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Author Topic: BW and band in Hampton Beach, NH  (Read 5797 times)
Wirestone
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« on: July 13, 2008, 08:41:50 PM »

Just back from Hampton Beach.

Quick hits.

-- Seven-member band, including Brian. Scott on drums, Probyn on bass, Gary G. on keys, Jeff and Nick on guitars.
-- Quick and dirty hits show, about 1 hour 40 minutes.
-- Goin' Home and Southern California the teases from TLOS.
-- Brian in excellent voice (as good as any time I've seen him live, and this is the 5th), sans prompter.
-- Brian not especially animated, although he lightened up as the show progressed.
-- A much more rock-band sounding show than you might expect.
-- Killer GOK performance. Afterward, Brian stood up and bowed.
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tonysurf
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« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2008, 11:02:43 AM »

Also was at Hampton Beach, I must admit to not being so much in the BW loop as I have been in the past - I knew that Jim Hines and Bob Lizik (spelling??) had left, but was surprised to see Scott on drums (he IS bloody talented!) and Probyn on bass, also no Darian (where is he?) Taylor or Paul Mertens, I must catch up on my gossip!

anyway, I enjoyed the show, always do, maybe not my favourite ever BW show mostly because the instrumentation wasnt there, you get spoiled having the stockholm strings and Saxophone and theremin/trumpet etc when the full lineup was there. I was very lucky that some guy got moved right near the stage and gave me his seats which were much nearer the stage than my own general admisssion tickets!

it had a bit more of a raw guitar based sound, keyboards were mixed so that you could hear the organ but not the piano real well, Probyn actually sang the theremin part on GV. but the band were tight and harmonies etc spot on as usual.

Brian was really as you expect at a concert, really involved at times, a bit zoned out at others - his vocals were pretty decent though, he got himself into a jam to begin 'catch a wave' where he pitched a little high to start but saved himself pretty well. he was wearing the yellow ralph lauren T shirt that he wore in some promo pics in the past few years. Jeff sang lead on "wouldnt it be nice" and shared lead on "then I kissed her" (Jeff's looking slimmer than I remember)

really enjoyed GOK, Add some music and All summer long - the 2 songs from the new album sounded really good, especially the finale "Southern California" am really looking forward to TLOS now

I'm writing this at work, so probably a bit random - but wanted to get this down while fresh!
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Wirestone
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« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2008, 11:42:07 AM »

Tony ... this is what I know of the band.


Darian has a job working for Disney, so he can't make every show, just most of them. He will be back soon.

Taylor had some other prior commitments, but she's still in the band.

Mickey D'Amico will be coming back to fill in for Jim Hines, who has departed. But in the meantime, we get Scott.

A new bassist has been drafted, I hear, but until he shows up we get Probyn. (Bob Lizik departed along with Jim, for reasons that no one knows.)

Paul Mertens could well be back too, since he arranged the TLOS string and horn parts. But I haven't heard anything definitive on him.

Since this is kind of a stripped-down hits tour, we get this small and unusual combo. I have to say, with the exception of Gary Griffin for Darian, I really kind of like it.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2008, 11:44:52 AM by claymcc » Logged
Wirestone
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« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2008, 11:45:59 AM »

These are my expanded thoughts on last night.

Rock band

In his later years, Ray Charles would appear in one of three formats for his live shows. With an orchestra, with a jazz band, or with a trio.

The show last night was Brian's version of a trio show. (The big Smile and TLOS events, complete with strings, are his versions of Ray's orchestra shows. The basic dozen-member shows are his jazz band. This was his trio.)

"The Magnificent Seven," Jeff called them.

The full band -- or at least a version of it -- will be back soon, certainly for the fall tour. But it was thrilling to see the small band, at least for me.

This was my fifth BW show. I first saw him live in Denver, Colo, in 2000. This was the first of several "Pet Sounds" live tours, the one that featured a Van Dyke Parks-arranged overture. That was a magical show, if a little stiff.

My second concert was his summer tour with Paul Simon, 2001 in Camden, NJ. A looser set, a shorter setlist, but with songs from Smile. And Brian seemed to be having a good time.

