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680598 Posts in 27600 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 28, 2024, 05:49:08 PM
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6176  Non Smiley Smile Stuff / The Sandbox / Re: Oops on: May 25, 2016, 06:33:24 AM
I don't know if anyone else has this problem but if a post takes up much more than three or four lines I tend to skip it. 

With exceptions, of course (adamghost and Bean Bag come to mind).

"Got a short little span of attention" (Paul Simon).

I think skipping posts that feature more reading than you want to do is fine; but I would certainly hope that anyone who won't read longer posts (or only reads the first three or four lines) would typically refrain from participating in the discussion at hand. I would also say it might be hard then as well, if one is inclined to not read longer posts, for that person to post open questions to the forum as well (e.g. "Can anyone tell me which song this is?", etc.), because they're presumably, under those specific circumstances, not willing to try to research a possible answer with the search function on this board and have to read through posts to find an answer.

In the past, I've seen cases where it certainly appears debates are getting amped up in part because at least one side of the conversation is literally not reading the other posts (or all of the contents of the posts) before responding.

And what is written above is more than four lines, so here's hoping.....  3D
6177  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 25, 2016, 06:24:24 AM
Wonderful show.

I'd mostly avoided spoilers, except "Funky Pretty", so I didn't realise "Honkin' Down The Highway" was a new addition to the set. From my reaction, my amused companion said he reckoned I enjoyed that more than anyone else in the building. I said I very much doubted it. I wasn't expecting "Wake the World" or "Girl Don't Tell Me" either. A great selection of songs.

Man, I have to give you props for staying spoiler free for nearly a year, since "Wake the World" has been a setlist regular since last June.

It was also interesting to see the full London performance of "Funky Pretty." Previous descriptions of it on tour suggested Blondie was singing the entire lead, but on the London video I saw, Brian took a bit (the nonsense lyrics bit), and Al was also taking a few lines.
6178  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 25, 2016, 06:20:29 AM
Good to see "Honkin'" back. I'm glad they're at least mixing the setlist up a tiny bit from show to show. I wish they'd vary it a bit more, especially when they do two or three-night runs at the same venue. Especially when the second half of the show is always locked in for obvious reasons.

Also still hoping some other "new" additions show up. Would be cool to see one other Al deep cut. I don't have a KTSA fetish or anything, but both "Santa Ana Winds" and "Goin' On" are two I think the band would pull off quite well.
6179  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: God Only Knows - Live At Michigan State University, 1966 on Spotify on: May 25, 2016, 06:14:28 AM
And for those not familiar with the collegiate system, it might be even more confusing as University of Michigan and Michigan State University are both public universities rather than private.

If it's like California, one of the main differences of course is one is hugely more expensive than the other (and both more expensive than community college). In California of course, there are a myriad of universities in both "systems" (CSU and UC). Then it gets even more confusing, as randomly UC Berkeley for instance is often referred to as "Cal." Wtf?

Also, performing/concert venues attached to universities vary in terms of whether the venues are actually on campus, whether they are partially or fully run by the university in question, and so on. For instance, the BBs played the Greek Theater in Berkeley (including on C50), which is sometimes simply referred to as the "Greek Theater", or "Hearst Greek Theater" or "UC Berkeley Greek Theater" or "Greek Theater at UC Berkeley", etc.

I personally prefer actual venue/building names if available (e.g. Gobbledygook Auditorium, "Demonstration Hall", etc.) along with city names, rather than just listing the university in question. 
6180  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Mike and Bruce Tour 2016 on: May 24, 2016, 06:21:29 AM
Who was singing the lead on 'Rhonda' in the Mike and Bruce show before?  

Phil Bardowell from 1998-2000, John Cowsill from 2000-2015.

Also, during the very short period of time in 1998 after Al was gone, but while Matt Jardine was still in the band, he (Matt) sang Rhonda.

Thanks guys!  I also like the alternation between voices in the BB's, and generally prefer there to be more, even if it isn't BB's singing. Mike singing 30 songs might be a bit much.  More Bruce would be good, but yeah, more Cowsill and Totten too.  

