Maybe it was just me that was distracted by them. I became more focused on hitting the beach ball then watching the band. Maybe it was the booze too...I know everything's going to be okay. Just wanted to complain about something...err get a thread started.

Most people aren't rad dudes who get lots of chicks. Fortunately, I'm not one of the aforementioned people, so I will set you straight.

I noticed the beach balls at the end of the show, during silence as the band was tuning up. I said "I came here to see the Beach Boys, not the Beach Balls!" The entire theater laughed, and Mike gave me a thumbs-up and a wink.

I got to hang out with the band backstage.

Mike was busy arguing with the a video of Dennis. Brian walked over and told me that I am better than Phil Spector, and he asked me for songwriting and producing tips. Al popped up and asked me to guest on his new remake of the Steve Miller "Help Me Rhonda." David Marks ran over and asked me to sign his guitar, and Bruce gave me my own Beach Boys Beach Ball, which I signed and gave back to him.

"I came to see the Beach Boys," I exclaimed, "Not the beach balls!" The band and the crew burst into applause. Mike broke away from the TV to walk over and give me a vigorous handshake. I noticed tears in his eyes as he commended me on my rapier wit. I could have sworn that I saw Dennis give me the thumbs up on the video monitor.

Now, I'm touring the country with The Beach Boys. I sleep in a bed with Jeff Foskett (head to toe, nothing sexual) and I get to choose the setlists. They also donate 15% of their profits to a charity of my choice (which happens to be me).

So, while you may not like or appreciate the Beach Boys beach balls, I do. Without them, I would be at home posting bullsh*t on the internet like some loser.

  What is truly Wilson (a synonym for genius don't you know) about this post is how frighteningly close it is to actual posts I've seen on this and other fan boards (and not just Beach Boys.) This is one time "LOL" is not an exaggeration.  <-off topic, but though it plainly states that this is the "police" smiley, I always see it as Darryl Dragon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuEnkbO8cos

Terrible.. This songs about Charle Manson???

Is that blatant disrespect and "please slap me til my face is tolerable" shtick just their thing/an inside joke that I'm obviously not in on? For what it was, their cover wasn't as repulsive as I thought it would be (though they obviously wish they were the Ramones and that just made me want to hear the actual Ramones do it instead) but the "this song's about Charles Manson"  and "I can't f'in stand the Beach Boys"  comments really rubbed me the wrong way. Just curious if they're *that* ignorant of where Sloop John B came from or were trying to be clever. I'd always heard good things about this band but was quite turned off by this clip.

[I wouldn't have even known to watch for it had I not checked the board when I got home and caught the reminder]

i just now watched the song clips and interview. the handful of meds i take now for the heart attack i had 2 years ago make me drowsy, especially the night doses. i nodded off before the show came on. so i wanted to say thank you to the ones who posted the links to these clips. needless to say, i enjoyed them.

can't wait to see them this friday night.

Same here, medication can really do you in, especially if you're already worn down, so I was heartbroken when I realized I'd missed it after making coffee which I rarely do in the morning, much less at night. I was more than happy to share that link as I wouldn't have even known to watch for it had I not checked the board when I got home and caught the reminder (I love this board.) Good day all and enjoy the links if you missed it like some of us did, I was SO afraid I'd be looking at 30 second clips and discussion of it with no way to see it in full. I'm trying to plan to see them again July 3rd and will be more than happy to share the experience then as well.

P.S. - I'll have to comment on the actual performance later as I have to go, but I wanted to say I've seen the various boards come and go over the years (I rode in on the mid-late 90s wave of Imagination/Brian touring again, PS Box, etc when I first got internet and remember thinking "I can't believe this is really happening" and could have never imagined 15+years later we'd be getting all of *this*) and this is by far the most positive the fan community has been (I especially love the backing off of bashing Mike over the years and someone else pointed out perfectly how obvious it is that he loves Brian and isn't doing this for his ego) even when we had things like Brian finishing SMiLE and other "impossible things becoming possible" before our eyes. It's hard to find people who can discuss the Beach Boys as in depth as I like to and this board is a Godsend.

