Brian at the Chicago Theatre. 11-16-08

[MBE]

This is my third Brian show and it stands up as well as the two I saw before. One was in 1999 in Chicago (his second solo tour show I believe) and one was the Chicago Smile show of 2004. The first time everything was fresh and he was anxious but sang quite well. It was thrilling really. The Smile show was also amazing. He was a little robotic, but it was done really well. He really got into the performance.

The Chicago theatre is really nice. It has a very classic design and like the other theatres Brian has played in the area before the sound is really good. I got the tour program when I came in and it is very well done. I liked some of the new photos as many came from the session (I think on Capitol tower) where Brian is wearing a suit and looks very dapper. I guess as a true Beach Boys fan I liked the photos in the book taken from 62-77 quite a bit too. I hadn't seen most of them and I always love seeing "new" vintage pictures. The biggest thrill for me (as a confirmed vinyl junkie) was that they were selling the vinyl record of LOS. Even in the 80's when I first went to shows I never saw a record being sold.

Like the one 2004, the show was split into three parts. The opening set was a mix of hits and rarities that went from 62-72. Girl Don't Tell Me, Please Let Me Wonder, Do It Again, Marcella, Sail On Sailor, and Add Some Music, were all nice inclusions performed well by Brian and his great band. I know the lineup has changed a little, but they played as good as ever. On the hits he seemed slightly bored. God Only Knows was a big exception and he hit some notes I didn't think he would. He sang it quiet with reverence, and if you saw him try it 1981 or 1991 for that matter this blows it away. In fact I kept thinking tonight that anyone who saw Brian from 1976-81 would never think he could perform half as good as he on the whole has over the last ten years. He may not be the Brian he was until Murry died, but he has become so much better as a performer in a  way none of us thought he would. In 1998 who would have thought he would ever tour, let alone do live performances of Pet Sounds, Smile, or an entire new album of such high quality.

So that leads us two the second part of the show needless to say I was impressed. Brian came alive and seemed much happier doing this music then anything else. He was on pitch, and expressive. Midnights Another Day probably was the single best thing I personally saw Brian do as a live performer. Sure there are vintage numbers of his I've seen him do that I like somewhat better as songs, but purely as a performance this was the best one. Compared to the album, Brian attempted less falsetto but when he did try it wasn't strained. There was an animated film shown during the talking sections. Now I wasn't sure if Brian was doing the talking live as the lights were cut, but the film gave me a new perspective on these sections lowering the pretentious factor quite a bit. There were some photos shown of the Wilson brothers and the audience went crazy for those. Mike and Al were airbrushed out of a few which I chuckled at, but who wants a Beach Boys related show without a little bit of bemusement. Going Home really rocked live, and Southern California was quite moving. All in all LOS impressed my girlfriend and I the most of the three sections.

Then came the encore. While my girlfriend the basic rock stuff was a comedown after such a creative piece, I liked it. Johnny B Goode was done, and maybe it because Brian sang it lower originally, but he sounded nearly the same as he did on Shindig in 1964. It really took me back to that clip vividly and gave me a taste of what Brian may of been like now had he taken care of his voice. The rest was the basics and I enjoyed seeing Brian play the bass a lot. Again it gave off a real sixties vibe. Afterall he has his 1964 haircut, and from a distance you can't really make out his wrinkles. Now I may of missed the last song as I left after Fun, Fun, Fun not knowing he has been doing Love and Mercy at many shows until I read some other reviews of this tour about an hour ago. Yet maybe he didn't come back he ran off stage before FFF was done and Jeff said goodnight Chicago. Well at least I got to see him do it before.

All in all Brian does a fine show, but I did really miss Mike and Al (not Bruce so much  j/k).  I can hear Mike doing the Mexican Girl Spanish, and Al's voice would of sure sounded good in the mix. I don't think I would go out of my way to see a county fair styled show of either group, but Brian and Mike's "Beach Boys" are worth seeing when they do something special like LOS or say the orchestral show Love and Johnston did here in 2007. Sadly Brian doesn't draw as many people as the "Beach Boys' do. There were plenty of empty seats and really every one was a nice view due to the theatre's setup. Brian deserves better so I hope you all do try to see the LOS show if you get a chance.

