I just called the Chicago Theatre to ask about the prices for each seating level.  They claim they don't know any more than we do.  $40.00 - $250.00 is the range.  My girlfriend is going to buy my ticket for my birthday and said she would spend $250.00 on me, but I don't think I could ask her to spend that much.  What should I do?  She said she won't go with me if I got a $250.00 ticket and I would like her to be with me at the show.  But do I pass up a killer seat?

I just hope that the G8 Summit doesn't ruin the show, because it could.  Be prepared for this show to be re-scheduled or possibly cancelled in a worse case scenario.

It could - my son goes to school in downtown Chicago, and they cancelled his classes for that entire week already.

I bet they could still knock out Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring. That's probably engrained into their souls

I doubt they could do it in the original key.

doesn't brian usually perform without jeff's doubling?  last night is the exception because come on.  Brian was scared sh*tless

No, Jeff doubles a LOT of Brian's parts. Even Scott and Darian do some doubling of a few of Brian's parts.

Jeff's performance last night wasn't atypical at all.

Yeah but it takes a lot of courage to get back with your old band on a big stage like that,

Yes, I completely agree. That was quite an accomplishment for Brian.

As long as you mean Brian's band members - THOSE boys carry the load.

My wife was watching with me - after GV she says to me "wow, those guys would be nothing without that band to carry them".

Jeff Foskett flubbing a guitar intro at a three man gig for something I bet they don't give a crap about = obviously the man is Satan.

Hee, good comment!

But by Jeff's own admission he can play guitar just well enough so he can get onstage and sing; he's said that a number of times. That's why the tough guitar parts go to Scott Bennett, Probyn Gregory, or Nick Walusko - all of whom are spectacular. So that was probably not the kind of guitar work Jeff is best suited for.

But man, the hate for him here is just over the top ridiculous.

The reason they don't do "I Can Hear Music" is because nobody in the band can sing like that, and they know it.  Carl sang beautifully, but he had passion and energy in his voice that nobody in Brian's band has.

Nonsense. Darian did a killer "Darlin'" in '09. Easily the best live version I've heard since Carl was with us.

Yes, he absolutely nailed it! And I'm quite sure Darian could do I Can Hear Music really well too. Listen to his leads on the Wondermints CDs, and then listen to Darlin'.  His voice is perfect for it, he's got the range and the power.

"Nobody in the band can sing like that?" Reiterating Wirestone- nonsense.

[live]

On "That Lucky Old Sun"... Brian had Carole King punch in and sing "Good Kind of Love".

The voice on the CD is Taylor Mills. The Carole King vocal version was a Best Buy bonus track.

Soooooo, have Mark Linett take the tapes, have Mike, Al, and Bruce punch in a few places on a few songs and put them up for download on Itunes.  Voila.  I think it would be great to hear.  

IN MY OPINION, and this is only my opinion although others are welcome to agree or disagree.... in my opinion, one of the real great things about the Beach Boys sound was that it was so natural, nobody had any training, and there were mistakes all over all the tapes.  So Mike would sing a bum note here and there, Brian would sing a bum note here and there, the guys would start slightly early, they'd be talking in the background, etc.  the stuff was just sloppy enough to make it sound authentic.  The harmonies were arranged by Brian, but he didn't have any training so he had no notions of what things should and shouldn't sound like, he just went with his instinct and it sounded amazing.

With Brian's new band, they've all got fantastic voices, and they all sound like they record those fantastic voices in a hospital it's so sterile.  Nothing is off note (except Brian), nothing has any grit in it.  Nobody in the band seems capable of anything but perfectly wispy vocals that sound angelic and all, but don't sound real.  

It's so bad, that my favorite part of most of Brian's new music, is ALWAYS when you can hear him sticking out of the harmony slightly off key, or slightly early or late, etc.  Midnight's Another Day was a perfect example.  Listen to the backing vox.  Everything's perfect, and Brian's the only one that sounds like he has an ounce of passion about what they're singing.  He sticks out like a sore thumb, in a good way.

Sprinkle the untrained, old, past their prime Beach Boys on one of his compositions and you may get something magical.

It is your opinion and you are indeed entitled to it, but...