I also liked the fact that Al, Blondie, Matt and Darian all got leads in the recent BW show I saw...  it seemed pretty generous to Al overall (Rhonda, Wake the World, Honkin', Shut Down, Little Deuce Coupe, I Know There's an Answer, Then I Kissed Her, Sloop John B, etc.) but I still would have liked to hear more--for example, no idea why Brian sings the entire Add Your Music by himself, and personally think that Al, not Matt should sing WIBN.  

I'd love to hear Al sing as many leads as possible, but you always have to keep in mind that it's a "Brian Wilson" show, with the others as guests. Considering that, Al and Blondie (and Matt) get a nice chunk of leads.

I'm of a mixed mind when it comes to others singing lead. I think it adds to the show when an actual BB is singing lead. When it gets into backing band members singing lead, I think it's a more dicey situation. On the one hand, it might lead to a deep cut being played, and a nice, young, fresh voice singing. On the other hand, it's not a Beach Boy singing. So I think I prefer to see that kept to a minimum. I think Mike's band skews too far in that direction, even though it results in some interesting song selections that certainly Mike isn't going to sing (often Brian-centric songs). I think C50 had a good balance, with backing guys just doing a few bits. Similarly, other than Darian singing a song, Brian's band is mostly Beach Boys singing, along with Matt Jardine, who I think is one of the small, select group of near "defacto Beach Boys" from his 90s tenure, a classification that in my mind also includes Billy Hinsche and Jeff Foskett during their tenures.
6181  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 24, 2016, 06:12:18 AM
I have to say, while I'd glady toss "Shut Down" out of the setlist to get "Santa Ana Winds" or "Goin' On" or even "California Dreamin'" or something, I don't think a few car songs is that big of a deal. They're still good songs, and Al actually sings them with some zeal (as does Brian sometimes too; when I saw opening night on the 2015 tour, Brian sang "Shut Down" and literally sang *over* Al on "Little Deuce Coupe"). I've never felt they hinder the setlist or the flow of the show. My only lament has ever been thinking of what they could be playing *instead*.

Promoters still probably expect Brian to do some early hits. The PS set and encore are set in stone pretty much ("All Summer Long" is about the only thing in the encore that has floated in and out), so that leaves a typically 18-19 song setlist to work both "hits" and "deep cuts" in. Factor out Blondie's three tracks, and several essentially "must-play" hits ("California Girls", "Surfer Girl", etc.), and there's very little room to work with.

I'd probably be willing to dump "Dance Dance Dance" first.

It will be interesting to see if "Honkin' Down the Highway" makes it back into the setlist at some point.

I was wondering if they would try to have Al do "Lady Lynda" since it was a UK hit. I know he de-Lynda'ed it on an early 90s UK tour, and normally I would think there would be any chance. But I recall that someone claimed Al had it in his setlist some years back when he was going to do that Pop Overthrow Festival gig, so I don't think he's outright opposed to doing that one.
6182  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Mike and Bruce Tour 2016 on: May 23, 2016, 10:46:10 AM
Who was singing the lead on 'Rhonda' in the Mike and Bruce show before? 

Phil Bardowell from 1998-2000, John Cowsill from 2000-2015.

Also, during the very short period of time in 1998 after Al was gone, but while Matt Jardine was still in the band, he (Matt) sang Rhonda.
6183  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: God Only Knows - Live At Michigan State University, 1966 on Spotify on: May 23, 2016, 10:14:20 AM
I am sure these concerts will be released in December for copy rights! Hope they have some good studio material to release to under the new copyright laws!

Given the pattern of the last few years, this seems quite possible. I wouldn't quite go into saying it's a "sure" thing, simply given the history of BB releases in general.
6184  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 23, 2016, 10:13:09 AM
Geez, no one is asking you to sympathize with anyone. All I am saying that there are people who go to shows that are somewhat surprised by Brian's stage presence. He is not your typical headliner, is all. I think most folks know he is a Beach Boy and are familiar with the music, just not always with his persona on stage.

Not to tread the same old internet tropes, but I didn't say anyone was asking me to sympathize with anyone. Discussion boards are not places to plop down observations and then end it at that. I'm just pontificating on other observations. I don't ask people to respond to what I write, and my responses are not elicited by people asking me to opine. It's the natural back and forth, that's all.

