Mike and Bruce Tour 2015

[Fire Wind]

Comparing the two different bands and their differing approaches makes sense.  Comparing the actual Beach Boys as singers at this stage makes less sense.  Mike and Al have their original voices.  Brian doesn't and sings lines that were not 'his' back in the glory days.  Bruce sounds good on some stuff, not others.  I recall he did Wendy at C50, which wasn't right for him either (should've been Mike).  His Disney Girls was still great, cos that's him singing a song that actually suits his voice.  Pointless to make comparisons out of all this, particularly if it's just cos Bruce sings a song that's not selected for him well.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

So... Mike & Bruce are a community band now?

Absolutely! Their best bet is to start exploring the untapped nursing home/assisted living circuit especially in light of the fact that boomers will need their entertainment quotient fulfilled in some manner-as long as they don't play too loud and keep people from falling asleep during the show. Hell, myKe could pontificate all he wants about TM and tell his dumbass jokes and nobody would care. It's a win win for all.

[filledeplage]

So... Mike & Bruce are a community band now?

Absolutely! Their best bet is to start exploring the untapped nursing home/assisted living circuit especially in light of the fact that boomers will need their entertainment quotient fulfilled in some manner-as long as they don't play too loud and keep people from falling asleep during the show. Hell, myKe could pontificate all he wants about TM and tell his dumbass jokes and nobody would care. It's a win win for all.

OSD - you might be giving someone an idea for a new business model! As these all purpose one-size-fits-all football stadiums with casinos built in, as well as theaters, spring up, next to shopping centers...and "active adult communities" (over 55!) with tennis courts, pools, etc...maybe they will be booking rockers!

You crack me up! 

[CenturyDeprived]

I hope none of us has our whole career judged by a YouTube video.

 I just listened to the first half of the song from the YouTube video, I didn't think it was all that bad. Not fantastic, but not as bad as some people are saying. I may be critical of M&B, but I'm not critical just for the sake of being critical.

[Wirestone]

Mike may have many things, but his "original voice" is not one of them.

[drbeachboy]

Mike may have many things, but his "original voice" is not one of them.

Let's say he sounds more like his old self than Brian does.

[donald]

sitting here in a nice hotel suite in N ashville Tn.   Having a cold one.   Getting ready to call a taxi to take me to the Ryman.  I hear it is sold out.   

[filledeplage]

sitting here in a nice hotel suite in N ashville Tn.   Having a cold one.   Getting ready to call a taxi to take me to the Ryman.  I hear it is sold out.   

Have a blast!

 

Nice!

[tpesky]

Enjoy! The show will be great, lots of good songs.  Although for your sake let's hope YSGTM didn't make the cut tonight

[RubberSoul13]

sitting here in a nice hotel suite in N ashville Tn.   Having a cold one.   Getting ready to call a taxi to take me to the Ryman.  I hear it is sold out.   

Can't wait to hear about any surprises they might pull for this venue! I'm feelin' an okie from muskogee 

[donald]

The Ryman show:

My first since JF joined Mikes band.   Improved vocals overall for the group.   Pisces Brother a first for me.  Not really surprised that ML finally took the Maharishi/Beatles references to this new level complete with Beatles footage.   followed that song with ATIT with no mention of AJ.   For some reason the vocal blend was not as good as I remembered.   Some songs sounded like JF. Too high/loud in the mix.    Randall did ATIKH.  Very nice.  John Cowsill rocks.  a very good nite for him and an explosive finale.    got to speak with him for a second at the bus.   always seems like a first rate guy.   I asked if he was wiped out after the performance and he said no,  that this was a short set show actually.    Mike and Bruce sounded fine.   Bruce is now doing little sliding shuffles across the stage and on one tune, the front row of the band did a temptations like spin.   There was a guest musician who played pedal Steele on Cottonfields and sax onKokomo, and harmonica on a BW tune, forget which.  Forgive my memory.    Easy to get caught up.    Also, a true accapello , no microphone of THWFOS.......dead silence from the audience throughout... Then thunder applause at the end.   very Impressive IMHO.  Scott Seems to have mastered the surf guitar by now, that is over the years I have watched him, this was his best nite yet.   He Lead WOTs with JF and (RK? Perhaps ?) picking up the final high vocal wail.   Scott also gracious out at the bus in the Alley behind tootsies.   And possibly with AGD in mind, had about 15 young women jiggling around on the stage during Barbara Ann.   some of the video was nice and at one point there was footage of the Cowsills with Johnny Cash from the old show playing  just over Johns drum stand....... A cute and appropriate inclusion for the band's Nashville Show.    Some random recollections from last night.   