I just don't know how anyone who saw a live performance or viewed Phil Solomon's videos of the rehearsals for the DVD of BWPS could think that. Check the videos - look at the faces of the band members when they finish Surf's Up. Watch Nelson Bragg; look at Taylor as Brian starts the "Easy My Child" passage, watch her face as she sings her part; and so on. These people are INTO it - BIG time. You don't suppose Darian had tears in his eyes after the premier in London because he didn't care? Read Phil's notes about what he heard - with no sweetening, touching up, etc.

After hearing and seeing this band perform BWPS (and Pet Sounds a few years before that), I can't fathom how you can mistake great performances with lack of emotion. Those were magical indeed! Do you really think Brian WANTED them to blow a few notes just for some "grit"?

BTW, if you haven't seen Phil's videos look here: http://vimeo.com/user2817877/videos/sort:date

My opinion? I don't think ANY band - including the BBs - could have performed BWPS live like Brian's band did. If you'd have had Brian's present band in the studio with the 20-something Brian back in the 60's - well, I think that would have been magic for sure.

That's my opinion anyway.

[OUT]

It's "moved OUT up to Europe", not "moved down up to Europe".

Slipped to 93 in week 2. 

That was totally predictable. Once the hard-core fans got theirs who else was going to buy it?? Regardless of the critical acclaim, the fact remains it's a special interest set of recordings, much of which consists of unfinished works. BWPS was a fully realized performance -  a VERY good one in fact - that a more casual fan would be much more likely to purchase than a collection of (many unfinished) works.

When you sit in this or any other fan site echo chamber it seems like everyone in the world is all excited about the doings of BW and the Boys. The fact is to the huge majority of people the BBs are an oldies act - albeit a good oldies act - and sales/chart position reflect that.

Artistic merit and commercial potential are two entirely different things. BWPS had great artistic merit and some commercial potential - TSS has great artistic merit and VERY limited commercial potential.

IMHO TSS is over commercially. There's no video to release, there's no hi-def recording (unlike BWPS which could generate some added sales in a DVD-A or SACD release), nothing left. Sad but true!

The ONLY reason for that is the order in which they were released.

The order in which they were released is the only reason either of them was released.

Exactly!

Lay Down Burden, What I Really Want For Christmas, Love & Mercy (from the tribute DVD w/the Harlem Boys Choir or the Katrina CD), 'Til I Die, Live Let Live From TLOS. And now Baby Mine...

I wasn't going to buy it. Then I heard a couple songs - Baby Mine just tears me up, it brings back a lot of great memories too. Beautiful!!

It's ordered now - I'm really looking forward to hearing it. I never thought I'd be saying that!!

Darlin' really suffers when it's done too fast.  Also it really suffers when anybody but Carl Wilson sings it.

Have you heard Darian sing it on a good recording or live? He absolutely nails it, it was one of the few highlights of the recent show in St. Charles IL.

That video is just plain weird though - I wonder what brought that all on??

Was it Jim Hins who played on Live At The Roxy? I ask this because drumming is great apart from on Be My Baby which nearly sends me to sleep.

Yes, it was Jim Hines.

The second time around -- when Nelson replaced him -- yeah, it was pretty well known that he took time off to be with his family. But in 2001, there didn't seem to be any kind of announcement, and fans were kind of wondering if something shady was going on because you barely see D'Amico (if you see him at all!) on the TNT Tribute broadcast and DVD, but he was there. And suddenly he's not there for the Paul Simon tour. After Brian's portion of the show that year in Holmdel, NJ, Brian came out to sign autographs, and the rest of the band went out and mingled with the crowd outside. I overheard this conversation:

FAN: So, where's Mike D'Amico these days?
DARIAN: He decided to stay behind in L.A. to work on our album. We owe our label an album this year, and he's really been stressing out about it.

I completely forgot about that. That's the straight scoop. Sorry, old age creeping in... It was right after that when "Mind If We Make Love To You" was released. It featured 3 superb Mike D'Amico compositions (I LOVE "Something I Knew"!) that I'm sure he wanted to be sure came out right as well as his other responsibilities related to finishing the CD. Remember too that Mike plays more than just drums/percussion - he played a lot of the bass on MIWMLTY too.

Keep in mind, Jim's not the band's original drummer.   Mike is a hell of a drummer; glad he's in. And you know who else is a good drummer? Scott. At the Hammerstein Ballroom in 2008 he drummed when Brian just had five of the guys with 'em. He's a LOUD drummer, but very good!