[mono]

Thanks Anomononononous (or sumfink') -

we're all virtually partying behind the screen, and no need to apolololologize, I really enjoyed your lovely and heartfelt contribution! Join the festivities...

  When I couldn't get into my account (it used to be "A_Mono_Mouse") I had to opt for something close but different, so I dropped the underscores and E and opted for "Amonomous" instead. You're welcome 

I tried SO hard to stay up for this last night (says a lot about network tv these days but moreso about me lol) but woke up to a televangelist show at 6am instead.. only to find it was ALL over the net within hours, of course most of the headlines were "Brian Wilson hasn't even seen the new album."   Needless to say I didn't even click those. THIS link however, (I hope it's ok to post this, it seems to fit within the guidelines) has the entire interview, all 3 performances, and in excellent sound. I hadn't noticed it shared yet and wanted to put it out there:

http://thenjunderground.com/blog/2012/5/8/watch-beach-boys-appear-on-fallon.html

Agree with nearly everything said in this thread and am seriously digging how positive everyone is, THIS is what this 50th is all about..and I still think "Celebration" would have been a great album title, but I'm sure the reasons for not using it have been discussed, my apologies if I missed it, I've had an extremely rough time of it lately.. The only thing making it all worthwhile was seeing the Raleigh, NC 50th show, which was a dream come true and though Mike/Bruce were great last I saw them in `01, nothing could touch the 4-29 show I attended with my daughter, who LOVES the Beach Boys (and not just the hits either, with me for a Daddy lol.) She turns 5 on Aug.8th btw, and asks for deep cuts by name.   <-happy tears.   It's a great time to be a Beach Boys fan.

[seriously]

That was a cute little highlight from the show I attended, and someone mentioned that Brian might be stifling a sneeze or something when he crinkled his nose, he did cough into the mic a few times while singing, though I can't recall during which song(s) but it seemed like he may have been a little under the weather that night (though I think that is seriously overthinking things..) It got a great response and I thought Mike's stroller joke was pretty funny. I didn't get any bad vibrations from that exchange though, but do recall thinking that it may have been a genuine little moment they had during rehearsal and someone thought would be fun to add to the show and if anything, it seemed like Brian may have rushed his introduction to the next song. As I said in my mini review of the show, it reminded me of the more recent candid/comfortable Brian interviews such as the Zooey Deschanel one, and I wonder what Brian must think of the huge reactions he gets for the simplest little things. He probably wonders what's wrong with us the way some of us wonder about him.   It didn't occur to me that he was trying to get Mike to shut up or get the spotlight off himself.   That was the first thing I shared on my facebook after getting back to town/finding it.

With all of that in mind, this is a waste of board space lol, but the title was so odd I thought it was referring to a song on the upcoming album or something so I clicked it.  

Sorry if this has been mentioned already (I haven't had a chance to really catch up yet since the show aside from the sorta-review I posted earlier) but something that went over quite well with the crowd and I particularly dug that I haven't seen mentioned yet (but I haven't been here in several days) was the cool 50's era Drive-in concession stand commercials they played on the screen during the intermission. Some people might find that cheesy but I thought it was a nice touch. They really seem to have put a lot of thought into every detail. Can't say it enough: anything negative about this show is GREATLY outweighed by all of the thought and effort put into making this a dream concert for the fans and a proper celebration of their remarkable 50 year career. Don't miss this if you're able to go!

Thank you very much for your report ! Hope your daugther had a great time !

the "where's John Stamos??" comments spoken (mostly) in complete and utter seriousness and disappointment that I heard scattered about the crowd were interesting.. It would seem the casual fans were really hoping to see him.

I wonder if the Beach Boys will ever be able to make up the damage this whole Stamos relation has done to their legacy.

And I hope poor John won't get accused by us fans (anymore).  

You are most welcome! =) I was just about to post a rant about the sniping going on around here simply for people reporting what they're seeing and hearing and you know, discussing things in a discussion forum, but I'm holding off on posting it due to your Good Vibrations.

[mono]

Lot of good quality videos in that channel...

"Cottonfields" really rocks...they're jamming out on that one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJuQtLf_od0&feature=relmfu

And it sounds like someone (Scott Totten?) is using a b-bender/pullstring. It's hard to see on my phone...

