Brian, Al, and David Tour 2013

[drbeachboy]

i have seen brian 3 times and the first one in 2004 was the best. His band is great and Brian Always looks like he doesnt want to be there but....he Always could carry a tune for 80%.

Looking at the video's he sounds like he cant carry a tune for 40%.  

When you're at the show you really don't hear the mistakes as much.

[drbeachboy]

This is not the BAD Tour. This is the Brian Wilson 2013 Tour with special guest Al Jardine and David Marks. (They need to make this a permanent thing)

I think Al and David really made a difference. I thought I was watching the Beach Boys. Hey, wait, I WAS watching the Beach Boys. Mike and Bruce were 'no shows'. 

You do realize that we made up the BAD acronym? Shoot, my ticket says (w/ Al Tardine & David Mar).

[Chalk n Numbers]

Delurking to offer a few random comments on the AC show. I haven't seen these specific points made elsewhere; apologies if I'm inadvertently duplicating other posts.

Overall, it was a terrific show. Things got the tiniest bit ragged, I thought, during the first half of the second set: it sounded as if the mix might not have been quite right, and it seemed that some first-show roughness might have been detectable. I'm confident that will smooth out quickly.

Brian, as others have remarked, was having a "stoic" night. He didn't smile much (some big smiles during Darian's performance of "Darlin'"), and he simply missed a bunch of lines - just didn't sing them. That said, once he started singing, he was in pretty good voice; and there were points in the show when he was much more animated and engaged with the audience.

"Summer's Gone" was really interesting. After "Fun, Fun, Fun" (Brian returned to the keyboard for that one, after his brief encore stint on bass), Jeff looked over at him inquiringly, as if asking: "Are you done? Do you want to leave?" Brian signaled that he wanted to continue, and Jeff gave a deferential little half-bow, as if to say "As you wish." (I had the sense that Jeff was surprised that Brian wanted to go on.) Brian then introduced the song as follows (not verbatim, but close): "Now that we've got the rock 'n' roll stuff out of the way, we'd like to do a little song called 'Summer's Gone.' In terms of audience reaction to the song: everybody was already standing after the other encore numbers, and so they remained standing - but everything went very quiet: not terribly different from the respectful silences during the SMiLE tour.

Al's "heart and soul" comment might read as being provocative or mean-spirited when transcribed, but it wasn't like that in person. When he mentioned the "heart and soul of the Beach Boys," he gestured toward Brian, as if to say: "We're the heart and soul of the band because Brian is here." Al was genial and amiable throughout. A very nice presence, I thought. He was funny and self-deprecating, admitting that he needed to keep checking the setlist. (At one point he actually held up the setlist, saying something like "Wow, Brian, you've really got a lot of songs here.") The white suit looked great.

"Our Prayer" was a welcome surprise, and it segued pretty much directly into "Heroes and Villains" - which was the Cantina version, by the way. At the end of "H&V," Brian said something - I couldn't quite catch it - about the preceding songs coming from an album called SMiLE. That line got a fair amount of applause.

David was marvelous: he spoke quite a bit, and played wonderfully. He told a nice Dennis anecdote before "Little Bird." When the song was over, somebody (Jeff?) gestured toward him and said "David Marks!" To which David responded, simply and graciously, "Dennis Wilson" - giving the credit to his former bandmate. "Summertime Blues" was quite good - certainly not a replication of the original Beach Boys version.

The spoken introduction to the "Ol' Man River/Cottonfields" medley was noteworthy. Jeff asked Al if he had anything to say about the next song, and Al, after a moment's thought, replied that it was a medley of two very traditional songs - a water song leading into a song about the earth (mini "Elements"?). Before the song began, Brian played a nice little run on the keyboard: a figure that recalled the descending/ascending figure in what is now the first part of "Mrs. O'Leary" (formerly known as "H&V Intro"?)

There was a non-trivial amount of anti-Mike Love feeling in the room (not spurred on by Al's comments, but starting on its own). Without quoting the specific comments, let me say that the audience members in question expressed themselves with the eloquence and class one might expect of a Jersey Shore contingent. Notwithstanding those unfortunate outbursts, the show was a very happy, positive experience.