[Autotune]

The Ryman show:

My first since JF joined Mikes band.   Improved vocals overall for the group.   Pisces Brother a first for me.  Not really surprised that ML finally took the Maharishi/Beatles references to this new level complete with Beatles footage.   followed that song with ATIT with no mention of AJ.   For some reason the vocal blend was not as good as I remembered.   Some songs sounded like JF. Too high/loud in the mix.    Randall did ATIKH.  Very nice.  John Cowsill rocks.  a very good nite for him and an explosive finale.    got to speak with him for a second at the bus.   always seems like a first rate guy.   I asked if he was wiped out after the performance and he said no,  that this was a short set show actually.    Mike and Bruce sounded fine.   Bruce is now doing little sliding shuffles across the stage and on one tune, the front row of the band did a temptations like spin.   There was a guest musician who played pedal Steele on Cottonfields and sax onKokomo, and harmonica on a BW tune, forget which.  Forgive my memory.    Easy to get caught up.    Also, a true accapello , no microphone of THWFOS.......dead silence from the audience throughout... Then thunder applause at the end.   very Impressive IMHO.  Scott Seems to have mastered the surf guitar by now, that is over the years I have watched him, this was his best nite yet.   He Lead WOTs with JF and (RK? Perhaps ?) picking up the final high vocal wail.   Scott also gracious out at the bus in the Alley behind tootsies.   And possibly with AGD in mind, had about 15 young women jiggling around on the stage during Barbara Ann.   some of the video was nice and at one point there was footage of the Cowsills with Johnny Cash from the old show playing  just over Johns drum stand....... A cute and appropriate inclusion for the band's Nashville Show.    Some random recollections from last night.   

What's ATIKH?

[RubberSoul13]

The Ryman show:

My first since JF joined Mikes band.   Improved vocals overall for the group.   Pisces Brother a first for me.  Not really surprised that ML finally took the Maharishi/Beatles references to this new level complete with Beatles footage.   followed that song with ATIT with no mention of AJ.   For some reason the vocal blend was not as good as I remembered.   Some songs sounded like JF. Too high/loud in the mix.    Randall did ATIKH.  Very nice.  John Cowsill rocks.  a very good nite for him and an explosive finale.    got to speak with him for a second at the bus.   always seems like a first rate guy.   I asked if he was wiped out after the performance and he said no,  that this was a short set show actually.    Mike and Bruce sounded fine.   Bruce is now doing little sliding shuffles across the stage and on one tune, the front row of the band did a temptations like spin.   There was a guest musician who played pedal Steele on Cottonfields and sax onKokomo, and harmonica on a BW tune, forget which.  Forgive my memory.    Easy to get caught up.    Also, a true accapello , no microphone of THWFOS.......dead silence from the audience throughout... Then thunder applause at the end.   very Impressive IMHO.  Scott Seems to have mastered the surf guitar by now, that is over the years I have watched him, this was his best nite yet.   He Lead WOTs with JF and (RK? Perhaps ?) picking up the final high vocal wail.   Scott also gracious out at the bus in the Alley behind tootsies.   And possibly with AGD in mind, had about 15 young women jiggling around on the stage during Barbara Ann.   some of the video was nice and at one point there was footage of the Cowsills with Johnny Cash from the old show playing  just over Johns drum stand....... A cute and appropriate inclusion for the band's Nashville Show.    Some random recollections from last night.   

What's ATIKH?

I believe he's referring to "Then I Kissed Her", that was the only lead Randall sang last summer.

[Mikie]

Wow. Randall use to do the songs with falsetto leads, or at least the high parts. Now he's been relegated to the back burner since the CEO of Falsetto took over, eh?

[SonoraDick]

The Ryman show:

   

The Ryman? That old dump? Wasn't it closed down once for about twenty years? Such a dive that Elvis played there once and never went back, even though he practically lived there.

Boy, the "legacy" must have dropped about five notches after playing that show.

[Micha]

Is this better than BW's band? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iuBSWYoSPj4&spfreload=10

Hard to say since Brian's band doesn't play that song.

That drummer sure rocks and makes the song work better than the studio version.

Recent performance of "You're So Good To Me": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA3-QFEUMCc

It seems it was not a good decision to let Bruce sing leads that day - he isn't better than Brian on a bad day here.

[donald]

Wow. Randall use to do the songs with falsetto leads, or at least the high parts. Now he's been relegated to the back burner since the CEO of Falsetto took over, eh?

Like Randall on   Kissed her better than Christian.   Jeff makes some songs sound better,  some maybe not as good.   all This is That for ex.   something was off and Jeff was too prominent in the vocal blend.     Jeff did several leads which were nice and that high whine is sweet when he nails it on some songs.    Randall and Cowsill are one tight unit on rhythm.  Every member contributed significantly to the overall show.    Tim as well, least we  forget his very nice contributions throughout.

[Sjöman]

Randall

It's Randell Kirsch with an e, not Randall.
And it's Murry without an a.
And it's Audree with no y.
And it's Allen Lanier,  not Alan  !!!

carry on ...

[donald]

spelling aside, one last comment about the current lineup doing All This is That:    maybe the missing piece is Christian Love.   Carl was featured in the original harmony of the song, not Brian.   So, JF sounds more like BW and CL sounds more like Carl.     I think that is why it sounds odd over the performance s of the past several years.

