The New York State fair

[lostbeachboy]

Anybody live around Syracuse that's going to the show Friday??

[Generation42]

I'll be there!

Last year I enjoyed Brian and Co. with my daughter and mum at the State Fair.  This year, my wife will be accompanying the little one and I.  Other than experiencing the mind blowing C50 tour in 2012 (Darien Lake), this will be my first time seeing Mike/Bruce onstage since, oh... 2004?    Looking forward to it!

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

I'll be there-- my first time seeing M&B outside of the C50. I figure a State Fair gig will have lots of good energy. I kind of wanted to be all butthurt superfan about it-- I'll still tell anyone who'll listen that it's "not the real Beach Boys"-- but hey, it's still a Beach Boy(s).

[lostbeachboy]

I'll be hanging around the busses trying to get my autographs. I maybe wearing a beach boys t shirt if anyone wants to say hi. Short 30ish yr old with hair pulled back

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

I'll be hanging out around the fried dough-- drunk, fat, early 30s

[lostbeachboy]

I'll be hanging out around the fried dough-- drunk, fat, early 30s

Hahaha

[ppk700]

I'll certainly be there. Next step is getting them to play the Lakeview Amphitheater here.

Surely it'll be a greatest hits setlist, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll play at least a couple "deeper" (use that word loosely) cuts.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

I'll certainly be there. Next step is getting them to play the Lakeview Amphitheater here.

Surely it'll be a greatest hits setlist, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed they'll play at least a couple "deeper" (use that word loosely) cuts.

I'm expecting nothing but a tight band and some dancing and singing along.

Oh, right-- I'll further be identifiable from my loud, drunken singing. Short hair, goatee, fat, drunk, singing loudly and badly, early 30s. That's me, say hi.

[MarcellaHasDirtyFeet]

Oh, good- Pisces Brother. I was worried they weren't going to play it. The crowd is just riveted

[marcella27]

Oh, good- Pisces Brother. I was worried they weren't going to play it. The crowd is just riveted

I was there too. I was so pleased that they dropped Wild Honey from the setlist but kept Pisces Brother. It's a real crowd pleaser.

[lostbeachboy]

Get rid of ballad of ole Betsy, why do fools fall in love, Pisces brothers. And put in this car of mine, Wendy and all summer long.

[marcella27]

I saw them in London in May (I happened to be in the UK) and I have to say, the setlist was really impressive.  They played for three full hours (with an intermission) and they played All I Wanna Do, Lady Lynda, several songs from Pet Sounds, Aren't You Glad, Wild Honey, etc...

The setlist last night was disappointing in comparison.  My husband also commented that it lacked cohesiveness.  They seemed to jump from one type of song to another in a way that seemed random. 

The other thing that to me is SO WEIRD about this tour is the video.  Don't get me wrong, I think it's generally really well done and I love watching it.  But it's so crazy to be looking at these shots of Brian and Al, and the whole thing is filled with a sense of nostalgia, but it's like...um, Mike, you know you actually could be on stage with these guys right now (if you had any sense), right? 

[Pretty Funky]

Sssssshhhh........The audience aren't supposed to know that!

[baseball95]

Here's a review
http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/08/beach_boys_nys_fair_review.html

Also i shutter at the thought of Foskett singing God Only Knows as the reviewer suggests, love his voice but not on that song.

[Generation42]

Sssssshhhh........The audience aren't supposed to know that!

From the looks of things, I'm guessing most of them didn't. 

Anywho, it was a fun night.  It was, of course, never going to be the same as it was in 2012 (and it didn't even feel quite as special to me as seeing BW at the same gig last year).  But the crowd was grooving, Mike was jovial, the band was tight and (as pointed out in the review linked above) once the musicians hit their stride, the tunes were delivered pretty darned well.  You can't take that away from them.

It was my wife's first time seeing the group perform live in any iteration, and -- though she's hip to what is missing without the addition of (at the very least) Brian -- she seemed to really enjoy it.  My six year-old daughter spent the majority of the show up on my shoulders, and she sang her little heart out during "California Girls," "...Rhonda," GV and... yup, "Kokomo."

So yeah, a splendid time for all.  Even if (at least for this fan) the fun, fun, fun I was having was still inseparably intertwined with thoughts of what might have been.

*sighs*

"C'est la guerre."

[marcella27]

I'll be hanging around the busses trying to get my autographs. I maybe wearing a beach boys t shirt if anyone wants to say hi. Short 30ish yr old with hair pulled back

Just wondering - did you speak to a woman wearing a Beach Boys shirt (with the Indian on horseback) at the merch table?  If so, that was me.