Brian Wilson: Saratoga Mountain Winery 8/24/11

It was a fantastic summer evening at the Mountain Winery.

The crowd, unfortunately was only about 60% capacity. In comparison the Moody Blues and Jethro Tull were packed.
Brian and team came on stage at exactly 7:30. Any worries as to Brian's state of mind, band performance or sound were quickly laid to rest. From the first bars of California Girls these guys were in control.

I've seen quite a few shows here so far, and this was absolutely the best sound I have heard squeezed out of this venue yet!
Echo can be an issue with a large concrete wall to the right, but the sound guys did a wonderful job of keeping the volume just right (save for the encores) and balancing out every single instrument - no small task for 10 musicians. There was not a single click or chime from Nelson's kit that was missing, the drum kit and bass were in perfect balance. Kudo's to their sound guys, we were way impressed. As far as venues go, it's a very elegant one - perhaps this helped to contribute to the band's performance - wine was mentioned on more than one occasion!

For a setlist see hart325's comments from the Arcada performance July 30.

Brian seemed to be having (dare I say it) a good time. He was animated, laughing and constantly moving with hand gestures. Either directing, pointing to band members or just talking with his hands. I could say with some conviction he was occasionally hamming it up. Early on in the set he goofed the lyrics - can't remember the song, something like "Catch a Wave", and smacked his forehead and laughed. Honestly, I was delighted to see him looking so good, so happy and just "on".

I found it somewhat humorous that Brian had a teleprompter that gave him lyrics for some, but not all songs. The word he missed he had the lyrics to! It would also say things like "Brian waves to crowd, walks off stage <------------------" pointing stage left. Or, "Brian plays piano". I guess these are for those off nights! We had an excellent view of the engineer's PC running this before we switched seats to a center stage position - like I said the place was empty.

As I alluded to the band's performance was tight and better than anybody I've seen this summer, or recently for that matter. It's obvious when a group is having a good time performing - and these guys were getting a kick out of playing and the crowd. Brian was constantly thanking the crowd for coming, and when it came time for the Gershwin set, said we could get our money back if we didn't like it. We did. Brian's singing for the Gershwin set was impressive, this is where he put the most into the evening - both singing and keyboard. By the end of the show he was losing it a bit (only momentarily) for H&V and GV, of course the band quickly filled in. By the time GV started everyone was on their feet, and stayed that way through all of the encores. It was fun to see Brian pick up the bass, and although it was a bit of a token (he did play it) he came as close to dancing as I've ever seen.

Overall, this was an incredible performance and I am sooooo glad I went! While it didn't have the "special" nature of SMiLE or PS, I think seeing him so happy to be performing (perhaps because it's one of his last gigs of the tour?) made it special in its own way.

Anyway, some highlights for me:
Then I Kissed Her
In My Room
Please Let Me Wonder
When I Grow Up (TBAM)
You're So Good To Me (wow, just wow - and Brian said his favorite?)
Sail On Sailor (honestly, I was really impressed with Scott on leads for this one - as was my wife)
Rhapsody In Blue/Intro, Summertime, I Got Plenty O' Nuttin', They Can't That Away From Me, I Got Rhythm... Yeah, basically the whole Gershwin set
Add Some Music To Your Day
Pet Sounds (they could have been playing the album)
H&V and GV and every single song after that through the encore!

Jeff did an outstanding job on his vocal duties as did Darian, who had a lesser part than I imagined he would with Taylor gone. Each band member turned in fun if not outstanding solo performances. Honestly, there was not one duff song in the entire set.

If I had one complaint it's that for the encore they turned the sound up just a notch, and between that and the crowd singing along it wasn't as spot on as earlier. But, when you're dancing it's hard to tell!

Update 8/29: I was reading some reviews of the show on ticketmaster - and I see why this is so hard for Brian to do. One reviewer at the same show was bitching because they didn't recognize the songs or "Brian's favorite" (You're So Good To Me), and was wishing for more Beach Boys Standards like "Kokomo"!

AGGHH! Thud

So how do you keep hardcore and lightweights all happy? I think he hit a balance here.

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