[Jim McShane]

I thought it was spectacular!!

Not only was Brian very into it, he was doing a lot of real singing (as opposed to just "shout-singing"). His delivery during Southern California was so expressive and so delicate - it was VERY moving. I didn't find any indication he was bored at all, in fact I was pleasantly surprised to see him doing a good job right from the start.

And the band - sheesh, I don't even know what to say anymore. The vocal blend was like nothing I've ever heard, even from them or the old BBs (not trying to start a fight here, I'm just saying I've never heard vocals like those last night). They could not have been more spot on, their delivery was just dripping with emotion, especially during TLOS. Been Too Long/Can't Wait Too Long was sublime, I wanted it to go on and on! Hearing WIBN and Don't Worry Baby in the proper keys was outstanding, Jeffrey on lead nailed them both.

And as much as I loved Jim Hines (who got a hello call-out from Scott Bennett) on drums, Mike D'Amico is another notch up the scale. He likely is the best drummer I ever heard. I'm surprised they haven't set him up to take a vocal part like he did when he was first with the band, but it is interesting to see Paul von Mertens in the vocal mix. I still prefer Bob Lizik on bass though, although Bret Simons did fine.

Oh, yes they did do Love and Mercy to close the show.

I was in the 5th row center, and there were some empties around me but my brother in the 22nd row said it was full back further. The economy just has people scared to death, so I don't think it was a lack of interest in Brian as much as just the expense. Main floor seats and parking for two people would come to $200 easily, and these days people are not all that willing to part with $200.00. I was surprised how full it was!

Great theater, great show, great - well, everything.

[MBE]

Shoot I missed it.
Don't get me wrong I think he gave a great performance, I just saw a difference when he did the new stuff. I think he was inspired by it in some way that I didn't see with say "I Get Around". Not to say it or any other song was bad. He is much more relaxed on stage then I ever saw. He made some great comments too. He opened by saying his show wasn't the best show, but it wasn't the worst either which I thought was really funny. I also liked his comment after Marcella that they were going to do a rock and roll song now. Like that hadn't just rocked like hell. Man you got great seats, I was back a ways but still had a nice view. It's a great place to hear music, and all in all it was terrific.

[the captain]

Now I wasn't sure if Brian was doing the talking live as the lights were cut,

No, it's a recording. He doesn't do the spoken parts live.

[Amanda Hart]

My husband and I attended this show and it was amazing.  Brian was in great voice, only getting too thin a few times and a handful of flubbed lyrics (from apparently reading the prompter wrong, you could really tell when he was reading and when he was actually singing from memory).  He seemed loose and was for the most part enjoying himself and was definately interested in the performance.  At one point he turned around to tell Paul Von Mertens the strings were too slow and seemed to give Jeff the stink eye when he came in too early during MAD

This was my first time seeing Brian and the band totally blew me away.  I've heard them on recordings, offical and otherwise, and it didn't do them justice.  There were parts, especially on TLOS, where they sounded better than the record.  My only complaint would be that there is not a really strong bass vocalist, for instance, when they did Help Me, Rhonda in the encore I missed the "bow bow bow bow bow bow bow".

Overall the show was great.  TLOS was so much better live, and the parts of the album that don't do it for me, like Mexican Girl, worked live.  I am so glad we went out of our way to see the show and would do it again in a heartbeat even if it was just a "hits" show.

[MBE]

I kept looking into the crowd wondering how many I knew from here. It was fun thinking I knew some of the others there at least on this level.

[Amanda Hart]

I kept looking into the crowd wondering how many I knew from here. It was fun thinking I knew some of the others there at least on this level.

I know what you mean.  There is this message board and there are quite a few people from Chicago in a trading group I am in and I was kind of wondering who was around, but then I thought "hey, I don't really know what any of these people look like!"

[Jason]

Now I wasn't sure if Brian was doing the talking live as the lights were cut,

No, it's a recording. He doesn't do the spoken parts live.

