New BW gig, 8/30/14

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I wanted to punch Bill Champlin after reading that, but there are two sides to every story.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Wonder if Al will be with him.

Interesting question. I would imagine they're lining up all the tour dates before making a full tour announcement. If it is a full tour and it's starting at the end of August, I would expect an announcement soon.

If it's a full tour lasting through September, I'd seriously hope that they'd have all the venues and dates locked in and announced by now. But, Brian's management have a long history of booking and announcing tours piecemeal, so the current status isn't in any way surprising. Plus, given the 8/30 venue, I'd be astonished if it was anything more than the standard BW GH set. I'd love to be proven wrong (and probably will be roughly 13.7 seconds after I hit "post": mea culpa standing by) but currently we have one date (announced scant hours ago), a gap of 40 days, then two shows in three days (announced a few weeks ago). Maybe my cynical gene is becoming dominant but that doesn't look anything like a full-on tour to me, just SOP.

[Nicko1234]

I just assumed when I heard about the casino gig that they had offered Brian the requested amount of $$$ to do the show so he accepted.

[Pretty Funky]

Exactly. Didn't his daughters say he was cutting back on concerts this year? One offs only I think.

[Pretty Funky]

Brian's playing at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, CA.

Wait...

I thought only Mike & Bruce played casinos, and that Brian would never stoop so low. Obviously a misprint. 

Don't feed the troll!

....Oh wait...Its AGD.... As you were!

[ToneBender631]

Exactly. Didn't his daughters say he was cutting back on concerts this year? One offs only I think.

But "according to someone who would know" (#sarcasm) Brian's daughters are lying when they say they spend a lot of time with him. So obviously that's not the case.

[Pretty Funky]

No that was a misprint. Speaking as someone who doesn't know, he has moved in with Carnie.

[Ray Lawlor]

Wonder if Al will be with him.

Interesting question. I would imagine they're lining up all the tour dates before making a full tour announcement. If it is a full tour and it's starting at the end of August, I would expect an announcement soon.

If it's a full tour lasting through September, I'd seriously hope that they'd have all the venues and dates locked in and announced by now. But, Brian's management have a long history of booking and announcing tours piecemeal, so the current status isn't in any way surprising. Plus, given the 8/30 venue, I'd be astonished if it was anything more than the standard BW GH set. I'd love to be proven wrong (and probably will be roughly 13.7 seconds after I hit "post": mea culpa standing by) but currently we have one date (announced scant hours ago), a gap of 40 days, then two shows in three days (announced a few weeks ago). Maybe my cynical gene is becoming dominant but that doesn't look anything like a full-on tour to me, just SOP.

Andrew;

Actually , I think Brian's management made the right call here; why do a full tour lasting through September without anything to really promote ?  Later in the fall he has a new album coming out and a major film to support, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for Brian to go out and do a late summer/early fall tour . Best to do a few dates, get the band back in gear, shake off the rust and get prepared for the late fall when he  has both of these things to support. Smart play by management ;secure the record deal with Capitol , major movie ; then get out there and promote the hell out of it.  Ray

[RubberSoul13]

I suppose they've learned from last fall! yikes!

[Andrew G. Doe]

Wonder if Al will be with him.

Interesting question. I would imagine they're lining up all the tour dates before making a full tour announcement. If it is a full tour and it's starting at the end of August, I would expect an announcement soon.

If it's a full tour lasting through September, I'd seriously hope that they'd have all the venues and dates locked in and announced by now. But, Brian's management have a long history of booking and announcing tours piecemeal, so the current status isn't in any way surprising. Plus, given the 8/30 venue, I'd be astonished if it was anything more than the standard BW GH set. I'd love to be proven wrong (and probably will be roughly 13.7 seconds after I hit "post": mea culpa standing by) but currently we have one date (announced scant hours ago), a gap of 40 days, then two shows in three days (announced a few weeks ago). Maybe my cynical gene is becoming dominant but that doesn't look anything like a full-on tour to me, just SOP.

Andrew;

Actually , I think Brian's management made the right call here; why do a full tour lasting through September without anything to really promote ?  Later in the fall he has a new album coming out and a major film to support, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for Brian to go out and do a late summer/early fall tour . Best to do a few dates, get the band back in gear, shake off the rust and get prepared for the late fall when he  has both of these things to support. Smart play by management ;secure the record deal with Capitol , major movie ; then get out there and promote the hell out of it.  Ray

Appreciate that Ray. My main point is, we've got someone here looking at three dates, two separated by over a month, and conjuring a full-on tour out of that scant info. Might not be up there with "I can hear autotune on the nine second cell phone clip" drivel but, as you point out, there's going to be nothing to promote in August and likely September, thus this is an advanced case of wishful thinking.

[HeyJude]

Wonder if Al will be with him.

Interesting question. I would imagine they're lining up all the tour dates before making a full tour announcement. If it is a full tour and it's starting at the end of August, I would expect an announcement soon.

If it's a full tour lasting through September, I'd seriously hope that they'd have all the venues and dates locked in and announced by now. But, Brian's management have a long history of booking and announcing tours piecemeal, so the current status isn't in any way surprising. Plus, given the 8/30 venue, I'd be astonished if it was anything more than the standard BW GH set. I'd love to be proven wrong (and probably will be roughly 13.7 seconds after I hit "post": mea culpa standing by) but currently we have one date (announced scant hours ago), a gap of 40 days, then two shows in three days (announced a few weeks ago). Maybe my cynical gene is becoming dominant but that doesn't look anything like a full-on tour to me, just SOP.

