Brian's Fall US tour ('new' old songs)

[the captain]

All I can ask is, for a life long fan who has never even seen the Beach Boys live, it is worth it right? 

To see a Brian Wilson show? With the disclaimer that I don't intend to travel to see one, might not go even if it were in my hometown, and just wrote a short book-length post on another board justifying the lessening interest in BW's tours, still I say: absolutely. If you haven't seen him, see him.

[Sciencefriction]

Thanks Luthor, I really appreciate the advice.  My Dad is a big music fan and most of the time he'll go "I don't want to go see those old geezers", and I take his advice often.  I guess once you pass 50 it's not a big deal anymore, haha.  However, for me Brian Wilson is still very important, how can any album ever surpass Pet Sounds?  So as soon I can I'm going to buy tickets, I hope the 5th row seats are still available.  I'm not a big concert goer, but I presume there isn't much luck in calling venues about better seating is there?  I have to say, this board has been very nice to me so far and I really appreciate it.  Thanks!   

[Shady]

Still not sure if I'm going to get tickets for this the PA show, it's so pricey and right now I need a few extra $$$ to even buy them.  Curse you college, and my other concert commitments made prior to this information.  All I can ask is, for a life long fan who has never even seen the Beach Boys live, it is worth it right? 

The magic of seeing the master up close and personal is worth the price alone.

I've never seen Brian, but plan on travelling to Glasgow to see him if he doesn't announce a non-festival Ireland date this year.

He's playing a huge 3 day Irish festival called electric picnic in Sep, but the cost of a ticket is 250 or something 

[Jonathan Blum]

"No, that's not what I was trying to suggest. What I was saying is that if Brian could write most of TLOS, then I'm sure he could manage to play his keyboard for extended periods in a live setting. It's obvious that he can still concentrate when he feels like it. There's no excuse. And, OK, he's played his keyboard for about a minute or so at some shows. How much credit should he get for that? I think it was Jeff Foskett that said that Brian doesn't play his keyboard at shows because he gets tired of it after playing it for his own amusement all day. He could care less about the fans paying $100+ for his shows, unless, that is, you want to clap for him. He knows he doesn't have to try hard for applause, so he doesn't."

Having seen Brian playing keyboards in various documentaries over the last ten-twenty years, I'm not too sure how good he is anymore.  Either way, I've got over it and I enjoy the show.

I'd second that -- I don't think this makes the average concert-goer feel cheated.  Like Smilin' Ed, they're there to see Brian Wilson, Beach Boy, or Brian Wilson, genius, or Brian Wilson, singer, not Brian Wilson, pianist.  The piano's a security blanket, something for him to do with his hands so he doesn't feel like a dork sitting up there all exposed.  It's the original grand piano to prop up his mortal remains.

But just as a quick aside to this...  anyone else see the irony in fans complaining that Brian doesn't play keyboards live on songs he DIDN'T PLAY KEYBOARDS ON WHEN HE RECORDED THEM?

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Mr. Cohen]

The "art form" of music is, was and forever shall be at least as much commerce as it is anything else.

Hello, Mike Love.

But just as a quick aside to this...  anyone else see the irony in fans complaining that Brian doesn't play keyboards live on songs he DIDN'T PLAY KEYBOARDS ON WHEN HE RECORDED THEM?

You're right. Why did the Beach Boys even bother trying to play songs like "God Only Knows" live? It's not like they played on those records - they just sang. They should have just played the instrumental and sung over it. Who would've cared? Also, I only make a point about Brian playing the keyboard because he's always sitting right in front of one. Give him a bass or something, I don't care. While some Brian Wilson fans might not care about Brian playing, I do, and I think I have every right to.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

You're right. Why did the Beach Boys even bother trying to play songs like "God Only Knows" live? It's not like they played on those records - they just sang. They should have just played the instrumental and sung over it. Who would've cared? Also, I only make a point about Brian playing the keyboard because he's always sitting right in front of one. Give him a bass or something, I don't care. While some Brian Wilson fans might not care about Brian playing, I do, and I think I have every right to.

Yep.

[Jonathan Blum]

But just as a quick aside to this...  anyone else see the irony in fans complaining that Brian doesn't play keyboards live on songs he DIDN'T PLAY KEYBOARDS ON WHEN HE RECORDED THEM?

You're right. Why did the Beach Boys even bother trying to play songs like "God Only Knows" live? It's not like they played on those records - they just sang. They should have just played the instrumental and sung over it. Who would've cared?

Most people wouldn't, apparently.  Because the Beach Boys did bring on other people to play the parts.  When you've got Ed Carter, Billy Hinsche, Bobby Figueroa, and Carly Munoz laying down the backing, and Carl and those other perfect voices right there in place, how many people do you think cared whether Al's guitar or Brian's piano was turned down or not?

