Brian 'n' Al

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I know this probably isn't the right place on the board to discuss sort-of concert reviews, but no one seems to post or read the concert review section.  In any case, I went to see Brian at the Paramount in Oakland last night (Jan. 28).  I was skeptical about Al Jardine joining the band, but I have to say he is more than a plus to Brian's show.  Brian seems so much looser and happier in Al's presence.  Al also carries more vocals than I'd been led to believe, or perhaps he's doing more now than in earlier shows.  In addition to "And Then I Kissed Her" and "California Saga,"  he also did lead bits on "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Sloop John B.," "I Know There's An Answer," and almost all the lead on "Help Me Rhonda." 

I think Brian really gets off on having Al around.  When Brian sang "God Only Knows," during one singing of the line, "God only knows what I'd be without you," he pointed right at Al!  A real "awww" moment.  I hope Al continues to be in Brian's band, as he seems to get off on being with Brian, too.  Besides, what else does Al have to do? 

BTW, Rikki Fataar played drums during part of the encore.  A memorable night, to be sure.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Ricky was there?! Awesome!

[Rocker]

Ricky played with Brian in 2004, too, I think. I wonder how it came that he was there. But it's cool, 3 Beach Boys. Would love to hear that concert.

[Jonas]

Seriously! You lucky duck!

[Amy B.]

According to one review on the blueboard, Brian was having a very off night last night. Apparently Taylor and Darian each went over and rubbed his shoulders and whispered to him a couple of times, and he was rushing through the songs.
Did you see any of that? I hope he's continuing to have a good time.

[tpesky]

3 Beach Boys on a stage..that is a rarity in itself.  I hope Al continues to play with Brian too.  Any news on the summer shows, whether Al will be there or not. I wonder what Al thinks about being with Brian.  Who would have thought, over 45 years ago doing their first record, I bet they never would have believed it would be just the 2 of them on a stage in 2007 with a great band. playing a masterpiece live

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Amy, I think Brian was fine.  His voice was okay.  Not one of the best I've heard, but certainly far from worse (and considering he played his third gig in a few days, understandable).  His comments between songs were very chipper, so he was definitely in a good mood, and didn't seem to be rushing any more than he ever does.  His back may have been acting up, which I recall reading somewhere it does from time to time, and it has been really cold up here in Northern California.  It's funny, but when Darian came over to rub his back, Brian requested "a masseuse."  For some reason, he seems to prefer that Taylor do the honors, I don't know why . . .

Al looks ecstatic to be up onstage playing that music.  Considering he's been doing it on his own, it must be nirvana to be doing it with the guy who wrote and arranged it all, with a band that Al himself paid more than one compliment to in his comments.  I think Brian and Al are a real match.  How the politics behind the scenes play out, I don't know, because Al has more to deal with than just Brian.  But hopefully it's a good situation, and Al is being paid fairly as well.

[Rocker]

Someone who was at that concert told me that Al said that this was the best band he ever played with. Since I wasn't there and haven't heard an audio-recording, I can't say for sure if he really said that.

[Amy B.]

Someone who was at that concert told me that Al said that this was the best band he ever played with. Since I wasn't there and haven't heard an audio-recording, I can't say for sure if he really said that.

Better than the Beach Boys? When a certain other former BB said that, he got in a lot of hot water! 

[Rocker]

Someone who was at that concert told me that Al said that this was the best band he ever played with. Since I wasn't there and haven't heard an audio-recording, I can't say for sure if he really said that.

Better than the Beach Boys? When a certain other former BB said that, he got in a lot of hot water! 

I guess it's the way HOW you say it. If you say "My band is better than the Beach Boys have ever been" I can understand how people get mad, especially since it sounds like an direct insult to the Beach Boys. But when you say "I've never played with a better band" than you're talking about the backing group, not necessarily about the Beach Boys as a band.
Anyway, this might not make that much sense at all, so forgive me.
I agree with Al and Brian by saying that this is an unbelievable band, one of the best, if not the best in the business. But the Beach Boys' harmony-blend is something no one will ever come close.
I would love to hear more statements from Al about Brian's band though....

Back to the Brian-Al-concerts....

[Third Coast]

The San Diego show on Friday night was wonderful. Brian sang with the best voice I've ever heard him in concert (going back to the late '70s). Not perfect and not at all like the '60s, of course, but so much improved from the past and sung with confidence and, at times, ease.  Al also gave him a rubdown for a second after "Marcella." He looked a bit tired and yawned three or four times during the show. He didn't smile much, but one time he tried to cover up the yawn by smiling immediately afterward. It was funny.