Andrew;

Actually , I think Brian's management made the right call here; why do a full tour lasting through September without anything to really promote ?  Later in the fall he has a new album coming out and a major film to support, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for Brian to go out and do a late summer/early fall tour . Best to do a few dates, get the band back in gear, shake off the rust and get prepared for the late fall when he  has both of these things to support. Smart play by management ;secure the record deal with Capitol , major movie ; then get out there and promote the hell out of it.  Ray

Appreciate that Ray. My main point is, we've got someone here looking at three dates, two separated by over a month, and conjuring a full-on tour out of that scant info. Might not be up there with "I can hear autotune on the nine second cell phone clip" drivel but, as you point out, there's going to be nothing to promote in August and likely September, thus this is an advanced case of wishful thinking.

My only point was that *IF* the August date is the beginning of a full tour, then we would probably have an announcement soon, given we're four to five weeks from that tour date. No particular actual insight into whether it was/is actually the start of a full tour.

Brian has sometimes done one-off shows, and also in some cases for artists, full tours first surface as scattered bookings that we learn about before a full tour schedule announcement.

No wishful thinking, just ruminating on possibilities, none of which are that far-fetched.

Oh wait, maybe I'm just not picking up on the #hilarioussenseofhumor again. 

[HeyJude]

I wanted to punch Bill Champlin after reading that, but there are two sides to every story.

Yeah, Champlin kind of came off like a dick in that story. Clearly he was not at all sympathetic to Brian's weird situation. It is interesting though to get an "outsider's" take on all of that.

[Sheriff John Stone]

....there are two sides to every story.

Not according to some people on this board.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Consider: an infinite number of monkeys...

[ToneBender631]

According to someone who would know, Al is officially joining for the Modesto gig.

[Mayoman]

According to someone who would know, Al is officially joining for the Modesto gig.

It was just officially posted on Brian's FB page that Al would be there.

[ToneBender631]

According to someone who would know, Al is officially joining for the Modesto gig.

It was just officially posted on Brian's FB page that Al would be there.

Brian was the "someone who would know" that I was referencing. ;-)

[Lowbacca]

According to someone who would know, Al is officially joining for the Modesto gig.

And David joins Mike & Bruce for an upcoming show. Geez, those BBs...

[Andrew G. Doe]

You just couldn't make it up, could you ?

Anyone here know which way Blondie's leaning these days ? 

[37!ws]

Who said Brian doesn't play casinos??? Might want to tell that to Brian -- where has he played every time he's done Vegas?

[KittyKat]

Brian has three gigs in the US lined up, and the only one being publicized on his site and on Twitter/Facebook is the Modesto show.  Tickets are on sale to all three shows. What, do only shows with Al Jardine count? Are they waiting for Al to agree to appear before they publicize a show?  I would think announcing a gig that's coming up in August should take priority over one that doesn't take place until October.

[Wah Wah Wah Ooooo]

I wanted to punch Bill Champlin after reading that, but there are two sides to every story.

What did Champlin say? I've searched and can't really find anything but reaction to it. I'm a big fan of his and didn't know he had said negative things about BW.

[HeyJude]

I wanted to punch Bill Champlin after reading that, but there are two sides to every story.

What did Champlin say? I've searched and can't really find anything but reaction to it. I'm a big fan of his and didn't know he had said negative things about BW.

Going from memory here based on the McParland/Usher book: Usher brought in Champlin as a "session singer" for some of the demos he was cutting with Brian. Apparently, Champlin was not a big of Brian (or his personality anyway). I remember the specific reference being not trusting a guy who only laughs at his own jokes. Apparently, Champlin noted that Brian was stonefaced when anyone else in the room made jokes. But when Brian would make a joke, Brian would laugh and laugh.

My recollection while reading this was that Champlin, being an "outsider", was not used to Brian's weirdness and idiosyncrasies, and may not have known a lot of Brian's detailed backstory. Basically, he was reading Brian's eccentricity as Brian being a d**k, probably because he (Chaplin) didn't know a lot about Brian.

I remember feeling that Champlin was kind of being a d**k about it, but as with many outside observers who get brief glimpse of the inside, who have made these types of observations (e.g. Jeff Beck, who I should note made some observations about Brian that were more sympathetic even if they made Brian look bad), there probably is some truth to elements of what they're saying. Brian shouldn't have been getting a free pass to be an a-hole because he had a rough life. On the other hand, Champlin was kind of coming across as an a-hole himself.

[HeyJude]

Brian has three gigs in the US lined up, and the only one being publicized on his site and on Twitter/Facebook is the Modesto show.  Tickets are on sale to all three shows. What, do only shows with Al Jardine count? Are they waiting for Al to agree to appear before they publicize a show?  I would think announcing a gig that's coming up in August should take priority over one that doesn't take place until October.

Why does this matter? Brian's camp is notorious for being scattered about tour dates. I saw the "Smile" 2004 show in November 2004 at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. The show was added to the schedule a bit after most of the shows as I recall. More importantly, it was *never* added to the tour schedule on Brian's website. Not before the show. Not the night of the show. Not after. It was still a sell out (not that that matters in terms of what's being discussed). But if you went by their schedule, the show I went to never took place. 

I pondered trying to make the Modesto show, but it's just too far. I'm hoping more dates pop up at some point, hopefully with Al in tow.

I'm glad to see Al is still a part of hopefully at least some of the shows.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Basically, he [Champlin] was reading Brian's eccentricity as Brian being a d**k, probably because he  didn't know a lot about Brian.

Duck... dirk... dork... dark ?