Mike sang ‘ Summertime Blues’. Christian sang ‘Sailor ‘ . He also did ‘’Caroline No ‘ and ‘God Only Knows’. They did NOT do All I wanna do’ though. Fantastic performance all round. Massively impressed by the new guy on bass and what he brought to the sound in general. First half was as good as I have seen either of the bands over the last five years. Second half I felt wasn’t helped by the Mike solo stuff and’ Kokomo’ which seemed to slow everything down. That said the version of ‘ Till I Die ‘ was reverential in detail and quality. Having greater numbers on stage has paid considerable  dividends for Mike .

Saw the guys in Nottingham last night. This was my fourth show of the U.K. tour and easily the one with the oldest audience. Think this meant that the response was extremely positive as opposed to the raucous reception the guys got in Cardiff and London. Brian did a great job on God only knows and sloop with al. Don't worry baby was a standout in all the shows I saw and I thought the band sounded excellent. My only moan was that Barbara Ann seems to be getting slower and slower! They need to listen to some of the shows from summer 1993 when it really rocked. I also was fortunate enough to be in the soundcheck - marcella, don't worry, sloop, couple of lines of monster mash, Brian in good spirits. Overall a great tour. A personal view is that this incarnation of the band is outstanding. Yes, Darian was missed but there is complete integrity in what the guys do and the crowds were massively appreciative. Fingers crossed that I get to see them do it again at some point soon but , if not, it is a great way to bow out.

Hurry Love

You and I

Had the pleasure of watching The Beach Boys at Newbury on Saturday and, having watched Brian and Al just a fortnight ago, feel in a good position to make a few comparative points. I haven't watched Mike and Bruce since the 2008 tour with David and their performance on Saturday was in a completely different universe to that show. Vocally the band were excellent and Jeff's addition to the band has been very positive in terms of both sound and energy. Several of the songs on Saturday were absolutely brilliant - I Get Around, California Girls and Surfin USA notably better in my view than Brian and Al at Hop Farm. They also did great up tempo versions of Then I Kissed Her and a frenetic Barbara Ann, much better than the C50 rendition in my opinion. That said I felt the Brian show did a better job with Sloop, Nice and Rhonda and I stand by my comments about Matt  Jardine's version of Wild Honey being supreme. Over the years I have always been in the Brian's band is better camp previously but have to say that in my view now there really isn't a heck of a lot to choose between the two bands. It looked presentationally to me that Jeff is very much up front as one of a front four with Mike, Bruce and Scott Totten who was hugely impressive both vocally and instrumentally. I have decided , like several other posters recently, that time is ticking and it makes sense to catch them while we still can in whatever incarnation we might find them. Big crowd at Newbury had a great time and the music was done complete justice and then some .

The Right Lane

Friday Night

Thank You Baby

You and I

Hurry Love

Til I Die

Looking forward to your review of this concert tomorrow. Have just bought her album on the back of the upcoming duet with Brian and there are a number of songs on there in which you can sense she has been influenced by the band not only harmonically but in terms of chord progressions and a general sense of melancholy that characterises all of the band's best stuff. Be very interested to hear if she is as good as everyone is suggesting she is!

To my ears the Hop Farm version sounded a lot harder than the Family and  Friends version and indeed the Blondie version from last year( although I can only confess to having heard clips via this board). I was stunned at the sheer  wall of sound generated by the band - there was also a heck of a lot going on vocally behind the lead vocal as well). Matt' s performance of it was closer to something out of some sixties soul band than anything else but as  I said in my review of the show the band sounded much more gritty and earthy to than previous times I have seen them. It has made me wonder a little if this heavier sound is something that might be replicated on some of the new tracks on Brian's new album given Joe Thomas' references to Wild Honey and CATP. In a general sense I wonder if Matt is going to bring a little more versatility to the table than Jeff and  that's why a change has taken place.

Long term member but first time post. Was at the Hop Farm gig on Saturday and would echo a lot of Shady's comments about the Cork gig. Band played for 90 minutes and dropped 'Girl Don't Tell me' and All Summer Long from the Cork set list. Brian was a little slow starting, first three or four numbers were either flat or he had some issues with his microphone but then he completely nailed 'Heroes' and did a brilliant job with God Only Knows later in the set. Al's vocals were superb throughout, notably on Cottonfields and Sloop John B. Matt Jardine certainly surprised me with his versatility : I haven't seen him since 1993 at Wembley where his role was much more limited but here he was superb. I think the comment about his delivery being ' sweeter'  or ' innocent' than Jeff's is a perceptive one and 'Don't Worry Baby' got a great audience response. That said ' Wild Honey' was an absolute revelation as he literally wailed all the way through backed superbly by the band. One general impression was that the band sounded a little heavier than when I have heard them previously. The only lead that I wish Matt hadn't had was 'Wouldn't It be Nice' which sounded like it was possibly one key too high, wish Al had taken that. The band were very well received by the crowd- I'm guessing between 3500 but hard to tell as I was right at the front and all on stage genuinely seemed to be having a blast. Al and Brian shared a fair bit of banter in the second half of the show as Brian visibly relaxed and ended up trading vocals on Barbara Ann( too slow to my ears but well received), Surfin' USA (which I think Matt was expecting to sing but then found Brian doing it) and everybody chipping in on Fun' at the end. As the band left and the lights dimmed on the stage the sound of thousands of people doing the falsetto part of Fun echoed into the night and will stay with me for a long time!. I have seen Brian and his band more times than I can remember but never with Al or Matt there so I don't feel I am comparing like with like. It was by any standards a terrific gig and  it certainly felt like a new chapter was possible with this line up, a real energy and sense of possibility. Fingers crossed that this configuration get to tour behind Brian's new album .If David can't  be there but Matt can perhaps it would be less BAD,  more BAM...?!