Al Jardine - 2025 Tour Thread (Plus Archived 2018-2024)

[Zenobi]

Great interview, thanks. Al is such a chill and humble guy. He has the calm of the really great.

[Rocker]

Posted on May 29, 2024 by UCR
Al Jardine & His Endless Summer Band

Al Jardine & His Endless Summer Band • May 25, 2024 • Scera Shell Outdoor Theater

Reviewed and Photographed by Josilyn Wakkuri Lybbert


https://utahconcertreview.com/al-jardine-his-endless-summer-band/?

[Zenobi]

Thanks Rocker!
Damn, Al was very ill. Let us all hope it is nothing serious and he has a speedy recovery. We love you, Al, yes we do!

[Rocker]

What is this?!


Beach Boys' Al Jardine Hollers as Process Server Hands Him Six-Figure Lawsuit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dXl2IFZvyc


https://radaronline.com/p/beach-boys-al-jardine-reacts-as-process-server-hands-him-lawsuit/

[rab2591]

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,28495.0.html

Good discussion here on what exactly the papers were for. Wonder if we'll get an update about this soon.

[HeyJude]

Updated the top post with the rest of the 2024 setlists so far.

Looks like the Big Sur gig had some interesting tracks.

[Tony S]

Wow would have loved to have been at that show to see the beaks of eagles alone. Also good to hear some of the new materials being performed live which would lead me to believe that will be released at some point.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Re Al's Big Sur concert... First live performances of Beaks of Eagles ever. Yep, that's pretty cool! And some new material, nice!

I didn't know the cover called "Crumple Car" so I plugged it into YouTube and this song came up. Looks like it's from a surf-themed movie called Big Wednesday from 1978. (IMDB synopsis: "Character study about the lives of some California surfers from the early 1960s to the 1970s as the Vietnam War interrupts their carefree life.") Is this well-known to BB fans? Any BB connections?

This song sounds perfect for Al's voice and style in every way; I can really 'hear' him doing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ttm0SCo6w

[Rocker]

This song sounds perfect for Al's voice and style in every way; I can really 'hear' him doing it.

You may do so here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsUPhTnNMFs

[HeyJude]

Added 12/17 and 12/18 dates to the top post schedule.

[Rocker]

Al and Dave:


Announcing a rare show of Al Jardine performing with David Marks and the Surf City Allstars (including Matt Jardine), July 20th at the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, NY. Tickets now available (see link in first comment below)

The Surf City All Stars with Al Jardine & David Marks
Riviera Theatre
North Tonawanda, NY



https://www.aljardine.com/shows

[HeyJude]

Added the July Surf City All Stars gig as well as the March benefit show to the schedule in the top post of the thread.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Exciting news just announced that Al Jardine will indeed tour with Brian's band, billing themselves as the Pet Sounds Band. That's a clever way around the legal hangups.

Rolling Stone article linked below. (I can't get past the paywall but maybe someone else can?)

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/al-jardine-tour-brian-wilson-band-1235295225/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJFLQZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYfHuXtAfiveGsggWuoWSRUC_dbRffiR_XWmKPzVcQfSE26gg7oB5vKk4A_aem_p2CL8XJ9QYoazZSyUcqI9w

[jeremylr]

Al Jardine Is Going on Tour With Brian Wilson’s Longtime Band

Billed as "The Pet Sounds Band," Jardine and the group are planning a show that mixes hits with overlooked Seventies Beach Boys gems

Written by Andy Greene for Rolling Stone
March 17, 2025


A new era of Beach Boys history will begin this summer when Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band launch what they hope will be their inaugural tour. The Pet Sounds Band is a new name for longtime members of Brian Wilson‘s backing group, who have been inactive since Wilson stopped performing in 2022.

“I’ve been gathering up the troops, Brian’s excellent band,” Jardine, who played with the group alongside Wilson for the better part of the past two decades, tells Rolling Stone. “We’re all just dying to get back to work, and I thought I’d take the reins.”

The exact lineup has yet to be determined, but it’s likely to include keyboardist Darian Sahanaja, drummer Michael D’Amico, bassist Bob Lizik, vocalist/percussionist Matt Jardine, pianist Gary Griffin, guitarist Rob Bonfiglio, horn player Paul Von Mertens, and keyboardist Debbie Shair. (Longtime multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory has already committed to “Weird Al” Yankovic’s summer tour. Early Seventies Beach Boys member Blondie Chaplin, who was a part of Wilson’s touring unit from 2013 to 2022, has yet to sign on, but Jardine hopes he’ll take part.)

Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band aren’t ready to announce dates yet, but Jardine says shows will run through June, July, and August. As for the set list, he’s planning a mixture of classic Beach Boys hits with a large sampling of songs from the overlooked Seventies albums 15 Big Ones, The Beach Boys Love You, and M.I.U Album, which are being assembled into a box set later this year. “There’s a lot of material to draw from that people haven’t heard before,” Jardine says. “And we’re going to have some fun.”