Back when the band was touring with Andy Paley Scott had to take over percussion from Andy when they played the "Let's Go Away For A While/Pet Sounds" medley. Andy apparently couldn't do the job, but I'll tell you that Scott and Jim sure could (as could Jim and Mike D'Amico). Scott is a one man band!

No, Jim wasn't the original drummer, but in the pre-Roxy days the band was certainly in a state of flux. You had Joe Thomas on keyboards, Jim Peterik on guitar, Chuck Soumar on horns, and a few more names that floated through. It remains that Jim was on drums longer than anyone by a good margin since Todd Sucherman chose to stay with Styx.

Nothing new...Andy Paley, Mike D'Amico (twice),

I thought it was well known that he (Mike) had to stay home for a while with his kids. That was not a secret.

the "Tasty Brothers" (seriously, where on earth does that name come from???

That's the name of a Chicago based trio they play with. Look here for more info:

http://www.luckykraig.com/livemusic.htm

BTW, wasn't she pregnant some time ago??? I'm sure that might have something to do with it, especially if Todd's on the road with Styx....

This is the first I've heard of that, I'm not aware of that being the case. It's pretty much none of my business either.

And the reason Jim and Bob going was secret? Because they FLAT OUT MENTIONED IT. It was no secret, ever. Hell, Melinda talked about it on the Bluebird a lot at the time. When the band played in Chicago in 2008, Jeff or somebody else in the band said that Jimmy was in the audience....

Scott Bennett gave a shout out to Jim at the TLOS show in Chicago in '08.  IMHO they were very fortunate to get Mike D'Amico back to play drums, because Jim Hines was one HELL of a drummer. I have nothing against Brett Simons - and he seems to be an excellent player - but so was Bob Lizik, and he and Jim were important parts of the chemistry. While capable players took their positions it just doesn't feel the same without them. With no Taylor it feels even worse.

Oh, btw...I should mention that while I don't think Taylor added much to the mix (btw, I MUCH prefer her on "Good Kind Of Love" over Carole King, who sounded just too screechy), that does NOT mean that I'm happy that she hasn't been with the band; just that I don't really notice the difference...again, I've heard some of her music and she's absolutely talented by all means...

I agree on Good Kind Of Love, and I completely disagree as far as her not being an important part of the mix. Listening to the CD of BWRG it's impossible not to hear her contribution. She sweetens the top harmony very nicely, and eases the load on Jeff (who I AND OTHERS reported was off key - sharp - at a couple recent shows, he was really working hard to project and that may be why he wasn't up to his normal standards). She has a big role in TLOS and BWPS, and I wonder if her absence wasn't what was missing in St. Charles.

Sure she's great to look at, she has a lot of stage presence too. But I hear her all over the place on the recordings and from prior live shows. If she doesn't return I think they need to find a replacement. I think they miss her a lot.

Remember, even Brian said back in the real early days of his band how much she added - he mentioned sweetness and "rounding" of the chords specifically.

[FIRED]

I think part of the problem was the stage was too small for the number of people and their instruments, they were all shoulder to shoulder up there. I joked with my husband that must have been why Taylor isn't there, no room for her anymore.

Hee! I have seen them before on even more crowded stages, but that shouldn't affect the sound mix.

I thought the set list was very good for a greatest hits show.

I guess - but there are so many hits they never or almost never play... it's been essentially the same "greatest hits" show for 10 years. Thanks for reminding me about Wendy - I forgot about that being in the set.

Unfortunately, the audience did not really respond to the Gershwin stuff. I seriously heard some lady behind me ask "Oh, did he write this song?" when they started playing Summertime.

Where I was seated the reaction was really positive, and it sounded like that was what I heard from behind me. Of course there are always people who don't have any idea what is going  on - I'm sure some went home disappointed they didn't hear Kokomo.

I know for me and my husband, yes we would see him again but hope we get a more appropriate venue for this band and Brian when he doesn't seem so exhausted.

I think I'd probably agree - just because I've seen such magic from him and the band before and I'd be hoping to see it again. And I'd SURELY go if BW FIRED the sound people!

[Foghat]

In general terms it was the least favorite BW show I've seen. It has now raised the question in my mind - would I go see him again, especially if I have to pay $95.00 for a seat as I did last night?

First the venue - it was tacky for sure, actually kind of dumpy. The seating was makeshift, much of the high dollar seating was old beat up chairs set up in rows so close together you could barely walk between them.  The place reeked of popcorn - but not in a good way; popcorn popper smoke was mixing with the inadequate ventilation/air conditioning to make it into a smelly sweat box. The venue was simply too small for the 1000+ people jammed into it. The only redeeming factor was the sight lines seemed good - I was in the 5th row center so I was in good shape, but it appeared the whole theater had good views of the stage.