I am now officially signing off of this thread Regarding my attendance at the Ryman show. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

The Ryman? That old dump? Wasn't it closed down once for about twenty years? Such a dive that Elvis played there once and never went back, even though he practically lived there.

Boy, the "legacy" must have dropped about five notches after playing that show.

Brian's played there.

[Eric Aniversario]

I really wish that Randell would get more leads. He used to really shine on certain songs. I'm So Young, Good To My Baby (Brian's part) come to mind. I think that he and Jeff are very comparable in their falsettos, and both do great leads on whatever they are assigned to sing, falsetto or otherwise. I think that Randell slightly edges out Jeff on Don't Worry Baby, but Jeff does slightly better on Good Vibrations. Jeff is a much better fit on Darlin than John C, though John did an admirable job over the years. There were some setlists earlier in the year where other members covered Jeff's leads, maybe because he had a cold? It was interesting to see what was assigned to who. Scott sang Good Vibrations, John took back Darlin, Randell took back Don't Worry Baby, and also sang Carl's part on Kokomo. Mike posted the setlists on Facebook, and they were annotated accordingly. The setlists were from January 9th and 10th. Cool to know that they have very capable vocalists to take over leads when needed.

[RubberSoul13]

I really wish that Randell would get more leads. He used to really shine on certain songs. I'm So Young, Good To My Baby (Brian's part) come to mind. I think that he and Jeff are very comparable in their falsettos, and both do great leads on whatever they are assigned to sing, falsetto or otherwise. I think that Randell slightly edges out Jeff on Don't Worry Baby, but Jeff does slightly better on Good Vibrations. Jeff is a much better fit on Darlin than John C, though John did an admirable job over the years. There were some setlists earlier in the year where other members covered Jeff's leads, maybe because he had a cold? It was interesting to see what was assigned to who. Scott sang Good Vibrations, John took back Darlin, Randell took back Don't Worry Baby, and also sang Carl's part on Kokomo. Mike posted the setlists on Facebook, and they were annotated accordingly. The setlists were from January 9th and 10th. Cool to know that they have very capable vocalists to take over leads when needed.

I too prefer Randell's falsettos to Foskett. They're less abrasive and seem to blend better in my opinion. Now, I've only seen Foskett back with the boys once so maybe this was just a matter of mixing, but I know I felt the same way when I saw him with B-A-D in 2013.

And I gotta say....Cowsill knocks "Darlin'" out of the park...haven't heard Foskett do it, but I find it hard to believe he does a better job than John.

[Eric Aniversario]

I really wish that Randell would get more leads. He used to really shine on certain songs. I'm So Young, Good To My Baby (Brian's part) come to mind. I think that he and Jeff are very comparable in their falsettos, and both do great leads on whatever they are assigned to sing, falsetto or otherwise. I think that Randell slightly edges out Jeff on Don't Worry Baby, but Jeff does slightly better on Good Vibrations. Jeff is a much better fit on Darlin than John C, though John did an admirable job over the years. There were some setlists earlier in the year where other members covered Jeff's leads, maybe because he had a cold? It was interesting to see what was assigned to who. Scott sang Good Vibrations, John took back Darlin, Randell took back Don't Worry Baby, and also sang Carl's part on Kokomo. Mike posted the setlists on Facebook, and they were annotated accordingly. The setlists were from January 9th and 10th. Cool to know that they have very capable vocalists to take over leads when needed.

I too prefer Randell's falsettos to Foskett. They're less abrasive and seem to blend better in my opinion. Now, I've only seen Foskett back with the boys once so maybe this was just a matter of mixing, but I know I felt the same way when I saw him with B-A-D in 2013.

And I gotta say....Cowsill knocks "Darlin'" out of the park...haven't heard Foskett do it, but I find it hard to believe he does a better job than John.

They both do a great job, but I feel Jeff's lead is much closer to the original:

Jeff: The Beach Boys - Darlin: http://youtu.be/TrKk95qk100

John: Beach Boys & John Cowsill, Darlin' live Niagara F…: http://youtu.be/yv7Uf34-Q_w

[gfac22]

From Mike's Facebook page:

---

Only a few days left to enter for a chance to win tickets! Contest ENDS April 1st.

U.K.* and U.S** fans let’s celebrate The Beach Boys’ 2015 Tour! Invite a friend to "LIKE" Mike Love's Facebook page, add a comment below on or before April 1st, telling us which Beach Boys song from the “Summer Days and Summer Nights” album is your favorite (except “California Girls”) and you and your friend will be entered for a chance to WIN tickets (2 concert tickets/passes). As an added bonus, you will get to hear YOUR song choice be played LIVE!

---

If I win and pick I'm Bugged At My Ol' Man, do you think they'll play it?

[tpesky]

Shouldn't they also have eliminated Help Me Rhonda?