Part of that fun will include the use of archival Beach Boys footage projected on screens. “When Debbie and Matt and I went out as a trio some years ago, we had a video component that was very effective and very helpful,” says Jardine. “I could discuss a particular song or a particular time or a memory that I had of something and share it with the audience. It helped set up the songs and the environment for the next song. And we’re going to have to find some fresh video, of course, and maybe get a testimonial from Brian.”

The initial thought was to call the show something like “The Brian Wilson Band Presented by Fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine,” but there was concern that would confuse the audience. “I don’t want people to think that if I say it’s the Brian Wilson Band, that they might think Brian’s going to be there,” Jardine says. “I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on him.”

It was the idea of Al’s son, Matt Jardine, to call the group the Pet Sounds Band since these are the musicians that played Pet Sounds with Wilson at countless concerts over the years. There’s talk of a possible Pet Sounds 60th anniversary tour next year, but a proposed setlist Jardine shared with Rolling Stone includes only “God Knows Knows,” “Sloop John Be,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” from the album.

But fans can expect staples like “California Girls,” “Do It Again,” and “I Get Around,” along with tracks from 1977’s The Beach Boys Love You like “Roller Skating Child,” “Honkin’ Down the Highway,” “Dang Dang,” and “The Night Was So Young.”

Most of the songs haven’t been performed by the Beach Boys since the late Seventies, and “The Night Was So Young” has never been done at any point. “I’m a little nervous about it,” Jardine admits. “It’s going to take a lot of vocal rehearsal. We might even do ‘Good Time.’ Brian and I wrote that one together in a couple of minutes. It’s one of my favorite tunes we ever did together. The band and I are going to share vocals on all these songs, and I’ve already threatened Darian that he might have to do ‘Johnny Carson.'” (Wilson’s salute to The Tonight Show host is an oddity of the Beach Boys’ catalog. Sample lyrics: “He sits behind his microphone/Johny Carson/He speaks in such a manly tone.”)

The original version of “Ding Dang” is a mere 58 seconds of whimsy. Jardine has written a new chorus and verse to stretch it out into a proper song. “I hope that doesn’t offend fans,” he says. “But it really is hilarious. At one point, I literally wanted to call this the Ding Dang Tour.”

Other deep cuts in the proposed setlist are “Susie Cincinnati” from 1970’s Wildflower, “It’s Okay” from 1976’s 15 Big Ones, and “Peggy Sue,” “She’s Got Rhythm,” and “Come Go With Me” from 1978’s M.I.U. Album.

They’re also working up the title track to Islands in the Sun, a four-song digital EP Jardine is releasing in the coming weeks. “It has several different kinds of music on it,” he says. “I have a testimonial to my favorite songwriters of the Fifties, Leiber and Stoller, called ‘Highway 101.’ I also have a song with Neil Young that I like a lot called ‘My Plane Leaves Tomorrow.’ We recorded it together when I did my [2010 solo album] Postcard From California. I thought, ‘Well, that didn’t fit the theme for that album very well.’ But it resonates now with the political unrest over in the Middle East. It’s about a service person who goes overseas and has to serve his country.”

These are the kinds of stories behind the songs that Jardine plans on sharing from the stage on tour, something he rarely was given a chance to do on tour with Wilson. “I have a wealth of really good stories to tell, and it’s always fun to talk about the band and about our legacy,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun, especially when you have video to back it up. It’s just a complete show that way. And in the past, Brian was always in a rush to finish the show, so I was lucky to get a few words out. Just to describe something, it would be a luxury. But now we have the luxury of time.”

At age 82, however, Jardine doesn’t consider this a long-term proposition. “I don’t think my voice will be that great in my 90s, but you never know,” he says. “I know that it’s Mike’s ambition to be doing this at 102.”

But when the two founding members of the Beach Boys eventually join Wilson in retirement, Jardine hopes the group will live on. “Why not? My son Matt and [Mike’s son] Christian Love both have great voices,” he says. “It would be on a different level than now. But it would still be doable because the music is the star of the show.”

[Rocker]

Ding dang!! 


This is cool. And how ironic that quite, constantly overlooked Al will have what many consider to be one of the best bands in the business backing him up. Maybe, just maybe, it will lead to one or two high profile gigs. Al certainly would deserve that imo.

[NOLA BB Fan]

Al mentioned that The Night Was So Young hadn’t been ever performed by The Beach Boys.
However, Brian and his band did perform it, at least during the early portion of the Pet Sounds tour. I remember hearing it at the Saenger in New Orleans in early 2017.
Wish I could get to one of these upcoming shows.

[HeyJude]

It'll be interesting to see how substantive this tour turns out to be in terms of both volume of shows and the types of venues/markets it hits. There has already been plenty of discussion in the past about how much such a show would cost to put on versus the type of venues Al would typically be able to book.