Kind of ironic, I guess, that he got a massage after "Marcella."

And it was truly a joy to see Al again, first time for me in almost 20 years. His voice had changed almost not at all. The comment I read from Al, I believe on the blog on this site, was something more to the effect that he thought Brian finally had found the right chemistry for himself with this band and this point in life.

[voxnut]

A little late on the uptake with this one- I enjoyed the Oakland show, although I have to say that I think the other time I saw him at the San Francisco Smile show in 2004 was better. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if it was just me and the fact that in '04 I was caught up in Smile mania, or if there was a palpable difference in the performances. I think it was probably a little of both.

For this show I kinda felt like the band was sorta phoning it in a bit. There seemed to be more genuine joy and care in what they were doing when I saw the Smile show. Not that this one was bad at all- I think this band is incapable of being bad, but to me it was kind of missing that element X or extra oomph that happens when the band is clicking with each other on a telepathic level or something. Darien seemed tired, Foskett didn't seem like he was into it, the other members were playing fine, but the underlying vibe to me was that this was a good band band with a gig, doing a pro job, whereas the Smile show felt like a band in love with their leader.

The first set sounded good- Brians's between song banter was way more relaxed than the last time I had seen him and I was surprised at how funny he was. His voice was in pretty good form during this part.

Al came out and the place went nuts, so that was good to witness and be a part of. He took the guitar solo in "Do It Again" and the sound guy was asleep because you couldn't hear the first half of it.

They finished the first set, took a break and came back to do Pet Sounds. I was really having high hopes for this and this is the part of the gig that I felt sorta let down about. To me it kinda came across the same way the Stones doing Satisfaction does nowadays. Fine workingman rendition, but with not much emotional content invested. I don't know if the reason the band was so "on" during the Smile show was because it was uncharted territory and they knew that they were making history and everything felt fresh and interesting or if the Oakland show was just kind of an off night.

The basic vibe was that this would be the last performance of Pet Sounds ever and no one in the band was going to really miss doing it. The caveat here is that I acknowledge that I probably went into the evening expecting too much. I missed the Stockholm strings, although I full-well know that it would have been cost-prohibitive to fly them in and rehearse them for 3 dates. The arrangements around the string parts worked okay with out it, regardless.

I was surprised that Jeff Foskett didn't lend vocal support with the falsettos during any of Pet Sounds, so it made songs like "Don't Talk" a little rough because Brian was clipping words and really straining to hit some of that stuff, and the phrasing on the slow songs- Don't Talk, IJWMFTT, and Caroline No just felt meaningless because it was clear that he was just doing what he could to get through them and not really delivering the meaning of the lyrics. To me, those songs have always had a huge emotional impact because of how heartfelt the delivery was, so it was kind of a letdown - even going into it completely knowing and understanding that he couldn't sing them the same way he did 40 years ago. I thought he would figure out a different delivery that still gave the songs meaning and sadly the vocals on the slow stuff were just wooden, with a tangible sense of relief from Brian when those songs were over. I don't know if he insisted on singing them solo or what, but it probably wasn't the best choice. The band was solid, not sure I dug the extra sax/drum/timbali solos, but that's subjective. Overall, it was a pretty good, kind of pedestrian rendition of Pet Sounds.

The last set was okay, but the delivery was a bit too much on the cheesy side for me. To me it kinda felt like the Vegas version of Beach Boys songs or maybe even what the Mike n' Bruce show sounds like. Where during the first set, the band did their usual spot on arrangements, this one was much looser and sounded like a band that was hired to be a back up band rather than an integral part of showcasing was was great about Brian's 1960's output. Again, just a preference on my part. The crowd loved it and I was glad I was there, I just wasn't moved the same way I was when I saw them a couple of years ago.

I'm sorry that this comes across as so negative! I just think that with the Smile show ranking up in my top 10, possibly life-changing concert moments, I went into this wanting their rendition of Pet Sounds to have the same impact. I knew I shouldn't, but couldn't quite talk myself out of those hopes. Again, overall I'm glad I went, but I'm not so sure I need to see Brian live again.

Thanks for letting me voice my observations-
Dean

[the captain]

Someone who was at that concert told me that Al said that this was the best band he ever played with. Since I wasn't there and haven't heard an audio-recording, I can't say for sure if he really said that.

It amazes me that anyone would say otherwise. At least in the pop vein, I can't imagine a better group of musicians playing and singing live.