Cottonfields was definitely a highlight, even the people around us who went nuts for the hits but seemed a little lost during "All this is that" and some of the lesser known numbers really got into that one and at one point (I can't recall which song it was, but it was in the first set, still bright and sunny) there were some couples literally out in the aisles between sections dancing up a storm. I don't know if they were asked to go back to their seats or if I was just too wrapped up in the show itself (and had my 4.5 year old daughter with me, whose favorite band is the Beach Boys and had A BLAST) to notice but it seemed all of them were back to their seats pretty quickly.

It was a beautiful night, not too hot with a cool breeze and the vibrations were good for certain.. The energy level was high all night and though I know there is a thread for this now, I'll keep it simple and say that, to my ears Brian was being processed in *some* way or another but it really did sound as though it was more prominent on certain songs than others as he did hit some bad notes here and there  that weren't the glitches you hear on the recordings. He *really* got into "California Dreaming" especially and belted a few others while he seemed to almost be nodding off during other songs and my brother pointed out several times that he could see his hands in his lap under the piano for most of the show but he's a casual fan that appreciates them but isn't familiar with all of Brian's quirks and such. I was pleasantly surprised to find a YT video of a particularly cute moment between Mike and Brian where Brian remembered the year (1959) of a dance that Mike was referencing and for a brief moment we got to see the laid back Brian you see in the more candid interviews. That moment got an especially good response as did most of Mike's banter, which was very good and almost all new compared to the well-worn jokes he made when I saw them in 2001 and already knew where he was going with his comments before he finished them.  

We were in section 2, row CC, seats 5-7 for anyone who was there..oddly our seats were the only ones taken in our row besides a few other people, but as far as it being poorly attended I thought the same thing when I bought my tickets and saw all of the seats that were still available but it looked pretty well packed once they took the stage, albeit about 15 minutes or so later than scheduled. Hearing the Four Freshmen beforehand was a nice touch, as was "This Whole World" and the "where's John Stamos??" comments spoken (mostly) in complete and utter seriousness and disappointment that I heard scattered about the crowd were interesting.. It would seem the casual fans were really hoping to see him. Speaking of casual fans, TWGMTR got a very good response and I actually prefer the live renditions so far (of course nothing beats being there and hearing it in person) with the much louder chiming guitars (to these ears anyway they sound like guitar harmonics, perhaps combined with something else?) and plucked bass notes as the tag picks up near the end.                                              

I'll post a little more asap, my camera died about 5 songs in and when the batteries are dying (they were freshly charged before the show, I still don't know what the problem was) it makes any videos recorded skip horribly, which is a shame because the sound was surprisingly excellent for such a (relatively) outdated camera. Luckily my brother had his slightly newer camera with him and got some good photos (I made certain he at least tried to get some shots of Brian playing bass for FFF and got a good sounding clip of "Forever," the rest I'm no so sure as I haven't seen them yet, still waiting for them) which I'll gladly share as soon as I get them. The photos I got that weren't completely blurry due to the battery issue aren't that great as it was hard to get them all in the shot with such a wide front-line setup and since I didn't foresee the camera issues I was mainly taking shots of my daughter enjoying the show and decided to focus more on the (possibly, as I'm considering making the trek to the July 3rd show also) once in a lifetime experience after my brother made the valid point that the show would be VERY well documented anyway and we noticed a lot of people with fairly nice camera setups that somehow got past security.

I will come back with photos and a bit more on the songs themselves and had I known this show was getting so little coverage on the board I would have used my brother's phone (he has a smartphone, I still use an ancient flip-phone) to report the setlist during the intermission and on the ride home. I fully intended to when we got back but with a child to think of and the fact that I got wrapped up in the moment, this is the first I've been back to the board. Just as I went in intending to document the show more and ended up getting wrapped up in the moment instead (preferable to me in the long run) I actually only intended to comment on Cottonfields and ended up giving a long winded sort-of-review. lol I'll edit this later and add my thoughts on the performance itself ASAP, sometimes touch-typing is a blessing and a curse at once.