There have been interviews/articles/press releases over the years about projects that never come to pass, so I'll wait for an actual schedule before I assume anything.

[juggler]

I, for one, am glad to see Al taking Brian's guys back on the road, and i'll happily attend one of their shows if I'm reasonably near one.

The Pet Sounds Band is a little hokey but it's more accurate than if they had gone with some variant of Surf/Summer/Beach.  Something arcane like the Radiant Radish Revival or the Dumb Angel Orchestra or the Bellagio Road Crew might have been more fun for the hardcore fan but would likely have baffled the wider audience. 

[Don Malcolm]

Definitely ready to attend this--the mix of songs looks to be wonderfully offbeat, with just enough of the hits to keep that segment of the audience happy and some inspired meandering through the shallower end of the deep cuts. In that vein: Al, Matt, etal--if you happen to be lurking, I think we're all in for a revival of "Take A Load Off Your Feet"!!  (We definitely need some extra whimsy this summer!)

[HeyJude]

Al hasn’t even approached all of the musicians, yet he says he’ll be on the road in June? The financials and logistics of this don’t seem likely to result in what I think the article is implying, which is that come June we’ll see a Brian Wilson-scale tour (in terms of number of dates and venues), only with Al leading the band. We’re potentially weeks out from the point at which you’d think they’d need to start booking dates and selling tickets (not to mention rehearse) and yet we’re still in “I hope Blondie will come along!” status?

I’m the biggest fan of Al around, but I don’t think what a lot of fans seem to be thinking this is going to be (again, a Brian Wilson-level tour, just with Al fronting the band) is what it actually is going to end up being. It’s going to have to be scaled back on some if not all fronts. Smaller venues, less dates, less musicians, etc. Will this actually end up being more like essentially what he’s doing now, which is scattered “Endless Summer Band” gigs, only with a few people from Brian’s band added? And maybe a deeper-cut setlist?

I tend to think this new article is less about *announcing* a tour that is ready to go, and more about drawing attention and publicity so that actually putting this tour together can gain some traction/momentum.

Whatever Al does, I’ll be first in line to see it. I hope even if he only does scattered dates, he can get the gigs recorded well and do a live album.

[Tony S]

I love Al, and of course Brian's Band is amazing. I remember Al initially saying that they were going to test the waters with a few dates here and there, like 2 or 3, and see how it progresses. That sort of makes sense to me, because from a ticket sales perspective alone, it might be tough to sell enough tickets to pay the band, stage guys etc.... Especially if they're in really small venues. It's akin to this, here in NJ, we have 3 very nice music venues in Red Bank; The Count Basie Theater which seats north of 2,000, and which Brian and the guys have played a few times over the years and sold lots of tickets near or at sell out, The Vogel next door, which only seats a few hundred and is more of a tables on the floor set up, and the 2 River Theater which only seats a couple of hundred. I'm guessing Al and the guys may go for the Vogel, and that may not pay the bill. But who knows, I now that wherever they are near me, I'll do my best to attend!

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

Sadly, agree with you 100% HeyJude. The article headline got me excited, but on a second read it vastly oversells how far along the plan is.

Most decent-sized venues have already started booking summer shows and selling tickets... I've actually bought tickets to two summer shows already, including to see Mike's Beach Boys who will be coming to NYC's Town Hall in June. Al is clearly nowhere near ready to do that. More likely it will be 'sporadic dates here and there', which will limit which musicians can be there and can zigzag around the country for likely not much of a payoff.

[MyDrKnowsItKeepsMeCalm]

To end on a slightly more hopeful note though, when I saw Al in 2018 he was able to get quite a rich band sound out of himself and just two other musicians. I can imagine a band somewhere in between that size and Brian's full band still delivering quite a show.

[rab2591]

The Pet Sounds Band is a little hokey but it's more accurate than if they had gone with some variant of Surf/Summer/Beach.  Something arcane like the Radiant Radish Revival or the Dumb Angel Orchestra or the Bellagio Road Crew might have been more fun for the hardcore fan but would likely have baffled the wider audience. 

Agreed. The name is kinda snappy though, I like that they didn't try to get too creative. Though I would've been stoked had they used any of the names you came up with. And The Pet Sounds Band is probably close enough to Beach Boys lingo to invite at least one lawsuit from you know who. Some ambulance chaser is already pouring over the language in the article trying to make a case out of this

All that aside, I'm happy to hear this news. I hope so much that Darien and the gang do something in the coming years. They have way too much talent and I'd love to see some projects from them.

[Pretty Funky]

Brian Wilson, so-so voice and a dislike of touring, has proven there is a demand still for more non-surf Beach Boy music on the tour circut. Could Al, with his better voice, continue with Brians band...minus Brian but with his blessing?

…and if it happens, it only took 19 years! 🤭