[Bicyclerider]

When Brian did the first Pet Sounds tour, the material was approached reverently - perhaps too much so - but the band attempted to do note perfect renditions of the songs, with an orchestra no less adding in parts from the record.  This time the band adopted a much looser, more live band interpretation of the material, with solos thrown in that to me destroyed some of the mood - they weren't bad, but it was jarring to hear these sax/drum solos and think - wait a minute, that wasn't in Pet Sounds.  But I guess it keeps the band from getting too bored playing this material for the umpteenth time.

[HighOnLife]

I can only imagine if Keith Moon was still alive and wanted to play with Brian Wilson.

You'd hear the drum solo from 'Won't Be Fooled Again' right into the intro for 'Wouldn't It Be Nice'. 

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voxnut/Dean, did you see the Pet Sounds tour back in 2000?  I managed to catch it twice, both at the Villa Montalvo in Saratoga here in the Bay Area and down at the Hollywood Bowl.  So, I saw it with a symphony (Bowl) and without (Montalvo).  Both shows were magical, although I'd give the edge to the Bay Area show, simply because Brian was more into it.  The Bowl had a larger, yet more indifferent, crowd.   But this latest show in no way compares to the way both Brian and the band did the material during the real Pet Sounds tour.  It was like watching Brian reconnect with his 24-year-old soul, and I actually preferred it to the Smile show.

I don't think Brian losing his edge this time versus 2000 was his fault.  It was his management's decision to have him tour Pet Sounds "for the final time."  I'm not sure what the point was, exactly.  I don't think Brian's heart was in it, and I don't blame him.  If he tours in the future, he needs new material, or at least new old material.  There wasn't a song in any of his sets this time that hasn't been performed before.  Brian is only human, and I think he's got some tin ears running his career, in spite of people who say how sensitive they are to Brian's needs, that no one else would manage him as well, etc.  It's actually a good sign that Brian gets bored, because it indicates he may welcome a challenge.  Or maybe welcome staying home and hanging out with his family and friends.  I think Brian's band is getting to that point, too.  But it's nice work if you can get it.  I went into the show feeling it wasn't going to be a grand slam, so it didn't disappoint me.  I knew it would still be fun, and ten times better than most shows out there, including the often-perfunctory Rolling Stones.

[Amy B.]

Wow... I didn't see the first Pet Sounds tour, so I can't compare the two.  I can say that at the 2006 show I saw (the Beacon), Brian was not bored. He didn't give the impression that he didn't want to do this or that this was pointless. To the contrary, he seemed relaxed and happy to be there. He seemed more relaxed than at the 2004 Smile show I saw-- by far.

 I don't know enough about the management to determine whether they told Brian to do this against his will, or whether they suggested it and Brian said yes enthusiastically, or whether Al's involvement had something to do with the decision.

I do know that just because the band may seem less into it (and again, I can't compare, but they seemed pretty great) does not make this an opportunity to bash Brian's management yet again, particularly when most people agree that Brian seems to get more relaxed with each outing. Plus, they're selling tickets. So maybe this wasn't a bad management decision, and maybe it just made everyone feel good to go out and do this Pet Sounds thing one more time.

[voxnut]

Forget Marie-

I didn't see the 2000 tour. At the time I was still a little bit unnerved by my perceptions of Brian being super uncomfortable onstage and felt like it would be uncomfortable to see that for myself. On the footage I had seen from the time, he'd be singing and do that zone out thing where his eyes just sorta glassed over and it looked like he'd checked out- even though the "voice" was still going. I wasn't sure if he was just sort of being trotted out against his will and all that. I do have regrets now, if only because it seems like it was given the kind of weight that I would have enjoyed. As much as I really like Smile, I love Pet Sounds.

I don't really know what to expect, or even about having expectations for Brian's future musical output. I kind of feel like now that Smile has a life of it's own, there's no real milestones for him to hit. If he just wants to hang out with his friends and family from here on out, that should be okay. I too used to lament the "what if's" and I know he was kind of lost in the woods for much of what we would consider prime years that it's easy as a fan to want him to pick up where he left off (and I know "where he left off" changes from person to person) but I think I'm okay if he just retires. I don't need a BBs reunion, or a new Brian Wilson record or a duet with another senior rock star.

I guess we'll see what happens in the future, eh?

Thanks for sharing your observations-
Dean 

[Glenn Greenberg]

Wow... I didn't see the first Pet Sounds tour, so I can't compare the two.  I can say that at the 2006 show I saw (the Beacon), Brian was not bored. He didn't give the impression that he didn't want to do this or that this was pointless. To the contrary, he seemed relaxed and happy to be there.

I was at the Beacon show too, Amy, and I agree with you fully.