~Amonomous

Thank you so much for sharing this interview, btw, the first one with Brian is really interesting.. I just want to give him a hug when he says "I just want my Carl back and .. i can't.." Ouch. The interviewer is going straight to the questions most people would never go near and Brian seems to almost appreciate it. I think he gets bored with the constant pandering and Pet Sounds discussions and this interview just gets more and more intriguing (watching it in real time lol) i.e. he slips into the "yes. yes. no. yes. no." type answers he's been known to give for entire interviews at one point then gets into it again when the questions go into the Beatles and things we know he loves. He really is sharp and I think his long term memory is mostly intact even if he still has bad days with the hallucinations and short term memory. Even if he weren't my favorite artist he'd still be damned fascinating to listen to, you never know what you'll get.

Gotta ask again. Does anybody know how I can save this video interview with Brian?

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?id=1972020454

Check your PM (I only sent a link to some ideas of programs that could help so if anyone else can help Rocker more thoroughly please do!)

This thread really got me thinking about that first performance, I recall listening to it either on a stream somewhere or maybe it *was* shared/downloaded but I do recall wanting to hear that again especially once BWPS came out because there were some little details and touches in that performance that I don't recall ever hearing again.. It was a really special moment to sit down and listen to that, quality of the recording aside the magic still shone through, I understand why they would want to nip and tuck certain things before releasing a performance like that officially but it was historic, at least as far as music goes, it would be nice if there existed an intact performance somewhere exactly as it unfolded/looked/sounded.

I'll be there this Sunday if anyone is interested in meeting up I'm in section 1 row CC

My ticket says 2 - CC - 5(6 and 7, I bought 3 so each ticket has a seat #) so I'm guessing I'm in section 2? lol I was so psyched when I bought them I haven't really thought about it since, but I know its the very back of the front center section of seats directly in front of the stage. I'm not familiar with this ampitheatre but I'll be there too. We need to develop a hand signal or something for other Smileshoppers to be able to pick each other out

Some thoughts: digging the huge drums on "Forever" (and the whole rendition in general, I absolutely love it) but found Mike's intro of Dennis as "uh..Brian's brother Dennis.." as opposed to "my cousin Dennis" or simply "Dennis" a bit strange but that's really nitpicking

Brian does indeed have WAY too much pitch correction on his vocals and I pray they are recording a dry signal of his performances without these effects so the historical record of this period of the band isn't compromised forever like some people have said. As another person said last night, they're really lucky the press didn't jump all over that (kind of like the, was it GMA? performance a while back where "the beach boys lip synch" accusations were making the news, though of course they weren't) :/ Also, the parts that really made me cringe were when he'd hold notes like we never thought he'd be able to do again at one point, sounding absolutely FINE and on point, inspired even...but the damn autotune goes off tune in the middle of his note the way a guitar synthesizer will "croak" in the middle of notes like a kid going through puberty. Its infuriating because you can hear him singing and belting very well behind* the effects but the effects themselves make it sound bizarre. I did find someone's "B-Pain" nickname quite amusing though. I really hope they don't do that to his voice when I see them, I've never seen Brian, only Mike&Bruce and I'm really looking forward to seeing him perform.

"Don't Back Down" 

Mike sounds really good, pretty much how he sounded when I saw him over a decade ago, now why he almost never sounds like that for tv performances I don't quite understand but it's like trying to convince people that Axl Rose sounded really good when I saw him in `06, everyone remembers that awful VMA performance from.. 2002 I think it was? That stigma never went away. My older brother appreciates the Beach Boys but he, to this day, thinks the "Beach Boys suck live" because of that damned Full House performance of Kokomo and Barbara Ann. I can't wait to see his reaction (he's going too) to the way they actually sound live.

