things Happen, i guess...

I was at this show.  "Disney Girls" was not played, unfortunately.  I was majorly bummed about that.  I had obtained the setlist from the very nice girl at the ticket window before the show.  Actually, the setlist I had also had "Don't Back Down" and "Summer Means Fun" on it too, but neither one of those were played either.  Still, a pretty great setlist and a super long show.  Since "Disney Girls" was dropped apparently at the last minute, I'm pretty sure Bruce's only vocal of the night was "God Only Knows".   Stamos was on stage pretty much all night, playing both guitar and drums and singing (lead on "Forever")

My first post here.  I've been lurking for a long time though.  That's gonna change starting now.