Anyone that sees Brian and says "WTF is wrong with him?" (or, to be less hyperbolic, express incredulity about his stage demeanor) can feel free to express that, here or elsewhere. Some folks clearly are surprised by his stage presence. I'm surprised by their surprise.

Brian's shows attract far less "casual" fans than "Beach Boys" shows. I don't sense a ton of people just looking to hear some Beach Boys hits are apt to look up Brian's shows, and certainly a fan who is tuned in enough to have enough of an affinity for "Pet Sounds" to want to hear it in full in concert would, I would think, know enough about Brian to have some level of a familiarity with history and his stage presence.

In other words, if people (fans or reviewers) want to go into a Brian show and discuss it without any context (e.g. his history), I'm going to weigh that accordingly. (And yes, I'm aware nobody is asking anyone to weigh in on a given review or impression of a show. Again, it's a discussion board so that's what's going to happen regardless.)

I do think Brian fans can be too forgiving sometimes, and an outsider viewpoint actually IS important. But those types usually tend to be acquaintances of fans who catch some Brian footage in passing, or see him on TV or something. I'm just a bit surprised that someone could seek out Brian's show, buy tickets, and be unfamiliar with him to the point of being surprised by his stage demeanor. It's good information for me to have; if more "casual" fans are showing up (and masses of sellouts suggest more people *are* seeking this tour out), that's good to know, and not a bad thing. Hopefully, Brian and his PR folks also are aware that they are going to get more scrutiny on this tour, sometimes from folks not well versed in his history and thus unable to see the show in what some would argue is a better, more accurate context.
6185  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 23, 2016, 09:12:36 AM
At intermissions, questions about Brian come up at every show that I attend. Not everyone that goes to shows are all familiar with Brian on stage. Also, I was watching the Cardiff show I believe, on YouTube yesterday, and it sure looked like Brian was playing on Sail On Sailor. The side shots showed both hands playing chords.

Surely any show has a scattered selection of much more casual fans, or people who were just dragged to the show by someone else.

I just can't imagine going out of one's way to pay a good price for a "Brian Wilson" show while not knowing the bare minimum about him and being surprised by his stage demeanor. You don't even have to be a hardcore fan to know Brian's deal. One would have to have not seen *any* live footage of him from the past several decades to be surprised by his stage presence.

Certainly, even the biggest hardcore fans might see something extra out of the ordinary and discuss it. But I've seen too many of these incredulous comments over the last few years, presumably from newer fans I guess.

I can actually understand more potential confusion, and/or lack of super familiarity, among casual fans buying "Beach Boys" tickets. But who seeks out a Brian Wilson "Pet Sounds" ticket at an intimate theater, usually for a pretty hefty price, and doesn't know how Brian acts on stage? The answer is apparently that there are some folks in this category. That's cool, and I hope despite their misgivings that they do enjoy the show as people have reported here. But I'm not going to sympathize with them too much, and I may occasionally see an incredulous, apparently less-informed and less contextualized review that I might take issue with.
6186  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 23, 2016, 07:49:15 AM
I'm not trying to be the old cranky internet dude, and I know it's not always easy for newer fans to go back and read 17-year-old fan discussions (or even find them), but some of these are "1999 questions" for lack of a better way to put it. And frankly, some of these issues go back to Brian's 1976 return to the touring band. The last time Brian gave a totally unaffected, not-weird-in-any-possible-way live performance on stage, was probably 1965. Even his brief 1970 Pacific Northwest stint got a few sketchy reviews.
 
I don't think some questions about Brian's stage demeanor are unwarranted. But really, who buys tickets to a Brian Wilson show not *already knowing* what his deal is? There are a million YouTube videos, numerous official video releases (Brian's stage presence is *never* not at least a little weird, even on the official DVD releases), and so on.

It's like going to a Bob Dylan gig and asking why his voice sounds weird, or asking why McCartney does his "now all the boys, now all the girls" bit during "Hey Jude", or why Mike Love points to his temples or "drives" the mic stand like it's a steering wheel (dunno if he still does that one), or why Bruce claps and points. It's just part of the gig.