I have so much more to say on this but don't have the times etc to reference things but I'll post this anyway since I made a start at it  Really I'm very pleased with the presentation..I've never cared if they had a surfboard on stage etc, they're the Beach Boys, it would be weird if they DIDN'T have hawaiin shirts and yellow or white trousers and such, that's the band, quirks and all that I've loved since childhood and grew up watching and that's who I want to see live, not some revamped cool and hip version for the kids who only listen to Pet Sounds/SMiLE and expect to see 5 clones of Dennis in his prime on stage or something..I really don't know what a lot of these people expect or want, but it sure doesn't sound like they really want the actual band at times..speaking more in terms of youtubers here lol

They seem to have found a great balance that works for the lineup they have and also found a way to present this as something truly special with class and still keep it feeling like a proper Beach Boys show with excitement and energy as opposed to what some of us were fearing I think: That this would be akin to some of the more recent Monkees performances where they basically just stand up front with mics and phone it in in the most vegas-y, cheesy way possible while anonymous people play the music. I love the Monkees too but have never felt compelled to see them live for that very reason. This feels like 5 legends (and yes a small army of friends) showing the world they still have it and can PERFORM these songs, as opposed to a glorified karaoke show. I'm loving this and I can't help but think "it's too bad they couldn't have done this earlier" but better late than never and I'm happy with nearly everything about this other than the autotune on Brian (at times it sounds as though he's holding back or fighting his delivery to keep the damned thing from glitching mid-note, like he's having to adapt his perfectly good, natural delivery to suit the machine as opposed to the other way around..does that make sense or stand out to anyone else?) and I especially love the Dennis and Carl tributes.

Oh my.. The wonders (or horrors) of touch-typing.

I've never and will never understand people who go on forums (or anywhere for that matter) and brag and talk about what they have that everyone else wants. That's no fun. If I have something and can find anyone who loves the Beach Boys as much as me, I'm ecstatic to share, it's the people who couldn't care less but expect me to fall all over myself for their favorite James Blunt song or whatever that really bug me.. certainly not the ones who *want* to know more/hear more Beach Boys. /my little rant.

Don't take it personally amonomous, I'll try to explain for you.  

1.  Record companies don't like having copies of live shows floating around, ESPECIALLY if  they may release a cd/dvd of this tour in the near future.  The reason they don't like having the copies floating around, is because they feel it will hurt ticket sales if you can hear what happens at the show for free.  That's their opinion, whether or not it's valid can be argued both ways.

2.  In extreme instances, if a forum such as this one consistantly is posting material that is technically illegal (like a live concert recording)... the owners of that copyrighted material could do all kinds of nasty things, up to and including shutting down the site, or even bringing a lawsuit (that they may or may not win) against the OWNER of the forum.

3.  Capitol Records has people that read this board daily.  It's pretty much the biggest Beach Boys message board on the internet.

So as you can see, it's very important to the owner of this site that illegal concert recordings not be published here, even if it's just a link.  You may not agree that it's illegal or that it hurts sales or whatever, but Capitol Records holds all the cards and can make things very tough for the site owners if they wanted to be jerks about it.  

Agreed and understood, that was what prompted my rant, the fact that I tried to be discrete earlier and observe the etiquette but noticed everyone outright discussing it and asking for it publicly. Believe me, I understand.. :/

It would be much appreciated if someone would PM me!

I'd gladly take a PM as well.  :-)

I've already bought TWGMTR and played it 1,000x's, but if we're talking live stuff, I tried to be discrete before and got nothing, and I'd planned to try getting my mini digital recorder into the show on Sunday in Raleigh so I could contribute *something* too, it's kind of like when I first started tape trading before the net, I didn't really *have* anything to trade yet but desperately wanted to get a start at it and had no luck trying to buy something to start with until Dave Prokopy himself sent me 3 maxell cassettes with what had to be the most complete SMiLE set up to that point, complete with a nicely written and printed up (albeit xeroxed) booklet and I was off to the races. I will never forget the joy I got from making copies and putting the same booklet together (complete with little paper sleeve) and dubbing those tapes and then anxiously awaiting a personal thank you letter and some Summer Days/Nights and Today! sessions along with the Pet Sounds preview disc that was floating around when we were *supposed* to get the box set the first time..