Second, the sound - in a word - poor. Some terrible speaker resonances got excited on some flute notes making a near painful noise. Congested, and lots of distortion. Brian WAY too low in the mix, Jeff's guitar WAY too high, drowning out most of the other instruments other than the keyboards and drums. It was really hard to hear Paul or Probyn as a result. It also seems like each BW show I go to is louder than the previous. This small theater was overwhelmed by the volume level. The results were what I described, lousy. Why the BW sound people feel like they have to jackhammer this music into the audience's ears is beyond me. It loses the subtlety and much of the nuance and beauty that make it different from say Foghat (who the promoter kept reminding us was gonna be there soon!!). It wasn't like this at the early tour shows. It seems as if sheer noise level has supplanted all else in terms of sound.

Third, the set list - with just a few exceptions, it was just the same stuff that gets played on every one of these tours. A few highlights:

- Catch A Wave (a personal favorite with the great vocal opening)
- The opening of the second set with the a cappella  fragment of Rhapsody In Blue, followed by Summertime, I've Got Plenty O' Nuttin', They Can't Take That Away From Me, (edited to add) I Got Rhythm, and Nothing But Love
- The songs with other band members taking the leads - Scott Bennett does a much better job than BW on Sail On Sailor, Darian absolutely NAILS Darlin', and hearing WIBN in the proper key with Jeff's lead is very nice.
- A couple of oldies not heard in a while - The Little Girl I Once Knew, Add Some Music, Pet Sounds (the instrumental)

The rest of the setlist - just fill in the blanks from prior setlists. Nothing from TLOS, only Heroes and Villains from BWPS, nothing from GIOMH, nothing from Imagination, nothing from BW '88, none of the singles (What Love Can Do, etc.). In fact IIRC nothing newer than Sail On Sailor.  Pretty mundane...

Fourth, the band - hot and cold, that's the only way I can describe it. Jeffrey was having a pretty poor night IMHO - he was off key as much as he was on, he was sharp on much of what he was singing. I was at one point wishing Matt Jardine was in the neighborhood... Darian was GREAT, as always, but no one else struck me as outstanding except maybe Mike D'Amico on drums (why he isn't miked for vocals escapes me??). To be fair, it was really hard to tell much about their playing, since the sound was bad and FAR too loud as I mentioned above. What it sounded like was they were playing simultaneously, not playing together. It was far from their best night.

The band REALLY misses Taylor. I mean REALLY! I didn't realize how important she was to the vocal blend until I heard the band without her. Her doubling of many of Jeff's parts really added a lot, without it JF didn't sound nearly as good. No one filled the void she left, and it was quite apparent.

Finally, Brian - at times he seemed engaged, and at other times he seemed so tired/lethargic/?? that I seriously wondered if he'd passed out - I am NOT exaggerating.  For the first time it struck me how old he looked.

He did noodle on the keyboard more than usual, but at least some of it wasn't really playing anything - it was just moving his hands on the keyboard as he's been known to do before. Vocally, he was okay, but he was so far down in the mix you couldn't hear him much of the time anyway. Overall, with the exception of a few spots in the show he really looked like he didn't want to be there.

As AGD has quite rightly said, while at one time BW could earn my cheers and praise just for being able to show up and get through a show, those days are long since past. Sadly, the St. Charles show seemed to be one that BW & crew simply wanted to get over with. Very disappointing...

[lot]

I actually heard Steve Dahl guest-hosting on WLS radio in Chicago this afternoon, and they were talking about this story. Dahl seemed to be making fun of Brian's, shall we say, day-to-day functionality. Wasn't real flattering.

Steve Dahl's an alcoholic piece of feces and has no business making fun of anyone. He also claimed to sing backup on the Imagination single. Thankfully, I can't hear him.

I am from the Chicago area, and Steve did a LOT of on-air promotion for Brian, Imagination, the St. Charles show, and so on. He talked up Imagination time and time again. I remember VERY clearly how he "previewed" cuts from the CD and was clearly very enthused about it. I'm sure some of the enthusiasm was because he got a writing credit on the CD - but so what! I've gotten a couple technical credits on a couple CDs and I'm very proud and excited about it.

