Brian at The China Club in 1991

[GoodVibrations33]

Haven't seen this in ages... Surfer Girl used to be on YouTube but it's been off for a while.  So glad the entire thing is on there now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWg9LRZILo4

Anyone know any info on this?

[Bittersweet-Sanity]

Not the best performance but Brian seemed to be in good spirits. "Everyone looks so good under the lights. We're all stars, you know. All of us"  

From AGD's timeline page http://esquarterly.com/bellagio/bbtimeline.html: 1991 January Brian plays an 11-song set at the China Club in LA, backed by the house band, with Don Was guesting (28th)

Sounds like this was a private party related to Brian's book. Some dude (Todd Gold?) midway thru says "most of you out there were involved, whether reading the book or offering opinions...in some way everyone here is very involved w/ Brian and me or Dr. Landy." At the start, the same guy says something about "the autobiography of Brian Wilson".

From Entertainment Weekly http://www.ew.com/article/1991/02/15/brian-wilsons-unexpected-concert:

The irony was inescapable. On Jan. 28, Brian Wilson’s daughters, Carnie and Wendy, wowed a star-studded audience as they performed with their smash-hit group, Wilson Phillips, at the American Music Awards show in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, across town at Hollywood’s trendy China Club, Wilson himself — the severely troubled 48-year-old guru of the Beach Boys — made a rare live appearance, singing what might have passed as lounge versions of Beach Boys classics for a generally inattentive crowd.

Wilson’s set was poignant, though frequently uncomfortable. His band included some of L.A.’s hottest musicians, among them the past year’s most in-demand producer, Don Was. Wilson began with the Beach Boys’ ”Surfer Girl,” visibly straining to hit some of the high notes. Later he invited ”anyone with a guitar and amp” to come onstage and ”join the biggest jam in the history of the world.” That sounded like a joke — but he honestly looked puzzled when no one stepped forward.

There were magic moments, including a heartbreaking take on the Beach Boys’ ”In My Room,” which will always rank as the shy, awkward Wilson’s most touching plaint. He sang one new song, ”Spirit of Rock & Roll,” from his in-progress second solo album, which is tentatively titled Sweet Insanity and which will feature a duet with Bob Dylan.

After the show, Wilson said he felt ”loved and accepted, which I don’t feel often in my life.” His controversial therapist, Eugene Landy, who — or so charge some of Wilson’s associates — turned him into a virtual prisoner, was nowhere in sight. Added a veteran rock photographer: ”Fifteen years ago, he couldn’t walk ) and talk at the same time. I think the fact he actually got up in front of an audience and performed is a miracle.”

From the L.A. Times http://articles.latimes.com/1991-01-30/entertainment/ca-226_1_pop-comeback: He Gets Around: Beach Boy Brian Wilson continued his much publicized pop comeback with a frisky but ragged 11-song set at Hollywood's China Club on Monday night. Sitting in with the house band, Wilson performed six Beach Boys classics (including "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations"), two newer songs, two Phil Spector-produced hits ("Be My Baby" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling") and Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode." Wilson's re-emergence after a long battle with drug and emotional problems was highlighted by the release of his 1988 solo debut album. A second album, which he said will be called "Sweet Insanity," is being finished now. In a backstage interview after the show, Wilson said of the crowd's warm reception, "I felt loved and accepted, which I don't feel often in my life."

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

His band included some of L.A.’s hottest musicians, among them the past year’s most in-demand producer, Don Was.

Huh....the backing band sounded real bad to me.

And is it playing on just one speaker for everyone, or are my headphones f***ed?

[seltaeb1012002]

Damn, Brian played the entirety of Surfin' USA half a key higher than the rest of the band.

[seltaeb1012002]

Sidenote: Very cool to hear Brian doing the "middle" part at the end of Good Vibrations. Never heard that isolated before.

His band included some of L.A.’s hottest musicians, among them the past year’s most in-demand producer, Don Was.

Huh....the backing band sounded real bad to me.

And is it playing on just one speaker for everyone, or are my headphones f***ed?

Yup one speaker here as well.

[adamghost]

A guy posted in comments saying it wasn't the China Club, and I'm pretty sure that's correct.

[GoodVibrations33]

A guy posted in comments saying it wasn't the China Club, and I'm pretty sure that's correct.

Yea, that's gotta be right because the video doesn't really jive with the reviews Bittersweet-Sanity posted.

[Autotune]

Ummm. He played two solo sets back then in a short time span. Couldn't find it in the Bellagio site, although it may be there probably (was it Hard Rock Cafe?).

And yes, the bi-tonal Surfin' USA was among the most bizarre performances in BW history.