I've never and will never understand people who go on forums (or anywhere for that matter) and brag and talk about what they have that everyone else wants. That's no fun. If I have something and can find anyone who loves the Beach Boys as much as me, I'm ecstatic to share, it's the people who couldn't care less but expect me to fall all over myself for their favorite James Blunt song or whatever that really bug me.. certainly not the ones who *want* to know more/hear more Beach Boys. /my little rant.

quick edit: sorry to get off topic, that was just something I've noticed a LOT in the forum communities and believe me, it's actually not bad here but it does get frustrating when you try to be discrete and then see message after message later in the day outright asking for it. Having said that: I'm PSYCHED to be taking my daughter to this and sharing this experience with her, I also see a LOT of her favorites on that wet dream of a setlist (that's about twice what they played when I saw them and most of the car songs were a medley, I guess to make room for a full rendition of "Duke of Earl")  and everything I've read so far has me salivating to hear something.. Lest anyone "phil" me.. "You phil me?" I probably shouldn't be posting after the day I've had though, admittedly, but I had to add that in there: I REALLY needed this after a very tough 2011 and `12 so far but SMiLE Sessions was released on my birthday, then this? It's so surreal but I'll take it.

Post post Script edit lol - THANK YOU!

BTW Brian really sound sgood on Surfer Girl..... *cough*

I'll be at the show this Sunday in Raleigh, NC, really enjoying this thread and the new single.. I'm torn though between the "I hope so and so is still there by this time...." type comments and the "they get better/more comfortable & incorporate more deep cuts (seeing IJWMFTT live would be amazing for instance) as they go along"  ones.. :/ I'm just happy to see all five of them together and as long as they don't rotate "Please Let Me Wonder" out of the set I'll be more than satisfied with what I've seen so far setlist-wise. I was too late to see the Kokomo video (it's gone) but I'm definitely Gettin' Hungry (couldn't resist) for more than just still pics (though the pics and updates have been *GREAT*) Thank you to everyone who has contributed, I'm really let down by the no camera policy and hope I can still get some shots but anything I am able to get I will cherish and share afterward.

This is really classic stuff I'd never seen this before.. I really wish I could see the whole thing now. Classic Brian.

Thank you for the heads up! Great video.

I don't know about a one-off special, might put Brian in shock mode. I'd say go for a small round of shows performed "BW presents Pet Sounds"-style in a decent size but relatively intimate set of venues (or even at the same one) and film them/record them for DVD/CD release of the best performance.

[p]

Is anyone still around these parts? This song sounds amazing! I've been collecting since I was a child, my first SMiLE tapes came directly from David Prokopy, I discovered the Cabinessence board back when I was getting heavily into SMiLE and also the High Llamas (that page doubled for both) and I LOVED the guitar tab/chord archive there.. This would have been 96'ish? anyhow I've been around a long time and have never heard this even described, much less heard-heard it.. 

  I heard this just as it was breaking on the radio and was shocked.. I knew Peter had been battling some form of cancer (I want to say the tongue, like EVH) and knew the guys were getting up in age but really, Davy?? He seemed the picture of health.. I recall seeing those disturbing tabloid stories about his wife apparently abusing him or something of that nature last I really heard anything about him in the media and even then (with those types of stories they tend to find the most awful sour face photos they can find etc) he looked great. I heard on a more recent report/update that there was a heart problem perhaps.. I apologize if this is really redundant, I haven't had a chance to read the other posts yet.. My 4 year old daughter and I bonded heavily on the Beach Boys and the Monkees (completely naturally, she was exposed to tons of other music, including her mother's completely modern/other taste from dad lol though she dug 60s music also-but she gravitated straight to the same things I loved as a child, it was amazing.. when I picked her up yesterday one of the first things she said was that Davy Jones had died and made a sad face, said they'd talked about it in class (I'd just picked her up from preschool) but assured me that "we can still sing his songs and love him." <3 I had to share that, she truly loves the Monkees (and the Beach Boys and so many other great bands) and appreciates ALL of their eras, their humor, the show, you name it. It just goes to show how wide of an audience this man truly reached. Generations even. RIP Davy, you will be missed.