Finally: based, admittedly, on a sample of one, I think John Q. Public's inability to enjoy the deeper cuts may be just a bit overstated. There was a charming elderly lady sitting next to me who was obviously not a dedicated fan, although she had attended one of the C50 shows last year. I think it would be fair to call her a casino-show-goer rather than a Beach Boys fan. She was more familiar with the hits, but, judging by her reaction, she really enjoyed songs like "Your Imagination," "Sail On Sailor," "Breakaway" and so forth. She didn't know the words, and couldn't have told you the names, but she obviously appreciated them.

Anyway: just my own personal impressions; I apologize if I've inadvertently described something (or quoted someone) inaccurately. As I said, it was a terrific show.

[Lowbacca]

This is not the BAD Tour. This is the Brian Wilson 2013 Tour with special guest Al Jardine and David Marks. (They need to make this a permanent thing)

I think Al and David really made a difference. I thought I was watching the Beach Boys. Hey, wait, I WAS watching the Beach Boys. Mike and Bruce were 'no shows'. 

You do realize that we made up the BAD acronym? Shoot, my ticket says (w/ Al Tardine & David Mar).

You saw Tardine & Mar live onstage with Brian Wilson?? I always said he should get together with some more obscure indie artists. 2013 is another great year for BBs fans.

[Lowbacca]

Delurking to offer a few random comments on the AC show. I haven't seen these specific points made elsewhere; apologies if I'm inadvertently duplicating other posts.

Overall, it was a terrific show. Things got the tiniest bit ragged, I thought, during the first half of the second set: it sounded as if the mix might not have been quite right, and it seemed that some first-show roughness might have been detectable. I'm confident that will smooth out quickly.

Brian, as others have remarked, was having a "stoic" night. He didn't smile much (some big smiles during Darian's performance of "Darlin'"), and he simply missed a bunch of lines - just didn't sing them. That said, once he started singing, he was in pretty good voice; and there were points in the show when he was much more animated and engaged with the audience.

"Summer's Gone" was really interesting. After "Fun, Fun, Fun" (Brian returned to the keyboard for that one, after his brief encore stint on bass), Jeff looked over at him inquiringly, as if asking: "Are you done? Do you want to leave?" Brian signaled that he wanted to continue, and Jeff gave a deferential little half-bow, as if to say "As you wish." (I had the sense that Jeff was surprised that Brian wanted to go on.) Brian then introduced the song as follows (not verbatim, but close): "Now that we've got the rock 'n' roll stuff out of the way, we'd like to do a little song called 'Summer's Gone.' In terms of audience reaction to the song: everybody was already standing after the other encore numbers, and so they remained standing - but everything went very quiet: not terribly different from the respectful silences during the SMiLE tour.

Al's "heart and soul" comment might read as being provocative or mean-spirited when transcribed, but it wasn't like that in person. When he mentioned the "heart and soul of the Beach Boys," he gestured toward Brian, as if to say: "We're the heart and soul of the band because Brian is here." Al was genial and amiable throughout. A very nice presence, I thought. He was funny and self-deprecating, admitting that he needed to keep checking the setlist. (At one point he actually held up the setlist, saying something like "Wow, Brian, you've really got a lot of songs here.") The white suit looked great.

"Our Prayer" was a welcome surprise, and it segued pretty much directly into "Heroes and Villains" - which was the Cantina version, by the way. At the end of "H&V," Brian said something - I couldn't quite catch it - about the preceding songs coming from an album called SMiLE. That line got a fair amount of applause.

David was marvelous: he spoke quite a bit, and played wonderfully. He told a nice Dennis anecdote before "Little Bird." When the song was over, somebody (Jeff?) gestured toward him and said "David Marks!" To which David responded, simply and graciously, "Dennis Wilson" - giving the credit to his former bandmate. "Summertime Blues" was quite good - certainly not a replication of the original Beach Boys version.

The spoken introduction to the "Ol' Man River/Cottonfields" medley was noteworthy. Jeff asked Al if he had anything to say about the next song, and Al, after a moment's thought, replied that it was a medley of two very traditional songs - a water song leading into a song about the earth (mini "Elements"?). Before the song began, Brian played a nice little run on the keyboard: a figure that recalled the descending/ascending figure in what is now the first part of "Mrs. O'Leary" (formerly known as "H&V Intro"?)

There was a non-trivial amount of anti-Mike Love feeling in the room (not spurred on by Al's comments, but starting on its own). Without quoting the specific comments, let me say that the audience members in question expressed themselves with the eloquence and class one might expect of a Jersey Shore contingent. Notwithstanding those unfortunate outbursts, it was a very happy, positive experience.

