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Author Topic: Brian Wilson @ Ridgefield Playhouse Theater CT, June 8th, 2011  (Read 4883 times)
myonlysunshine
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« on: November 23, 2012, 11:35:48 AM »

This concert occurred over a year ago, however I was probably the only Smiley Smiler at this show, so I thought it'd be neat to document my experience of it to contrast it with some of the shows and venues Brian was preforming in during the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary Celebration tour, where all of a sudden Brian went from playing small theaters holding a few hundred or few thousand people, to giant amphitheaters under the the Beach Boys name. This concert was one of the first shows that Brian and his band did to promote the Gershwin CD. The first half of the concert was Beach Boys hits, while the second was dedicated to playing the Gershwin album.

The Ridgefield Playhouse theater is small - very small. The theater supposedly sits just under 500 people, although from where I was sitting in the top balcony it seemed like it held a lot less - maybe 200 people or so. The show was almost sold out, save for a few seats in the upper deck. The crowd tended to be more elderly than youthful. From where I was sitting, I spotted maybe just under 15 people who were probably under 25, myself included.

Brian and his band took the stage a little after 8 PM. They first played California Girls, Dance Dance Dance followed by a whole assemblage of Beach Boys hits. There was at least one song that my father, who went with me to this show, didn't recognize upon first hearing - Salt Lake City, which was played early in the first set. At the time Brian was doing this tour, his management had tweeted a quote from him saying that his current favorite Beach Boys album was Summer Days (and Summer Nights), which was probably a factor in him preforming the song on this tour. Brian sounded very good, and the rest of the band was on top of their game.

During the second set, Brian sounded even better. Following the intermission, Brian explained to the audience that he was approached by the Gershwin estate and asked whether he would like to do an album of Gershwin covers, which he happily agreed to. "The result was the following," he said, and he and his band then preceded to play the entire Gershwin album. Brian really seemed to enjoy singing the new material. I was amazed at some of the instrumentation used on stage. One song's instrumentation partially consisted of Jeff Foskett brushing a hand brush up against a circular piece of paper, which I thought was interesting. The crowd politely applauded at the end of each song, but it was quite clear throughout the night that they were there mainly to hear the Beach Boys material.

During the encore, the crowd really got into it. Brian started off with Johnny B. Goode, followed by Help Me Rhonda and about 4 or 5 other Beach Boys songs. His last song of the night before the show ended was Love and Mercy.

The set list was as follows:

First set:
California Girls
Dance, Dance, Dance
Do It Again
Catch A Wave
Then I Kissed Her
Salt Lake City
Don't Worry Baby (Jeff on lead vocals)
Surfer Girl
Please Let Me Wonder
Darlin' (Darrian on lead vocals)
Shut Down
Little Deuce Coupe
I Get Around
All Summer Long
Do You Wanna Dance? (Scott Bennett on lead vocals)
Sail On, Sailor (Scott Bennett on lead vocals)
Wouldn't It Be Nice (Jeff on lead vocals)
Sloop John B
God Only Knows
Heroes & Villains (Brian Wilson Presents Smile arrangement)
Good Vibrations (Mike Love lyrics, but with the “hum-be-dum” vocals per BWPS)

Second Set:
Rhapsody In Blue (intro)
The Like in I Love You
Summertime
I Loves You, Porgy
I Got Plenty o' Nutin'
It Ain't Necessarily So
'S Wonderful
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Love Is Here to Stay
I Got A Crush On You
I Got Rhythm
Someone to Watch Over Me
Nothing But Love
Rhapsody in Blue (reprise)

Encore:
Johnny B. Goode
Help Me Rhonda
Barbara Ann
Surfin' U.S.A.
Fun, Fun, Fun

Final Encore:
Love and Mercy

My father captured this video of the band preforming Help Me Rhonda during the encore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbwOtK-cIpI It gives you a good idea of the view we had from our seats. We sat in the first row of the upper deck, which we thought were probably the best seats in the theater all things considered. One of the audience members sitting in front of the stage captured a few videos of his own: Sloop John B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awrO4XC6X6E, his own view of Help Me Rhonda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOUkwD7uKX8&feature=channel&list=UL, Barbara Ann and Surfin USA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mfb6E0U9To&feature=channel&list=UL, some of Fun Fun Fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfZTj-iQ7-s&feature=channel&list=UL and Love and Mercy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhklPAYB7rQ&feature=channel&list=UL.
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G.C
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« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2012, 06:19:11 AM »

That L&M video was very good!
 
« Last Edit: November 30, 2012, 02:00:48 PM by rambunctious yahoos & hot jazz music » Logged
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