[Ok, first off there was a freak thunderstorm right before the Boys were scheduled to go on that sent people racing in droves to tents and awnings and anywhere we could get to vainly try and avoid the torrential downpour that only stopped as (surpirse!) the Beach Boys took to the stage.. For the duration of the concert the clouds parted and the sun shined. I recall Mike saying something to the effect of "The sun comes out strong when the Beach Boys come on" (Mike was really ON for this show and bantered quite a bit, both all of the familiar quotes I've heard over the years (paraphrasing from memory) "they say my cousin Brian is a genius, I guess so: he stays home and collects a check while we go out and play his songs..etc and a few new ones to me anyway, such as a few quips mostly centered on age (the "senior citizen moshpit") but how did they SOUND? Fantastic. Honestly. I wasn't going into it blindly, I knew full well what the lineup was and so did my girlfriend at the time who also loved the experience. Mike was in good voice that day as was Bruce who sang a beautiful tribute to Carl in the form of "God Only Knows." Some of the "oldies" covers they chose grated a bit as the mind boggles at what could have been there instead but overall the band was so energetic and FUN (John Cowsill's antics -and vocals/musical chops of course-were particularly memorable. He seemed to be having a good time) it all evened out and I can honestly say I was able to enjoy the entire show with no gripes (that I can recall anyway) it was just a very fun and enjoyable day. The incident described above with Mike and the photograph was one I remember well as Mike stopped the show to banter with the lady and show off the photo showing him wearing the same bright yellow (I'd also seen him in those in countless appearances on tv and such, so I remember finding that particularly amusing) pants that he was wearing that day as well.. To find out years later I owe my knowledge of the setlist to her is interesting to say the least. I recall the intro to "WDFFIL" being very tight and well rehearsed and I was pleased to actually hear Mike and Bruce in the blend, little things like that stood out throughout the show. The presence of Carl, Brian, Dennis, and Al were certainly missed but we were able to enjoy the show for what it was and it really did feel like a celebration of the music. I cannot wait (I hope they come near enough to make the drive) to see the remaining BB's in concert this year and I would attend another Mike and Bruce BB's show also and recommend them, though I can't speak for the current lineup as I know some members are different from when I saw them.. Oh, and before I forget to mention it: as soon as the Boys left the stage after the encore, the clouds rolled in and the rain started up again.. Interesting day.]

I'll post the setlist and write-up (which I thought was funny to see as that stood out in my mind also, the whole Mike/photo episode) from Eric's Setlist Archive at ["http://members.tripod.com/~fun_fun_fun/bb.html"] then I'll share my recollection below that:

South Carolina State Fair, Columbia, SC
October 14, 2001

Contributor Karen Burdorff comments about the order of the songs from #14 on: "HERE my setlist order gets a little fuzzy because MIKE TOOK MY PEN! You see ...I held up a picture that I took two years ago at the fair of Mike, and he was wearing the same yellow pants that he had on today...well, he went into a 3 minute comedy routine about those pants and picture, holding it up for all to see...(I wish that I had had a recorder) and then asked for my pen so he could sign the picture later, which he did do) anyway, from then on , I couldn't write down the songs...." [as posted on California Saga]
Beach Boys present:

Mike Love
Bruce Johnston
Backup band:

Chris Farmer
Tim Bonhomme
Mike Kowalski
Adrian Baker
John Cowsill
Scott Totten
SETLIST

1. California Girls
2. Do It Again
3. Catch A Wave
4. Hawaii
5. Dance Dance Dance
6. Do You Wanna Dance
7. Little Honda
8. Surfer Girl
9. Don't Worry Baby
10. Little Deuce Coupe
11. 409
12. Shut Down
13. I Get Around
14. Why Do Fools Fall In Love?
15. Rock And Roll Music
16. Good Vibrations
17. God Only Knows
18. Sloop John B
19. Wouldn't It Be Nice
20. Kokomo
21. Help Me Rhonda
22. Barbara Ann
23. Surf City
24. Surfin Safari
25. Surfin USA
Encore:
26. Fun Fun Fun

Contributed by: Karen Burdorff

Ok, first off there was a freak thunderstorm right before the Boys were scheduled to go on that sent people racing in droves to tents and awnings and anywhere we could get to vainly try and avoid the torrential downpour that only stopped as (surpirse!) the Beach Boys took to the stage.. For the duration of the concert the clouds parted and the sun shined. I recall Mike saying something to the effect of "The sun comes out strong when the Beach Boys come on" (Mike was really ON for this show and bantered quite a bit, both all of the familiar quotes I've heard over the years (paraphrasing from memory) "they say my cousin Brian is a genius, I guess so: he stays home and collects a check while we go out and play his songs..etc and a few new ones to me anyway, such as a few quips mostly centered on age (the "senior citizen moshpit") but how did they SOUND? Fantastic.