Brian has never looked completely relaxed and slick on stage. Ever. I've seen him come surprisingly and pleasantly close on some occasions (when I saw him on the 2000 "Pet Sounds" tour, he didn't touch the piano and just sat on his chair and sang a bunch of the show with his eyes closed, like he was recording in the studio; he sounded good, was in a *great* mood, etc.).

But I can't imagine dropping major coin for a BW show and being surprised by his stage demeanor and performance. He sometimes lacks energy, he hits a sour note once in while, he biffs the lyrics once in awhile. Sometimes some of those things are more on point, sometimes not as much.

The leaving before the last song thing is something Brian has been doing for years. I always assumed, while stilted, he's doing the same thing George Harrison did at the "Concert for Bangla Desh." He's leaving for slight dramatic effect and letting the band play out. Many leaders of bands have done this over the years. Brian's not great on showmanship, so it does kind of have the comical effect of just abruptly leaving. But again, this is all par for the course for Brian.

Go watch TV shows and live shows going back to the 70s. Brian (and the BBs on the whole at varying times over the years) have had moments where casual fans probably asked "Wtf?"

The piano thing is mostly for comfort. Brian does play some, often not. Go watch his late night Dick Clark talk show performance from 1988. *That's* why Brian doesn't just grab a mic and stand and perform!

When Brian first started touring in 1999, I think he probably felt the same as he does now: He mainly wants to just sing at his shows. We know he *can* play piano, but he doesn't want to at live gigs too much. So for early 1999 gigs, someone (whether it was someone else or Brian himself) made the weird and misguided decision that led to him feeling like he needed to keep moving his hands on the keyboard even if he wasn't playing. That *was* fake, obviously so, and was misguided for numerous reasons including that it gave the incorrect impression Brian couldn't play. Thankfully, by later in that same year, and certainly by 2000, he just kept the piano on stage but didn't play it.
6187  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: SmileySmile Unofficial C50 Audio Project....(Cause the official one blows!) on: May 23, 2016, 07:35:25 AM
The best possible scenario for fans is to piece together all of the soundboard recordings out there (the Japan TV broadcast is the main source, and then some tracks not included in that TV airing are on a few other recordings, including the UK radio broadcast), and then fill in the gaps with the best audience recordings (and a few tracks from the official live album if one is willing to fly those in).

There are still some tracks that only exist as audience recordings from the tour, including "Good Timin'", "This Whole World", "Darlin'", the two Totten tracks, and so on.

There are surely plenty of audience recordings, though both the audio and video I've seen of the Wembley and Royal Albert Hall shows are not particularly great. A soundboard recording of Royal Albert Hall would pretty much solve the problem; then you'd only be left with variants like Dave singing "Hawaii."
6188  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 22, 2016, 08:49:40 AM
Yeah, incorrect.  It was Saturday only.

Just occurred to me - we didn't get Sail Away.  Why no Sail Away?  I thought we'd get that for this tour.  All the singers were present too.

Other than "One Kind of Love", the other NPP songs have been dropped for all the 2016 shows so far. I don't see much solo stuff creeping back into the setlist, though Brian has in past years randomly resurrected stuff like "Your Imagination."
6189  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 22, 2016, 02:35:28 AM
I don't think Honkin' had been played at any of the UK dates so far. Hopefully it (or another rarity) will make it back in at some point.
6190  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 20, 2016, 11:14:47 AM
Regarding fainting, I certainly don't profess to be an expert and I'm guessing based on the point of view from the audience it would be hard to tell what exactly was going on even if one were a doctor. I'm guessing, and I emphasize it's a guess, is that it may have been near-fainting, perhaps what doctors call presyncope.

In any event, my main point was that it was exaggerated immediately after the show by people that weren't there. It quickly turned into a game of telephone and I remember on various boards seeing the incident characterized as Brian actually collapsing on stage, like he just pitched over and hit the floor already unconscious.
6191  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 20, 2016, 08:36:30 AM
Not only have I seen Brian over a dozen times, I've been at arguably his most controversial gig/incident (the 2007 show where he decided to lay down on stage in the middle of the show), so I've seen how people who WEREN'T at the show in question will quickly run with vague reports that are either partly or wholly inaccurate and quickly paint a "sky is falling" scenario. Within *hours* of that 2007 gig, I saw "Brian collapses at show; he shouldn't be on tour anymore" posts from people who weren't there.