[doc smiley]

I knew what to expect and that was still painful! 

[bgas]

Ummm. He played two solo sets back then in a short time span. Couldn't find it in the Bellagio site, although it may be there probably (was it Hard Rock Cafe?).

Concentrate!! Try to remember some details...
 The 2nd set is not on Bellagio OR included in th IN Concert book. And this YouTube is defintely NOT the China Club show , as the song selection is almost entirely different.

[Coda Hall]

I was surprised Brian could sing Wouldn't It Be Nice and hit most of the notes!

[Wirestone]

An interesting show. Not exactly great, but a very different version of the performing Brian. Remember, BW's first full solo shows were only about eight years later.

Landy's idea was to have BW be the main instrumentalist and bandleader -- but that clearly led to some shortcomings in presentation. And it's bizarre to have no backing vocals at all for someone known, above all, for vocal harmony.

By the time the full tour came along, Brian's role had been changed to be simply lead vocalist and occasional MC, with a band that does a lot of vocal harmony work. It's a format that allowed him to do 2 hour-plus shows -- no way he would have played lead keys for that amount of time -- and the addition of folks like Foskett made it less essential that he hit every note.

You gained a format for the touring BW that has proved amazingly durable -- and he did start playing keys again, although it took him several years. But imagine a world where this was the version of touring Brian we got -- 40-minute shows, odd patter, his piano leading.

[ash]

Zoinks that's pretty distressing to watch.   

[Shane]

Surfin' USA.  OMG.  That's up with there with "Can't Stop Talkin' About American Girls" or whatever it's called.

[HeyJude]

I remember the first time I saw this years ago, “Surfin’  USA” was definitely the “Did that really just happen?” moment. I don’t think (with the exception of perhaps some questionable Eddie Van Halen concert videos on YouTube a few years back)  I’ve ever seen someone play a song in a different key than the rest of the band for the ENTIRE song. I can only hope/assume in order to but everybody involved some slack that they had no monitoring system and they couldn’t really hear each other well enough. I wonder if anybody who worked on the L&M film knew of this videotape. That could have been a good way to work in how F-ed up Landy had Brian. 

Clearly Brian was not ready at that stage to even play a quick, sparse, impromptu live show in someone’s back yard. The backing band don’t sound so hot either. And as Wirestone mentioned, it just sounds weird to do BB/Brian songs, *WITH* a backing band, but without any backing vocals.

Clearly, little or no rehearsal took place. Truly, especially back then, it would have made for more sense for a solo performance from Brian. I’ve always been frustrated by the various little TV news pieces where they show Brian just playing piano and singing by himself. Those bits often sound great, and I’d love to just hear more of that. I’d love to have an album of that sort of stuff. 

[Autotune]

Now, is this really a house band? Isn't Don Was playing bass?

[bgas]

Now, is this really a house band? Isn't Don Was playing bass?

couldn't make out the name of the guitar player, Dallas Taylor on Drums, right? and Don Was.
Wouldn't seem to be a house band, unless they only play at that house...  But WHOSE house was it?

[HeyJude]

I remember before I actually saw the video, someone described it as having either Berton Averre (The Knack) or Elliot Easton (The Cars) on guitar. Not being able to look at the YouTube clip at this moment and having not seen the video in years, I can’t remember for sure who it was on guitar.

[petsoundsnola]

For all of its faults, that's the most I've ever seen Brian playing piano in any public performance.

[Lonely Summer]

Very rough, but would've been nice to see this approach developed further. The flaw in Brian's current shows is not having his piano as part of the mix. I'd settle for a few 'unplugged' songs mid-show with just Brian alone at his piano.

[Robbie Mac]

Now, is this really a house band? Isn't Don Was playing bass?

couldn't make out the name of the guitar player, Dallas Taylor on Drums, right? and Don Was.
Wouldn't seem to be a house band, unless they only play at that house...  But WHOSE house was it?

It's Run's house.

[Shane]

Have to admit, Brian's piano playing is pretty solid here.

[bgas]

Now, is this really a house band? Isn't Don Was playing bass?

couldn't make out the name of the guitar player, Dallas Taylor on Drums, right? and Don Was.
Wouldn't seem to be a house band, unless they only play at that house...  But WHOSE house was it?

It's Run's house.

Run?

[metal flake paint]

Brian's really in his element playing "Rhapsody in Blue."

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Very rough, but would've been nice to see this approach developed further. The flaw in Brian's current shows is not having his piano as part of the mix. I'd settle for a few 'unplugged' songs mid-show with just Brian alone at his piano.

For what it's worth, Brian's piano was audible at the Austin show playing Love and Mercy (him and Darian were playing).