I learned about the Imagination CD and the mini tour from Steve Dahl's radio show.  The first time I heard the Imagination CD was when Steve played it on his show.

I heard Brian when he was a guest on Steve's show - they had a long and (especially for Brian) really interesting on-the-air conversation.

Steve was very popular in Chicago - a lot of people besides me heard him say some very nice things about BW and the new CD - as well as the mini-tour show in Chicago - which I attended.

So maybe you might want to tone it down a bit. Yes, Steve is not Mother Theresa. And after the Brian/Joe Thomas falling out Steve clearly took Joe's side. But he did a LOT to help Brian at a very important phase of his comeback too - don't forget that.

I think they'd just go back to being the Wondermints, for sure. I don't know a ton of people who listen to BW, but when he's mentioned I always hear compliments about his band.

And the Chicago faction of his band.... I dunno. They'll probably go back to Chicago and do whatever they do in the midwest.

Except only Darian, Nick, Mike D'Amico and Probyn (the "auxiliary 'Mint) have ties to Wondermints. That leaves Scott, Nelson, Jeff, Paul, Mike, Brett, and Taylor(?).

The Chicago faction is now pretty much down to Paul von Mertens - Scott moved to LA, and Bob and Jim are gone; Taylor is in Austin. The Chicago connection is about finished.

I too would love to have Wondermints re-form and pick up again where they left off. But I also hope there's some way to keep the band together. It would have to be musically relevant and artistically worthwhile though, or Darian (and likely others) wouldn't do it. I'm near certain Darian and Paul wouldn't do it just for the money.

I want to say it was said that all but two members of Brian's touring group have day jobs.

I believe only Probyn had a day job (as an editor) unless you count Darian's Disney work. If nothing has changed in the last year or two then that's it. The rest make a living in the music world.

Just to follow up....

1) That's right, no Taylor...and you know what? I thought the vocal blend actually sounded better. Could have been because EVERYBODY had vocal mics, including Brett and Nelson, which wasn't the case before...

Incorrect. Nelson has always been miked and part of the blend.

don't remember the Tasty Brothers ever having vocal mics, so there were at least two additional voices in the mix fattening up the sound.

Bob Lizik only sang on Love & Mercy, but Jim Hines is an excellent vocalist. You can see him in the mix quite often - look at the BWPS video and you can see a lot of his vocal contribution.

The voice needed back in the mix is Mike D'Amico's - before he came back and took Jim Hines' place on drums he contributed vocals on almost everything (when he was the percussionist/guitarist).

And Taylor? Never said this in a public forum before, but I'm proud to say it now: her sole purpose with that band was eye candy.

You're proud to say it? That seems rather strange... proud?? Why?

I don't mean to disparage Taylor herself --- I've heard some of her own material, and she's an excellent singer -- but musically I don't think she was a good fit with these guys. Basically, her voice added too much treble....and she also was the only one in the band, besides a bass player, who was not a multitasker, unless you count ringing the triangle once and tipping a little thing that went "moooooo!" during the Smile concerts; everybody else -- especially Scott and Probyn -- always worked their hearts off as instrumentalists...

True enough regarding the lack of instrumental skills. As far as whether she was a good fit... it depends on the song. For example,  I thought she was too strong in the mix whenever I've heard Surfer Girl, but she did a fabulous job on Good Kind Of Love and certainly on Can't Wait Too Long. Most times I thought she just blended in the mix nicely.

SMiLE, Second Movement, in your living room.

See my other SMiLE entries for background details and apologies for tech limitations and breaks - suffiice to say that I find this dress rehearsal/insert session for Surf's Up, arguably his greatest song, particularly moving, even in its occasionally wavering pitch - his intensity and sincerity - painfully-  invokes the original passion he must have felt in writing and singing those last, unforgettable passages...

http://vimeo.com/24281214

And it wasn't just Brian. Look at the faces of the rest of his band mates - watch Jim Hines doing his vocal parts; Taylor has never looked so focused; Nelson Bragg singing along off-mike to Wonderful; Probyn Gregory & Bob Lizik both SO intensely focused...

I can't find words to describe that band - amazing seems very inadequate. And Brian  - whew, simply otherworldly.

I noticed after the last note of that magnificent performance of Surf's Up there were no smiles - not from Brian, not from anyone in the band. They looked as if they were stunned by what they'd just done.

An amazing and very moving video - thank you so much for posting it.