That 2007 gig was a good example of where context and even-handedness was important. I was suspicious of incorrect "Brian passed out on stage, his touring days are over" comments, and I would have also been troubled by any sunshiney "Brian's *fine*, there was *nothing* weird about that show last night" sorts of comments. That incident was weird; it was telling of something more than Brian "eating a bad burrito" as Foskett said. But it wasn't a "sky is falling" scenario either. And believe me, I say that as someone who was at the show and did have a brief moment of thinking "Did I really just witness Brian Wilson's last concert?"

Where was this? Is there video of this show available?

Nope. I was there, but there's no extant recording of it that I know of, certainly no video (dunno if an audience recording is out there, if so, I haven't heard though would love to as it was otherwise a really good show).

I think there used to be a few YouTube clips of the show (this was 2007, so I think it was shot in really crummy quality on an old flip phone or something), but even those clips didn't have any of the mid-show incident.

It was June 11, 2007 at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. Al was at the show as an unannounced guest. Near the mid-point of the show (there was no scheduled intermission), near the end of a song (trying to remember which, maybe "Sloop John B" or "I Get Around"), Brian stood up and just kind of sat down on the stage behind Al. My recollection is that he kind of plopped on the ground sitting with his legs extended straight out, but did so purposefully (he didn't appear to have collapsed or passed out). The deliberate nature (or appearance of such) as he did meant the rest of the band actually didn't appear too concerned. My recollection is that once the song ended, Al turned around and looked down to Brian and said something like "Hey Brian, you ok?" I remember Al seeming slightly more visually concerned than the rest of the band. Brian got up, went back to his seat at his keyboard, and said something like "I've just had a fainting spell. I don't know if I can continue with the show." He had a look on his face that was painful to see; my interpretation of it was that he was scared about not being able to finish the show, like he'd be in trouble for it or something (not like the promoter would take him backstage and yell at him or something, but just all of the normal problems an artist would run into if they aborted a show). He didn't look particularly ill or particularly wobbly or anything; he obviously seemed somewhat low in energy. My main memory is Brian saying "I don't know if I can continue the show" (or "I don't think I can continue the show", something along those lines), followed by a LOOOONG awkward silence from the audience and the band.

I was already prepping for the strong possibility that we'd be heading home at that point, only 15 or so songs into the show. I honestly wasn't super concerned about Brian's immediate physical health or anything. I was obviously concerned in general. But it wasn't like he fell off the stage unconscious or something. He seemed to have all his faculties and was moving around; it clearly wasn't a heart attack or anything. As I said, despite Brian calling it a "fainting" spell, it didn't even look like *that.*

At that point, the band (including Gary Griffin and Billy Hinsche who were fill-ins on this tour, so no Darian) didn't seem to be taking any action. After a few more moments of awkwardness, it was Al who seemed to take charge a bit and called for an intermission. I think the band and crew were thrown for a loop, because this tour didn't have any scheduled intermissions.

After an extended intermission, Brian came back out with the band. I believe he said some words, though I can't remember. I do remember Foskett doing his best to brush it off with humor, mentioning that Brian "ate a bad burrito."

Brian finished the set, with interestingly extra energy and zeal. After the show, the tour bus whisked him straight away driving through the section where fans exit the hilled area, and he rolled his window down and energetically waved to the fans.

Sorry for the extended story time.

The general point was that the incident was not without some weirdness, and did raise some questions I feel were worth asking. But it was also an example of “purple monkey dishwasher” style “a friend of a friend of a friend” speculation afterwards as well.(See "The Simpsons" for more on that reference!  3D )

The incident is briefly referenced in Jon Stebbins’s “FAQ” book as well.

6192  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: The 1990 Hotel Tape on: May 20, 2016, 07:28:56 AM
One of my favorite parts of this video is Bruce continually trying to show Brian his "new arrangement" for "Caroline, No" and Brian ignoring him. Not a dig on Bruce, the little arrangement bit is actually nice.