Wow, could you imagine how often Brian would mess those up if they were done live? We're talking as bad as the London gig in July, with that horrible run off-beat in H&V.

[the captain]

Now I wasn't sure if Brian was doing the talking live as the lights were cut,

No, it's a recording. He doesn't do the spoken parts live.

Wow, could you imagine how often Brian would mess those up if they were done live? We're talking as bad as the London gig in July, with that horrible run off-beat in H&V.

He'd probably just start yelling "The Great Jeffrey Foskett" or "Thank you" over and over.

[Wilsonista]

While I am glad you guys enjoyed Sunday's show I have to say I agreed with much of what you all were saying. This tour in particular was probably the best set of Brian shows yet - chicago was the last of three shows I had seen on this tour with Nashville adn Minneapolis being the other two.  If he seemed a bit perfuctionary, I would maybe chalk that up to some fatigue. In Nashville, he sang as well as I had heard him sing live and was very enagaged, although I loved how funny he was in Chicago (when introducing Jeff's lead on WIBN, Brian goes "to sing this next song, is  my good friend and our bandleader, except for Darian...." at which everyone except Foskett starts cracking up).

My first Brian show was at Chicago Theatre in 2000 during the Pet Sounds tour so, 20 shows later, that venue has a special place in my heart.  Despite what I thought was a muddy and an overly loud sound mix, I thought it was a marvelous show. TLOS just shone and MAD into Going Home had me in absolute tears.  All three shows were great, but for me, the magic one was in Nashville.  The sounds was perfect and Brian being in the Ryman (the longtime home of the Grand Ol' Opry)  made him bring his musical game face because he not only shone on TLOS that night, he also shone on the hits. GOK was great, but he brought some great energy to that night's California Girls and oddly enough) Catch A Wave.

Unless he manages to actually record and release Treasure island, I can't help but wonder if this is the last big Brian tour. Every fan would be doing themselves a great disservice if they didn't go to see him doing TLOS.  As his cousin once sang a long time ago, "won't last forever..."

[MBE]

The Nashville show would have been awesome. Yet I am so happy to that I did see him in Chicago. The mix did seem a little tinny but the vocals came through well. Again I don't think he was less then totally involved except on a few oldies in the first set. Again the rare ones and the encore came off well. Certainly it was LOS that was the best segment, and you know how many artists from Brian's era can say their new stuff went down best. Most of the time people use new songs for bathroom breaks. In this case it was the reason many of us went and we were not disappointed.

[Wilsonista]

Indeed!

It is a testament to Brian that he is performing an entire new album in his shows.

[Jim McShane]

This was my first time seeing Brian and the band totally blew me away.  I've heard them on recordings, offical and otherwise, and it didn't do them justice.  There were parts, especially on TLOS, where they sounded better than the record.  My only complaint would be that there is not a really strong bass vocalist, for instance, when they did Help Me, Rhonda in the encore I missed the "bow bow bow bow bow bow bow".

If you listen to a song like "No Wrong Notes In Heaven" you can hear that Nick Walusko has a terrific baritone/bass voice. But with a few exceptions (like "No Wrong Notes...) it's lower in the mix than back in the ML days. When he's up in the mix Nick is strong and spot on. It's the mix, not lack of ability.

BTW, I thought the sound mix where I was sitting was quite good, but just a hair light on some vocal parts - Nick's was one. It may have been ideal a bit further back.

[Amanda Hart]

If you listen to a song like "No Wrong Notes In Heaven" you can hear that Nick Walusko has a terrific baritone/bass voice. But with a few exceptions (line "No Wrong Notes...) it's lower in the mix than back in the ML days. When he's up in the mix Nick is strong and spot on. It's the mix, not lack of ability.
BTW, I thought the sound mix where I was sitting was quite good, but just a hair light on some vocal parts - Nick's was one. It may have been ideal a bit further back.

I knew that Nick was supposed to be the bass and I suppose you are right; it's just about the mixing.  Everything sounded good, that was my only complaint and I was sitting in almost the exact middle of the main floor.  So maybe next time they just turn Nicky's mic up a little.