Review of David Marks show presented by ESQ

[miamidan]

I was privileged to have attended the Benefit Show for the Cornelius Animal Shelter in Charlotte, NC this past Saturday evening just north of Charlotte, NC.  The show was organized and promoted by David Beard of Endless Summer Quarterly Magazine.  This was a first class event in every respect.  Upon arrival, VIP ticket purchasers received a "goody bag" replete with a Marty Rudnick cd, both recent ESQ Dennis Wilson tribute cd's (each autographed by David Marks), and a limited edition orange vinyl 45 of Brian Wilson's "Midnight's Another Day" autographed by Nelson Bragg, as well as other surprise treats.

After dinner with the musicians, more attendees arrived for an hour or so of socializing with the musicians prior to the show.  By the time the musicians hit the stage, the small venue looked to be near its capacity.  The first performer was a local musician (Josh ?, sorry - can't recall his last name), who sang the Barenaked Ladies' "Brian Wilson", accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.  Then DP2, another local band who had contributed a track to the latest ESQ DW tribute cd, performed a 5 song set of original material before yielding the stage to the Chris English Band.  Chris and his band turned in a blistering set that included a couple of songs co-written by Chris and David Beard, and was capped off by a great song that will be included on Chris's soon to be released cd - which is now a "must have" for anyone who was in attendance.

The moment that everyone was there for came when David Marks and Nelson Bragg took the stage as the evening's headline act.  They would not disappoint.  Nelson was slated to play acoustic guitar (reportedly for the first time before an audience) as well as percussion, and according to Carrie Marks, both he and David were slightly nervous before the show, having never performed in a setting quite like this one, where the people in the front row could literally reach out and touch the mic stands.  If either of them was nervous, though, it certainly didn't show in either their performances or their completely relaxed stage presence.  Their approximately 30 song set was kicked off with the Chris Montez classic "Let's Dance", and was followed primarily with songs by the Beach Boys as well as assorted tunes from David Marks's post-BB career.  David and Nelson were later joined onstage by Jez Graham, who had made the trip from Atlanta with his keyboard, and the bassist and drummer from the Chris English Band.  It was to some degree an impromptu set, with David calling out the chord progressions to the musicians on a few occasions, and even stopping the music a couple of times (saying that Al Jardine does it all the time) to consult with them on the arrangement.  Mid-song during "Love and Mercy", David paused to ask the audience to help him with the lyrics.  One of the many highlights of the show was David's torrid lead guitar riffs on "Summertime Blues".  A couple others were Nelson's beautiful vocal on "God Only Knows", and the show's closing number, "Do You Wanna Dance", which had been played earlier in the evening, but Nelson announced that he had "screwed it up" the first time and wanted to do it again.  The second time they "tore it up".  Jez Graham told me after the show it was almost surreal to be playing some of the early Beach Boys songs behind the guitar player who had originally laid down the guitar licks some 46 years earlier.  I have never been in such an intimate setting where the audience felt so much a part of the show.

Midway through the featured set, the musicians took a break and several items were auctioned off to raise funds for the Cornelius Animal Shelter.  After the auction, the emcee, a local tv personality, interviewed Dave Marks, who related several humorous anecdotes about the early days of the Beach Boys in yet another great moment in an evening full of them.

Anyone familiar with ESQ magazine knows that it has the reputation of being a top quality publication.  This evening only served to validate and further that reputation.  I want to express my gratitude to David Marks, Nelson Bragg, David Beard and everyone else involved.  It was a very special night.