Finally: based, admittedly, on a sample of one, I think John Q. Public's inability to enjoy the deeper cuts may be just a bit overstated. There was a charming elderly lady sitting next to me who was obviously not a dedicated fan, although she had attended one of the C50 shows last year. I think it would be fair to call her a casion-show-goer rather than a Beach Boys fan. She was more familiar with the hits, but, judging by her reaction, she really enjoyed songs like "Your Imagination," "Sail On Sailor," "Breakaway" and so forth. She didn't know the words, and couldn't have told you the names, but she obviously appreciated them.

Anyway: just my own personal impressions; I apologize if I've inadvertently described something (or quoted someone) inaccurately. As I said, it was a terrific show.

Thanks for that - and welcome to the board!

[drbeachboy]

@Chalk n Numbers

A great review of the show. Just as I remember it too. I liked how David remembered both Dennis (Little Bird) and Carl (Summertime Blues) with antidotal stories of each.

[SMiLE Brian]

And yet he completely nailed, say, The Gershwin record  live when I saw him. And those aren't easy songs to sing!

I saw the first show of that tour, Brian nailed those songs from day one!

[Amanda Hart]

You guys are making me seriously jealous. I sold my tickets to the show at Ravinia on Friday like two weeks after I bought them because my husband has a show and pitched a fit about me being there. I was fine with it at first, but seeing the set list and reading these reviews...I'm seriously regretting this decision.

[Seaside Woman]

You guys are making me seriously jealous. I sold my tickets to the show at Ravinia on Friday like two weeks after I bought them because my husband has a show and pitched a fit about me being there. I was fine with it at first, but seeing the set list and reading these reviews...I'm seriously regretting this decision.

As your husband had already pitched the fit what did you have to lose? Y'know when you weigh it up Brian Wilson v husband v Brian Wilson: - )

I hope he appreciates the grand gesture you made for him and when he pays it back makes sure it is with interest.

I hope they bring this show to the UK.

[ontor pertawst]

Reward his fit with a POW zombie stare throughout his show and stiff, robot applause with an unchanging expression. If you can't go see Brian Wilson, act a bit Brian Wilson.

[Lowbacca]

Reward his fit with a POW zombie stare throughout his show and stiff, robot applause with an unchanging expression. If you can't go see Brian Wilson, act a bit Brian Wilson.

. . . and casually tell people at the gig that "he's good... but not as good as Brian Wilson".

[Amanda Hart]

Reward his fit with a POW zombie stare throughout his show and stiff, robot applause with an unchanging expression. If you can't go see Brian Wilson, act a bit Brian Wilson.

. . . and casually tell people at the gig that "he's good... but not as good as Brian Wilson".

These are great ideas. When the group has their post-show pow-wow, I'm going to be sure to say, "You were funny, but I really missed the lighter/cell phone bit"

[Lowbacca]

Reward his fit with a POW zombie stare throughout his show and stiff, robot applause with an unchanging expression. If you can't go see Brian Wilson, act a bit Brian Wilson.

. . . and casually tell people at the gig that "he's good... but not as good as Brian Wilson".

These are great ideas. When the group has their post-show pow-wow, I'm going to be sure to say, "You were funny, but I really missed the lighter/cell phone bit"

[SloopJohnnyB]

Wonderful review Chalk n Numbers. Welcome to the board.  

I'm from Pittsburgh and I did the meet and great because these opportunities don't come around too often. Well worth it! I think all of the people sitting near me traveled in from other places.

I was talking to a 52 year old man and his 20 year old son who drove in from Philadelphia. The dad wasn't much of a music fan but the son was really into music. The dad told me that the son showed him a Brian Wilson documentary (Smile) and that he was really blown away. They traveled to Texas to see BB50 but found out when they got there that Mike and Bruce went out on their own. (Not everyone reads message boards and follows internet news, especially newer fans. I wonder what photo the promoters were using...no fault to Mike) Anyway, this was their first time seeing Brian in concert. Al and David were a huge benefit and bonus. You know what? It didn't matter that Brian didn't sing a few lines in a song or that he didn't smile too often. They were seeing Brian Wilson in concert! I could see that they were having a great time as we all were. The son will remember that night for the rest of his life. How cool is it to turn your dad on to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. Making the trip across the state. Fantastic concert. Memorable night.