Honestly. I wasn't going into it blindly, I knew full well what the lineup was and so did my girlfriend at the time who also loved the experience. Mike was in good voice that day as was Bruce who sang a beautiful tribute to Carl in the form of "God Only Knows." Some of the "oldies" covers they chose grated a bit as the mind boggles at what could have been there instead but overall the band was so energetic and FUN (John Cowsill's antics -and vocals/musical chops of course-were particularly memorable. He seemed to be having a good time)  it all evened out and I can honestly say I was able to enjoy the entire show with no gripes (that I can recall anyway) it was just a very fun and enjoyable day. The incident described above with Mike and the photograph was one I remember well as Mike stopped the show to banter with the lady and show off the photo showing him wearing the same bright yellow (I'd also seen him in those in countless appearances on tv and such, so I remember finding that particularly amusing) pants that he was wearing that day as well.. To find out years later I owe my knowledge of the setlist to her is interesting to say the least. I recall the intro to "WDFFIL" being very tight and well rehearsed and I was pleased to actually hear Mike and Bruce in the blend, little things like that stood out throughout the show.

The presence of Carl, Brian, Dennis, and Al were certainly missed but we were able to enjoy the show for what it was and it really did feel like a celebration of the music. I cannot wait (I hope they come near enough to make the drive) to see the remaining BB's in concert this year and I would attend another Mike and Bruce BB's show also and recommend them, though I can't speak for the current lineup as I know some members are different from when I saw them.. Oh, and before I forget to mention it: as soon as the Boys left the stage after the encore, the clouds rolled in and the rain started up again.. Interesting day.

Do Twofer's count?   If so Friends/20/20.. If not, then it would be a tough decision but I think 20/20 would win out.. I know it was thrown together, WE know this, that average new listener doesn't though, and to my ears it has never really *sounded* like a bunch of singles or whatever the usual gripes are with this album. There are some downright classic cuts, such as "I Can Hear Music" and "Time To Get Alone" the familiar sound of "Do It Again" and we even get a couple of SMiLE tunes as well. I've always loved this album, the tight groove of songs like "Bluebirds..." a lovely contribution (as always) from Dennis and the return of those bigger than life harmonies that had been stripped down a bit in the past several albums after Pet Sounds all made for a great listen. I know this isn't the coolest choice and I did consider "Sunflower," strongly.. but for me it's 20/20. (Mind you this isn't my personal favorite or anything, but I think for a casual fan of Pet Sounds and maybe a few singles the production and feel of this collection of songs would probably appeal to those people.)

Hi, I settled on using this name as it was the one I used on the original Smileshop board when I had an account there briefly, though I did lurk for many more years after that, I really began my online Beach Boys adventure with the Netsounds "white board" back in the day, way back.. lol ;p I gave a spoken report about the Beach Boys and mainly "SMiLE" in middle school for my choir class (this would have been very early 90's so this went straight over everyone's head as none of this was known to the general public as it is today) and the first LP I bought was "All Summer Long" at a flea market. I also loved my parents' collection of Beach Boys 45's, especially "Good Vibrations," not just for it's A-side but perhaps moreso for the flip, "Let's Go Away For Awhile," my favorite song. I grew up with the Beach Boys and got an early start on the net so obviously the first thing I went searching for was Beach Boys information/content. Anyhow, that's my little introduction to how I ended up here, another long time lurker, first time poster deal with a little history thrown in for good measure.

I love the posts here, this is by far the most mature and informative group of posters I've ever seen for a message board. I especially love the rare insight, photos, recollections, etc that the excellent Honored Guests bring to the table, and their willingness to answer questions and share their knowledge is appreciated as I've learned a great deal over the years from these forums. I hope to participate again from now on, I especially keep coming across great treasures that I haven't seen posted in the youtube thread so I wanted to share those and participate in some discussions I've been following as of late. I'm also a musician, obviously very influenced by the Beach Boys, so perhaps I will share some of my own BB covers and originals at some point also. Thanks for reading my hastily written introduction I hope this finds you all well. 

Best regards,
Amonomous