I also recall that Foskett seems to be glued to Brian. I wonder if Foskett knew he was a few days away from leaving the band, and may have wondered if this was his last chance at an experience like this.
6193  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 20, 2016, 07:24:32 AM
Some of the comments here are growing somewhat disingenuous. Brits are as entitled to their opinions as anyone else, and some of the comments being moaned about here - whether you agree with them or not, whether they're actually right or not - arise from concern for Brian's health and well-being. They're opinions, just opinions; no one's gonna be sending Brian home to bed.

A hardcore of Brit fans follow Brian - and The Beach Boys actually – to most if not all gigs on every UK tour and often fly further afield, and do have pretty good idea of his up and down, hating it/loving it, take-it-or-leave it stage demeanour.

No saying anyone needs to agree with the comments that followed the Birmingham gig but accept that folk have the right to their own opinion. And if you disagree with it, why not step up and comment on the board itself, instead of gossiping about it on another board.


Forget I ever said that. I just hope reviews will focus on the gigs, and not on the fans at the gigs.

I agree, and I think the problem with a very small smattering of internet commentary is that a quick comment, with no context, stating something like "The people I talked to at the gig last night saw things that were troubling" is nothing but a focus on some fans at the gig. That these comments can come from someone who wasn't at the show in question, not to mention that the comments are sometimes predictably cryptic and arguably hyperbolic, is what is troubling.

Nobody is saying everybody isn't entitled to their opinion. I just weigh the opinion accordingly. "Some fans I talked to who were at the gig last night saw some troubling things" is not a comment I'm going to give very much weight, for numerous reasons.

Not only have I seen Brian over a dozen times, I've been at arguably his most controversial gig/incident (the 2007 show where he decided to lay down on stage in the middle of the show), so I've seen how people who WEREN'T at the show in question will quickly run with vague reports that are either partly or wholly inaccurate and quickly paint a "sky is falling" scenario. Within *hours* of that 2007 gig, I saw "Brian collapses at show; he shouldn't be on tour anymore" posts from people who weren't there.

That 2007 gig was a good example of where context and even-handedness was important. I was suspicious of incorrect "Brian passed out on stage, his touring days are over" comments, and I would have also been troubled by any sunshiney "Brian's *fine*, there was *nothing* weird about that show last night" sorts of comments. That incident was weird; it was telling of something more than Brian "eating a bad burrito" as Foskett said. But it wasn't a "sky is falling" scenario either. And believe me, I say that as someone who was at the show and did have a brief moment of thinking "Did I really just witness Brian Wilson's last concert?"

If I see a review in 2016 of a Brian show directly from someone who was there, and who can articulate both their level of familiarity with Brian and the nuances of the show they saw, that's the sort of review I'll give more weight to.

Further, at least one well known person who has been running with this "Talked to some fans and what they saw was troubling" commentary is someone who I've seen do this numerous times in the past, and I've disagreed with their characterization and interpretation of what they're seeing on stage. It's just more of the "an impeccable source has informed me......" innuendo stuff. And yeah, sometimes I wonder if those types of commentaries occasionally go past the "opinion with questionable context" category and more into a predisposition to set out to paint Brian's "camp" in a poor light.  
6194  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Beach Boys MK 1...how'd they perform? on: May 19, 2016, 04:10:02 PM
Digging up this topic from ten years ago mostly just to re-post the pictures in question being discussed in the above posts. But I was also able to confirm from a post on another forum from someone who was there that Brian indeed was not at this afternoon high school show (though he did play with the band that night at the main concert):

6195  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Brian Wilson 2016 Tour Thread (Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour) on: May 19, 2016, 03:43:43 PM
I would assume the reference is to the BB Britain board. There are a few posts there with the same "Brian looked like he didn't want to be there" commentaries that read *identically* to stuff I've read going all the way back to 1999. Seriously, it's like getting in a time machine reading stuff like that.

I've seen Brian however many times, a dozen or more, between 1999 and 2015 and he hasn't been too drastically better or worse at any of the shows. Some nights he's more upbeat than others. Occasionally, he's having a rough time. Remember, this is a guy who by his own admission sometimes hears auditory hallucinations during concerts. For fudge's sake man, I have trouble *listening* to music when someone is talking over it. Imagine having to *perform* with voices you have no control over.

