Oct 20th. David Leaf .. BW RFH SMiLE performance first ever video showing....!?

[JakeH]

I attended the UCLA screening. What was on the screen, in terms of visuals and sound seemed fine to me; very good and very enjoyable performance.  I don't see why David Leaf or whoever else wouldn't want to put this out at some point.  Brian is seen playing keyboard at various spots in the performance, including, notably, a part on Wind Chimes, where he is closing his eyes, which is kind of interesting, since closing your eyes is what's going on in that song.

Also: (1) there's a part in the finished "Beautiful Dreamer" documentary where there's a cut to Van Dyke Parks, getting a little emotional at the end of the full performance of Smile. Unless I'm not getting something or blinked wrong, in this version, that moment actually occurs at the end of the second movement, when "Surf's Up" finishes. I can see why Leaf would re-cut it for the original documentary - it's good footage, but it would confuse the casual viewer of the documentary to be shown that in the middle of the performance. But seeing it as it happened actually makes more sense.  (2) Smile, Ive gradually come to realize over the years, is indeed very religious music, as Brian originally intended. Seeing this video reinforced that, for various reasons. This leads to any number of further questions, but of course, as the subsequent Q&A illustrated, Brian ain't talking. I get the feeling he's done talking, done trying to explain himself.  The Q&A was sort of absurd, given what we had just seen.  I felt that we, in the audience, were the absurd ones, not Brian Wilson.