My third? The Smile show in Tampa, FL, in 2004. There, Brian was digging the music, but his band -- for once -- were the tired ones. But Smile as a performance piece was great, and I loved the unplugged --> electic --> symphonic format of the show.

Fourth show was another Pet Sounds once, this in 2006 in Boston, with Al joining the band. A rocking show, with a bit of setlist atrophy, but Al clearly made everyone step up.

So this is the fifth. The first show I've seen without Darian or Taylor or Jim or Bob or Paul. But you know what? They frigging rocked.

Two guitars, a bass, a keyboard, a drummer and a percussionist. That was it. And in front, Brian, singing like a man possessed.

Make no mistake -- BW can still sing. That voice cuts through the harmony like a knife through butter. I don't think I've heard him sound better. His duet with Jeff on "Then I Kissed Her?" great. The two big ballads -- GOK and Southern California? Impeccable.

Brian was not at his most animated. He looked tired. Exhausted actually -- with this being the third show in three straight days. But neither did he look uncomfortable. He was there with a job to do -- and that was to sing. And that's what he did.

Without a prompter. Another first for me.

Did he flub up more often than he does with a teleprompter? Sure. ("She was gonna be my man" in Help Me Rhonda. Heh.) Did that mean he looked around a lot more and got distracted? Sure. Did that make you want to hug him? Yep.

A tight little show. A tight little greatest hits show.

And there's the one real problem. The setlist. Oh lord, the setlist. I have seen more imaginative setlists on Beach Boys greatest hits collections. It was probably the right one for the crowd, but a couple of less obvious choices would have been appreciated. The deepest we got into rarities was "Add Some Music." Well, and the TLOS tracks.

But somehow, by the end of the show, the wonky setlist didn't matter. This was a rock show, by a rock band. They pulled it off. And now my ears hurt.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2008, 11:49:55 AM by claymcc » Logged
tonysurf
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« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2008, 12:39:14 PM »

Hey Thanks for the info clay! you are right I thought Brian looked tired too, but he did the job. also enjoyed the small band, they still produced a very full sound, vocally very rich still. I am pleased to hear that Darian, Paul and Taylor will return though -but may not have been much more room on that stage last night though!

good response for Nelson and Probyn, both local guys!

I was at the Boston show with Al too, that was probably my favourite of the 4 shows I've seen. but loved them all.
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Aegir
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« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2008, 04:22:27 PM »

Isn't Darian also on tour with the Zombies?
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« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2008, 04:27:33 PM »

He was for some shows in England but not now.

I was also at the Hampton show (if you saw a girl with a Wondermints shirt one, that was me!) and I had a fantastic time at the show as well. I was very close to the stage and Brian rocked and so did the band! The people who were angry about the show should put a sock in it. It was told it was going to be a GH show for a while and it was cool to see them as a half band. It is making me very excited for when the whole band does TLOS soon!!
« Last Edit: July 14, 2008, 04:31:01 PM by SurferGirl7 » Logged
pancakerecords
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« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2008, 09:02:11 AM »

I was at the Hammerstein Ballroom benefit show, and here are my general thoughts:

I like nothing better then hearing fully fleshed out versions of Brian Wilson's pop-symphonic masterpieces.  His full band, with the addition of the Stockholm Strings & Horns, can do it like nobody else.  But, while this concert will never match SMiLE at Carnegie Hall or the Pet Sounds orchestra shows, it was far from disappointing.  I was surprised to see the abbreviated lineup, but they certainly held their own.  I figured the missing members had prior commitments.  I am generally not a fan of "greatest hits" shows, but since that's not usually the Brian Wilson Band's style, this was a fun departure.  Those brilliant arrangements are only part of the history of a songwriter who, let's face it, started his career by stealing mercilessly from Chuck Berry.  This was a rock & roll show, plain and simple.  Under normal circumstances, the band plays with the delicate touch and precision that Brian's best pieces require, really only getting to "rock" during the encores.  At the show, they got to do it basically all night.  And while Al Kooper's "Caroline, No" vocal may not have been all it could have, his organ solo on "Help Me, Rhonda" more than made up for it. 

Suffice it to say that, after a dozen or more Brian Wilson shows, this one was a good time.  As long as it remains the exception to the rule, I have no problems with the occasion "sun & surf" hits show.
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