In any event, I think questions about whether Brian's suited for touring are not all without some merit, or at least deserving of some thought or consideration. But really, I *still* stand by my feeling that, if you truly feel Brian shouldn't be out there now, then he should have *never* been out there. To suggest a 2004 or 2008 show was somehow "okay" but now he shouldn't be out touring doesn't make any sense to me.

This is also a repeat of March in Australia/New Zealand. Same thing happened. A night or two where Brian was maybe not as upbeat and run down, and I heard (from at least one of the same folks on the BB Britain board crying wolf again) the same stuff, variations on "My sources are telling me Brian looks bad and shouldn't be out there."

Have these people followed his career, and have they ever followed the trajectory of a BW tour (or many artists' tours for that matter)? There are ups and downs, and sometimes the downs are more pronounced with Brian for the myriad of *WELL KNOWN* reasons we're all familiar with. Those ups and downs have been there since 1999. It's part of the deal with Brian and his tours. If every show had him laying down on the stage like that 2007 gig with Al, then I think some harder questions would need to be asked.

I think the age issue is, DUH, slowly becoming an issue as it would with any artist. A lot of Brian's quirks and circumstances from the past had to do with the drugs, and Landy, and all of that weird stuff. I think Brian now is just running into normal "age" stuff on top of all of that other residual stuff.

I don't think Brian's going to do another 90-date tour every year for the next several years. I would venture to guess any 2017 tour will be at least a little lighter, and this 2016 tour is probably a tour length we'll never see again.

Also, no offense to any other boards, but I don't think a few cryptic negative comments on the BB Britain board are a big deal. That board gets *very little* traffic, and even less *substantive* traffic. (It's circa 1997 website design/format probably doesn't help things either; and I say that genuinely as a constructive criticism).
6196  Non Smiley Smile Stuff / The Sandbox / Re: Billy the Mod on: May 19, 2016, 01:12:18 PM
Added a bit myself; wish I could help more. Also tossed the link up on my FB "Opinion Page." Wish I knew how Facebook decided which crap I posted made it out to like 5 people versus 300.... Pfft.  3D

Good luck, my friend.
6197  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: More grey area releases on t'horizon… on: May 19, 2016, 01:03:42 PM
Eek. Does a soundboard of the '66 Japan tour even circulate? I remember there being a pretty "meh" (at best) audience recording, but not much else. Usually these grey market releases at least grab soundboard/radio broadcast recordings, not audience tapes.
6198  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Updates at bellagio on: May 18, 2016, 10:17:09 AM
As far as the recording session info we stand by our info

Oh, I definitely wasn't questioning it. I was more curious to know if maybe someone other than Linett engineered the session, since he apparently wasn't aware of it until circa 2012, or of its possible someone else could have engineered a session at his studio. Who knows, maybe he had just sort of forgotten about the overdub session in the intervening 13 or so years, or had always known about it.
6199  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Updates at bellagio on: May 17, 2016, 02:49:48 PM
Another question on the Bellagio timeline, this time from 1999: It mentions October 1 as a Brian overdub session for "You're Still a Mystery" and "Soul Searchin'." For the former, this is the lead used on the MIC set. (Not sure about "Soul Searchin'"; did they use '99 Brian vocals on GIOMH in 2004?). The studio listed is Your Place or Mine, Mark Linett's studio. But I recall reading that Linett wasn't aware of the Brian lead vocal overdub until compiling the MIC set. Are we sure the session was at Linett's studio? I suppose it could have been done without Linett present. Just a little curiosity.
6200  Smiley Smile Stuff / General On Topic Discussions / Re: Updates at bellagio on: May 17, 2016, 02:41:38 PM
One small change to the old tour dates pages: I've mentioned this a few times in passing in BW tour threads, but admittedly haven't e-mailed anyone. Two BW tour dates on the Bellagio site from September 2000 can be corrected. They currently read:

BW 19 - Mountain Winery, Saratoga CA [no orchestra]
BW 20 - Villa Montalvo Winery Saratoga CA [no orchestra]

In actuality, the show on the 19th was scheduled for the Garden Theatre at Villa Montalvo, and the show on the 20th was scheduled for The Mountain Winery. City and state are correct. Additionally, the show on the 19th was canceled months ahead of time, so only the show at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA on 9/20 actually took place. And it did indeed not feature an orchestra.
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