Brian / Al / Blondie Summer 2015 Tour Thread

[guitarfool2002]

Don’t know if we’ll have to start a new “Late Summer/Fall Tour” thread after the last “Summer” shows this week, but it looks like we’ve got a third Brian show for September/October. It’s October 23 in Easton, PA. The schedule so far:

September 11 - Davies Symphony Hall - San Francisco, CA
October 10 - Seneca Allegany Events Center - Salamanca, NY
October 23 – State Theatre – Easton, PA[/size]

 

 

[HeyJude]

Did we determine that no folks on the board here are going to tonight’s show in Richmond, BC? It’ll be interesting to see if the setlist varies at all. Any bets on whether they try “I’m Broke” again?

[joe_blow]

Did we determine that no folks on the board here are going to tonight’s show in Richmond, BC? It’ll be interesting to see if the setlist varies at all. Any bets on whether they try “I’m Broke” again?

I made a last minute decision to go to the show once I was finally able to confirm Al would be there. What a show! I didn't think they would have the full band, as I had seen him in the same venue, very scaled down in 2007. Brian was all over the place; witty at times, obviously reading so many lines, coughed into the mic, but also seemed animated and engaged. The room, which seats 1000 was about 95% full. There were people going up to the stage to dance and take pictures from time to time, before being told to go back to their respective seats. For the encore the floor was packed with lots of dancing and photos being taken. Al had an apple for most of the show, which he would hold onto and then place onto Brian's piano. At one point Brian repeated his lines about how loud can you yell....just the girls, just the boys....The highlights for me were Sloop John B., Wild Honey (Blondie was awesome), and Love and Mercy (with the line "a lot of people out there getting shot....: instead of hurting.) My only regret is I didn't get myself a Keep It Clean shirt, as I was so close to Al, and got a nod from him. After the show I was about to meet Scott Bennett and Probyn. Really nice guys. Matt Jardine spend a lot of time afterwards meeting fans and signing autographs. Just my random thoughts review, but there it be!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Zwo_wCoIU

[Andrew G. Doe]

Alan's "apple" is a shaker. 

[joe_blow]

Alan's "apple" is a shaker. 

Now that makes sense!

[RBennett123]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

[coco1997]

So Brian's done "Honeycomb" "You Keep A Knockin'" and "I'm Broke" so far. The rock 'n roll album album cycle is in full swing!  

[SurfRiderHawaii]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

Great show! Brian was loose, talkative and funny. Scott sang lead on Knockin I believe. I liked the Wall of Sound arrangement of Barbara Ann, with Scott and Brian doing a boogie woogie piano thing together on Brian's piano.

Seeing three Beach Boys on stage together with this band, the real deal! Al does a better Mike than Mike on Shut Down/Coupe. Bummed that they skipped Busy Doing Nothing. They did Sail Away, which was great. Blondie nailed it. Adding Runaway Dancer and cutting the two Friends songs, not a good idea.

I missed the Smile tour so seeing Brian do the greatest song of the rock era, in my opinion, Surf's Up, was a thrill!

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Completely sold out show, by the way. I checked with the box office.

And Brian got a lengthy standing O after God Only Knows.

Jeff, Matt - do a fine job but neither can ever match Brian in his prime.

[The LEGENDARY OSD]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

Great show! Brian was loose, talkative and funny. Scott sang lead on Knockin I believe. I liked the Wall of Sound arrangement of Barbara Ann, with Scott and Brian doing a boogie woogie piano thing together on Brian's piano.

Seeing three Beach Boys on stage together with this band, the real deal! Al does a better Mike than Mike on Shut Down/Coupe. Bummed that they skipped Busy Doing Nothing. They did Sail Away, which was great. Blondie nailed it. Adding Runaway Dancer and cutting the two Friends songs, not a good idea.

I missed the Smile tour so seeing Brian do the greatest song of the rock era, in my opinion, Surf's Up, was a thrill!

The real deal is right, ORR! Al does an incredible lead on SD and LDC. So much better hearing him do them than a bleater who can't bleat anymore, thank heaven. 

[SurfRiderHawaii]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

Great show! Brian was loose, talkative and funny. Scott sang lead on Knockin I believe. I liked the Wall of Sound arrangement of Barbara Ann, with Scott and Brian doing a boogie woogie piano thing together on Brian's piano.

Seeing three Beach Boys on stage together with this band, the real deal! Al does a better Mike than Mike on Shut Down/Coupe. Bummed that they skipped Busy Doing Nothing. They did Sail Away, which was great. Blondie nailed it. Adding Runaway Dancer and cutting the two Friends songs, not a good idea.

I missed the Smile tour so seeing Brian do the greatest song of the rock era, in my opinion, Surf's Up, was a thrill!

The real deal is right, ORR! Al does an incredible lead on SD and LDC. So much better hearing him do them than a bleater who can't bleat anymore, thank heaven.  

This be true! Al can do a great "Mike voice" but a lot less nasally. Amazing how superb Al's voice remains!

[SMiLE Brian]

Al's voice on the Mike songs rules!

[Rocker]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

You mean the Little Richard tune "Keep a knockin'", don't you? Just to make sure that it's not a new song I haven't heard about yet.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

You mean the Little Richard tune "Keep a knockin'", don't you? Just to make sure that it's not a new song I haven't heard about yet.

