Brian Wilson/Al/Blondie No Pier Pressure Tour, Summer 2015

[Custom Machine]

Matt Jardine was just announced as being back in the band for this tour on facebook.

And here's Brian's message:

I am thrilled to let you know that Matt Jardine has rejoined my band effective immediately. He will be performing with us on our upcoming U.S. tour in support of my new album "No Pier Pressure," as well as our tour of the U.K. this fall. Matt has a long history with my music and I just dig his voice.
Me and the rest of the guys are really looking forward to having Matt back in the band. Let's all welcome him back.
Love and Mercy, Brian

[Mikie]

So I wonder if that means that Ike won't be joining them and Matt will be doing the high parts instead? Or will both guys be there? Don't think Matt will just be utilized playing percussion....

[Jim McShane]

I really like the sound of Matt and Ike together, especially on The Right Time. I've missed having those two voices up top since Taylor Mills left. I hope there's enough room and budget for both of them to be on the tour!

[ontor pertawst]

Eichenberger did a great "She Knows Me Too Well" in Vegas, but I preferred Matt to Ike in the vocal blend... once Al introduced him, he really cut through on the falsettos and you can't beat that mix. Genetics!

[wantsomecorn]

They'll probably keep them both in like they did for the Soundstage show - I think they still need Ike to cover some of Foskett's guitar parts.

[ontor pertawst]

I dunno about the guitar parts. If there's one thing that band doesn't lack, its guitars. I always figured Foskett needed it more to strum along and not look like a useless tool standing up there. Surely Nicky/Probyn/Scott were miles ahead of him technically. Nicky is so versatile and effortlessly skillful, and I love it when Probyn blasts into "Marcella" and the like.

And you've got Blondie fuckin' Chaplin now. If anybody should be getting more guitar parts, its him.

Listening to NPP just makes me realize what a great thing for the BW band was that Foskettectomy. His appearances don't sound as good as Matt's, and his lah lah lahs on The Last Song were a bit much. Looking forward to the tour now with both Jardines in full effect!

[Mikie]

And you've got Blondie fuckin' Chaplin now. If anybody should be getting more guitar parts, its him.

There's no doubt about that!

[Sam_BFC]

Didn't Jeff use to play most of the lead parts, for the r'n'r numbers at least such as the fun fun fun intro, and the Johnny b good one (!) etc

[ontor pertawst]

Well I hope he has many happy, fruitful, and thoroughly secure years playing them for his kindly employer Mike Love while Blondie Chaplin tears into that amazing guitar of his for BW.

[Emdeeh]

Matt Jardine in the band!

[ontor pertawst]

It's great, isn't it? He really fits in well. Also the thought of absolutely no Foskett on THE ROCK AND ROLL ALBUM sounds good to me. I know he did his job well with a cheerful face, but I really wouldn't mind it if they shot him into space. It could be a special NASA initiative. Or we could setup a kickstarter and crowdfund it, go privatized and beg Elon Musk for help sending Jeff to Mars to see if there's life on it.

[Mike's Beard]

There ain't a rocketship powerfull enough to be able to blast Jeff's fat ass into space.

[Pretty Funky]

This thread has taken on an unnecessary line of personal attack.

Not cool.

[Nicko1234]

Great news that Matt will return to the band. The best falsetto singer among the bands.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Holy sh*t these tickets are expensive.  Cheapest seats are still over $100?

Whew, you're not kidding. I'm a bit torn as to what to do. I hate to spend that much, but in 2012 I bought cheap seats for C50, and wished a bit that I'd gone all-out with pricey ones as it truly was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

I did get the Jones Beach presale code (finally, four days after signing up...?), but looking at the good seats, they are all 'packages' ranging from $200 to $500... crazy. I may just wait until the general sale and see what shows up.

[GuyO]

Does anyone know if there will be be any European main land concerts? (Holland, Belgium, Germany, etc?)

[thatjacob]

Has anyone received their download code from the presale packages yet?

[Lonely Summer]

Why is there so much hatred of Foskett on this board? Did I miss something?

[SonoraDick]

Why is there so much hatred of Foskett on this board? Did I miss something?

I think it's more a case of some people here feeling a need to impress the board with their imagined comedic skills.

[HeyJude]

Why is there so much hatred of Foskett on this board? Did I miss something?

That’s not an uninteresting question. I’m not exactly sure where the negativity about him originated. I always got the impression back in the 1999-ish timeframe that hardcore Brian fans liked him. At some point in more recent years, it got negative for some reason. I can think of valid criticisms in terms of the music. I’ve always found his voice alternately quite nice and sometimes grating. I always maintained Matt Jardine was a better falsetto choice for a live (or studio) band; I was saying that back in 1999 when the politics made it seemingly impossible to integrate Al or Matt into Brian’s band. Jeff also was sometimes too prominent in the vocal mix on some studio stuff, TWGMTR being the most obvious example.

I also think on rare occasions it appeared he hyped himself up too much. I’ve seen several articles that fudge the years he was originally in the touring band (the LATE 1981 touring date turns into 1979, etc.), and some articles nearly imply he IS a Beach Boy, as if he’s of the same status as Bruce Johnston but just joined later. I would imagine he could have corrected some of those articles, but maybe not. I don’t know how much he would be responsible for any of those. The small hand full of “semi official adjunct Beach Boys” like Hinsche or Foskett or Matt Jardine are difficult to quantify sometimes. I remember reading some bit on Foskett’s old website where it implied he had been invited on stage during a Paul McCartney concert in the Bay Area, when I had been at the show in question and no guests were present (McCartney very rarely does that at his concerts). It does also seem as though there have been times where he appeared to get off on being “the guy you have to go through to talk to Brian.” That was one of the things that made his one interview on his departure a bit difficult to fully empathize with.

But he’s a difficult one to nail down; for having been so involved with elements of the band for several distinct eras, he admits he doesn’t read any internet stuff (something we obviously would never be able to confirm), and he definitely doesn’t give a lot of interviews (though the internet archive has an interesting and surprisingly frank interview from the 90’s with Foskett that goes into his 1990 departure; the interview took place before he joined Brian’s solo band). That 90s interview also alludes to some weird specific negative stuff about him on the internet, and that maybe is perhaps why he quickly decided to not read any of it. If he already had a sense some folks had negative stuff to say, I would imagine he’d be even less likely to read on after he left Brian and joined Mike. I’m sure he can guess how popular that makes him.

Knowing that he was already getting some flak even from hardcore Brian fans in the last few years, I expected some pretty nasty stuff when he jumped to Mike’s band. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a lot of that. But I think that has more to do with the fact that Mike’s touring band only gets sporadic interest from fans, especially here.

I’m pretty ambivalent about the whole Foskett thing. I could do without the wall of Fosketts on some Brian stuff and TWGMTR. I think the quality of NPP and legit guys filling Foskett’s place that sound as good or better than him kind of mitigate any overt negativity fans would or could have about him. But the story of him jumping to Mike’s band places him firmly right in the middle of the story of the band’s history of politics and maneuvering. It’s probably a really interesting story, beyond the little bits he offered in that one interview.

Calling the guy names is kind of silly, and calling someone variations of “fat” shouldn’t somehow be less inflammatory than other name calling. Does anyone want to guess at the average or median waist size average of fans on this board? 

[Lonely Summer]

Interesting. I don't know much about the guy, but have always enjoyed Jeff's voice on any recordings I've heard. I can't think of anyone who does those early Brian vocals better than him....except of course, Brian, when his voice was young and sweet.

[thatjacob]

I finally received my download code and, as expected, it's the 13 track version of the album. Joy. Still, I may have an extra redemption code if anyone would like it.