Brian in Toronto 6/18/2011

Okay, so after reading some not-so-hot reviews of the shows Brian's done so far on the Gershwin tour, I wasn't expecting much at the Toronto show.

My wife is a teacher. Long ago she decided that this year, as part of her annual summer cleansing, right after school was over on the last day, she'd pick me up at work and we'd head to the airport and go somewhere, most likely San Francisco. Well, when Brian announced the Canada dates, she made the executive decision to get tickets to tonight's show in Toronto. This meant that we had to get plane tickets to Canada, and to renew our expiring passports.

So....after renewing our passports, spending a lot of money (that we don't really have) to book a flight on a little propeller plane, dealing with 3% fees for international credit card transactions, 3% fee for converting our US dollars to Canadian dollars, book the least expensive hotel we can find, and just in general dealing with the logistical nightmare...

IT.

WAS.

FODAING.

WORTH IT.

I went to the Beacon show in 1999, when we fans were still wondering if the show would be cancelled and we'd still never have our dream come true of seeing Brian in concert.

I experienced the divinity of hearing Pet Sounds performed PERFECTLY live three times in 2000.

I was there when Brian threw "Heroes And Villains" at us in late March 2001 at his tribute concert.

I watched Brian channel Dennis that same year when he sang "Forever."

I saw Brian perform practically everything he ever wrote when he did his Chicago concert in 2002 and spent a LONG time with the Mrs. and a few other fans having an amazing conversation with Probyn.

I saw NOT Brian but someone else who obviously kidnapped Brian, hid him somewhere, and came out on stage claiming to be Brian but yet smiling widely, cracking jokes, literally posing for pictures in the middle of songs, and perform all of Smile on October 2, 2004, the night before I turned 30.

The following year I was blessed that he happened to schedule a show in Chicago at the last minute when the Mrs. and I just happened to be vacationing there, and sat inches away from him for that show.

The night before Thanksgiving 2006, by a combination of dumb luck and connections a friend had, the Mrs. and I ended up backstage, where the man himself offered us a handshake and smiled and listened to what we had to say. (I SHOOK BRIAN F***KING WILSON'S HAND!!!!)

In 2008 I experienced hearing live Brian and company perform "Midnight's Another Day," a song I didn't think was possible after the divine excruciation of "'Til I Die."

Yes, I have experienced all that....and all of that combined does not match up to the INCREDIBLE SHOW THAT WE JUST SAW.

Wow.

The band was just note-perfect. Brian was....wow...better than I had EVER seen him before. EVER.

His solo on "Surfer Girl" was breathtaking.

He sang "God Only Knows" VERY nicely. He was obviously trying to channel Carl.

Brian was very talkative between songs, and of VERY good cheer. Not one flat note, not one missed cue, not one hiccup, not one strained note. And it was awesome to hear Darian sing "Darlin'."

As I was in the line for the bathroom during intermission, I hoped that the Gershwin set would have been half as good. God did not prepare me for what I was about to hear. Admittedly, Brian was a bit pitchy during "The Like In I Love You," but after that...wow. Just wow. When he sang the word "Summertiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime" and he held out that last syllable for a LONG time....and got a great audience reaction. And when he crooned out the line "I loves you, Porgy, don't let 'em take me...." just something about his voice....it sounded so smooth, so crisp, so sweet...another great audience response. "I Got Plenty Of Nothin'" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me" were surprising hits with the audience, myself included.

Seriously, I'm walking on air right now. This is the best show I've seen Brian do EVER, be it in person or on a recording -- yes, even including during his time with The Beach Boys. If there was anything negative I could say, it's that "Pet Sounds" wasn't long enough.

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