There were young and old people attending (as with Mike and Bruce). Parents brought their teenage children and everyone had a great time.

So when I read that Brian had an off night well, it just doesn't matter. It really, really doesn't. I paid my good money and I was just glad that Brian was there. Not good enough for some fans? I don't know what else to say. I think you're in a small minority of hard core fans and you do have every right to be critical. But after all of the documentaries, news and comments around the web I don't expect Brian to be 100%. I'll take what ever he can offer. I feel fortunate that I was able to be there. Really.

A few notes with more to come:

A nice moment at the sound check when Al said that "Dennis was here with us" when they performed 'Little Bird'. David was definitely channeling Dennis on that one.

Toward the end of the show I noticed that Jeffrey had a stick of incense burning at his microphone/guitar stands. Very funny and cool to see. I noticed it during Good Vibrations.

Pre-concert David was seen walking through the inside part of the venue (Bar and entrance area). He grew up in near- by New Castle, PA. which is west of Pittsburgh near the Ohio border.  He was bringing family and friends in from the public entrance. People that recognized him respected his presence which was nice to see.

I'll work on getting the photos posted here or on photo bucket.

[SloopJohnnyB]

A really nice review from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I think we all feel the same way.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/music-reviews/concert-review-brian-wilson-concert-at-stage-ae-is-a-return-to-innocence-696412/

[Doo Dah]

Here's my video from Sunday's Pittsburgh show - Old Man River / Cottonfields.

Shot on a Samsung digital camera, so the sound veers tinny. I think you'll like it though - the medley was beautifully done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hGq8YOhD-I&feature=youtu.be

[ontor pertawst]

Ah, I've been waiting for that! Thanks so much.

I like it when Peter Boyle does a jig when Cottonfields starts. What a great idea to combine the two.

[Lowbacca]

Here's my video from Sunday's Pittsburgh show - Old Man River / Cottonfields.

Shot on a Samsung digital camera, so the sound veers tinny. I think you'll like it though - the medley was beautifully done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hGq8YOhD-I&feature=youtu.be

Great stuff. Thank you so much.

Gotta love the old guy getting up and dancing around in a circle at the start of "Cottonfields".

[donald]

Back to Al as a guitarist for a moment........

Someone posted a youtube link to Al's recent performance at the Henry Miller Library.  I watched as he played the only guitar on GOK on a small stage in the courtyard of the library, and was very impressed with the solid chord progression he put down as the basis of the song while a scant few other musicians accompanied.
Al is quite talented in a number of ways and has contributed significantly to the overall ambience of the Beachboys over many years.  If there are too many guitarists, I don't think Al is one of them.

[smyleysmyle]

I've posted some pictures and video from the Golden Nugget show this past Saturday.

I'm not sure if this is the place or the other thread, but I posted in the other one so I'll link to it here:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,15725.200.html

[Doo Dah]

Summer's Gone - Pittsburgh show.

(starts @ 2nd verse)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FaAI4BTLe4&feature=youtu.be

[filledeplage]

Here's my video from Sunday's Pittsburgh show - Old Man River / Cottonfields.

Shot on a Samsung digital camera, so the sound veers tinny. I think you'll like it though - the medley was beautifully done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hGq8YOhD-I&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for that video! Al is a great singer and one of those "anchor" BB voices.  

What I miss is Love and Mercy, which has the essence, I think, of Til I Die, or God Only Knows in the context of the combination of both "wisdom and forgiveness." Sort of an "Advanced Pet Sounds" in concept and GOK in simplicity.  

 In a way it reminds me of Disney Girls, which was never a hit, and yet "required fare" on either a Touring Band setup or C50. Not a hit, but something which has evolved into a classic.  And, oddly enough, I think of Love and Mercy, as a song that Dennis could have written as well.  Just a simple soulfulness.  And Brian's parting gift, to the audience and his fans.  And a far better song than Summer's Gone to close the show. JMHO

And, Al rocked that ponytail! So there!  

[SloopJohnnyB]

Got it!!

All from Pittsburgh, PA

[EgoHanger1966]

All Summer Long in Pittsburgh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPVOt0ceTVw

Christ, this one makes me sad.

[SloopJohnnyB]

These are from the Sound Check at Pittsburgh