Yes, Brian introduced it as one of Little Richard's best songs.

[joe_blow]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

At the River Rock Casino he described Surf's Up as a song he wrote in 1964 that feels like 10 minutes but is 3 minutes and 15 seconds.

[drbeachboy]

Completely sold out show, by the way. I checked with the box office.

And Brian got a lengthy standing O after God Only Knows.

Jeff, Matt - do a fine job but neither can ever match Brian in his prime.

Hmmmm, never saw Brian live in his prime. Since 1969, there has always been someone else singing his high parts.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Completely sold out show, by the way. I checked with the box office.

And Brian got a lengthy standing O after God Only Knows.

Jeff, Matt - do a fine job but neither can ever match Brian in his prime.

Hmmmm, never saw Brian live in his prime. Since 1969, there has always been someone else singing his high parts.

Me neither. Just what is on video and record.

[RBennett123]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

Great show! Brian was loose, talkative and funny. Scott sang lead on Knockin I believe. I liked the Wall of Sound arrangement of Barbara Ann, with Scott and Brian doing a boogie woogie piano thing together on Brian's piano.

Seeing three Beach Boys on stage together with this band, the real deal! Al does a better Mike than Mike on Shut Down/Coupe. Bummed that they skipped Busy Doing Nothing. They did Sail Away, which was great. Blondie nailed it. Adding Runaway Dancer and cutting the two Friends songs, not a good idea.

I missed the Smile tour so seeing Brian do the greatest song of the rock era, in my opinion, Surf's Up, was a thrill!

When Al started singing SD I did a triple take. His voice sounded so amazing that for a split second I thought it was a recording from the early 60's. Made up for the fact that he totally spaced on the lyrics for Then I Kissed Her. The people behind me got a good chuckle out of him singing "then I asked her to be my bride" for all 3 verses.

[drbeachboy]

Completely sold out show, by the way. I checked with the box office.

And Brian got a lengthy standing O after God Only Knows.

Jeff, Matt - do a fine job but neither can ever match Brian in his prime.

Hmmmm, never saw Brian live in his prime. Since 1969, there has always been someone else singing his high parts.

Me neither. Just what is on video and record.

Ok. Tough to compare two guys singing live to Brian singing in the studio, because he was in a league by himself, in my opinion.

[SurfRiderHawaii]

Completely sold out show, by the way. I checked with the box office.

And Brian got a lengthy standing O after God Only Knows.

Jeff, Matt - do a fine job but neither can ever match Brian in his prime.

Hmmmm, never saw Brian live in his prime. Since 1969, there has always been someone else singing his high parts.

Me neither. Just what is on video and record.

Ok. Tough to compare two guys singing live to Brian singing in the studio, because he was in a league by himself, in my opinion.

[RBennett123]

Here is my video.

Keep A Knockin/Surf's Up/The Right Time intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejl50mNvBIo&feature=youtu.be

[wantsomecorn]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

At the River Rock Casino he described Surf's Up as a song he wrote in 1964 that feels like 10 minutes but is 3 minutes and 15 seconds.

Brian's introductions to Surf's Up have been great all tour. At Ravinia, he went on a long tangent:

"This song is four minutes long, but it has about 20 years of music in it."

*audience laughter*

"...you know, I don't really know what that means."

*audience laughter*

"...actually, this is the one song I don't really like to sing. I like to sing every other song this show, but not really this one. But what are you going to do?"

*audience laughter, although more confused and hesitant*

Al: But Brian, this is from the Smile album, one of the best albums ever!

*audience applause*

Brian: Yeah, alright. Let's start the song.

[marcella27]

The show at Spirit Mountain was great last night! Have a video of You Keep a Knockin I'll post later. Best part of the night for me was Brian's monologue in between songs that had the audience cracking up. Describing Surfs Up :"I mean, the lyrics on this song are so poetic, like, you know, you can't even hear them they are so poetic".

Great show! Brian was loose, talkative and funny. Scott sang lead on Knockin I believe. I liked the Wall of Sound arrangement of Barbara Ann, with Scott and Brian doing a boogie woogie piano thing together on Brian's piano.

Seeing three Beach Boys on stage together with this band, the real deal! Al does a better Mike than Mike on Shut Down/Coupe. Bummed that they skipped Busy Doing Nothing. They did Sail Away, which was great. Blondie nailed it. Adding Runaway Dancer and cutting the two Friends songs, not a good idea.

I missed the Smile tour so seeing Brian do the greatest song of the rock era, in my opinion, Surf's Up, was a thrill!

The real deal is right, ORR! Al does an incredible lead on SD and LDC. So much better hearing him do them than a bleater who can't bleat anymore, thank heaven.  

This be true! Al can do a great "Mike voice" but a lot less nasally. Amazing how superb Al's voice remains!

Al's voice is absolutely in top form.  He sounded incredible in Toronto.  So sad I wasn't able to go to the Richmond show!

[pixletwin]

In SLC he introduced Surfs Up saying "here is a 4 minute song that feels like a 10 minute song".

[Emdeeh]

Who was singing lead on "You Keep a'Knockin"? Was that Scott?