If you're just bugged on your own behalf that he didn't play much piano at the concert you went to, hey, no one's stopping you.  But if you want to act like it's an offense against the audience in general...  well, if you aim to get offended on other peoples' behalf, it's worth asking whether they're actually offended.

Cheers,
Jon Blum

[Smilin Ed H]

Exactly.

[Menace Wilson]

Just saw this on youtube from July 9th.  BW seems reasonably into it (until the coughing fit, that is).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzvrWydtGFs&feature=related

I guess the jury is still out for me, dammit.  In the end, Brian could do a poetry slam and accompany himself with a friggin kazoo and I'd be cool with it...as long as Brian is present, you know what I mean?  It's the prospect of paying to see "Brian, the depressed performing bear" that bugs me.

[Wirestone]

As I said, I've never seen the depressed performing bear. Brian's too mercurial for that, if you ask me. There are definitely some songs he gets into more than others (and sometimes those songs are, sadly, Barbra Ann and HMR), but I've always been able to count on him knocking GOK and L&M out of the park.

[Amanda Hart]

(and sometimes those songs are, sadly, Barbra Ann and HMR)

Probably all of us here would rather it be other songs, but I'll tell you standing in the crowd with the everyone singing and the band blazing, that encore was immensely fun.  If you go to a show, don't get hung up on the small stuff, have fun and enjoy it, it is a rock concert after all.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

As I said, I've never seen the depressed performing bear. Brian's too mercurial for that, if you ask me. There are definitely some songs he gets into more than others (and sometimes those songs are, sadly, Barbra Ann and HMR), but I've always been able to count on him knocking GOK and L&M out of the park.

The show I went to, 23 Oct 2004, was awesome *except* for those two songs, oddly enough. GOK he had a coughing fit during the second verse (but didn't miss a beat!), but that's not on him. The one song that night where it was actually obvious that he couldn't wait to leave was L&M, sadly enough...he actually spoke/half-sung most of the song . Because of the earlier issues with GOK, though, it was obvious that he wasn't feeling so well, so I wasn't bummed about it.

[Wilsonista]

As many times as I've seen Brian live from 2000 to 2008, I have NEVER seen him look at his watch or seen him put on a half-assed show (although there were one or two times that it just wasn't happening for him).  And one of those shows I've saw was the one you saw, Billy.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Oh, don't get me wrong,the one I went was *not* a half-assed show at all. Despite being under the weather, Brian kicked ass that night. L&M was the only one that he kinda blew off, and really it actually sounded kinda cool.

You were there too? Ha...I was the guy that, during the cigarette lighter routine, I was the one who said "But I Just quit smoking" and made Brian laugh.

[Jonathan Blum]

OK, but the difference is that you, along with your brother-in-law, most likely need those mundane jobs to make enough money to live comfortably. Brian doesn't need to perform his music live to live comfortably.

True, though I think the money is probably more of a factor than that...  the tours may not be making a profit overall, but I'd lay good odds it's other people in the chain who end up taking a bath.  But my point is, that's not the only reason you take on a gig for the gig's sake rather than the art's sake.

Remember, Brian's mentally ill.  He's prone to depression.  He needs looking after, he needs to watch out for sliding into bad habits.  And that means sometimes needing to do things that are good for you even if you don't feel like it at the time.

My wife's got depression as well...  nowhere near Brian-level damage, but a recurring chronic problem.  She also had panic-anxiety disorder, but she's pretty much got that under control by now.  Add to that other physical complaints -- she had undiagnosed sleep apnea for years, she's got a dodgy knee, and now the doc thinks she might be anemic -- and there's a hell of a lot of incentive not to go out and do things.  Sometimes it's like moving heaven and earth to try to get her out to the gym.

But I do my damnedest to get her to the gym, and she goes (usually).  And hey, it's a workout, not a celebration.  But it's still good for her, because after she's done it, she's happier for having done it.... both the sense of accomplishment and the endorphins, plus the better health that comes from losing weight and staving off the family history of diabetes.  It actually is better for her overall than sitting around the house in a vague funk.

So even if he's not always enthusiastic about it, the upside of keeping him moving is still significant.  And even things he's been reluctant to do, like the Smile concerts, have had huge upsides -- not least of which is the gathering and maintenance of a great band who made his most recent creative burst possible, with TLOS and all the other demos...

More later, I hope,
Jon Blum

[Jonathan Blum]

Oh, don't get me wrong,the one I went was *not* a half-assed show at all.

I don't think I've ever seen a genuinely half-assed show overall.  There may be moments of assery, but overall even a bad day would be... what, maybe 1/32nd-assed?

[Menace Wilson]

even a bad day would be... what, maybe 1/32nd-assed?

 

Well that's good to know.

[Dove Nested Towers]

Oh, don't get me wrong,the one I went was *not* a half-assed show at all.

I don't think I've ever seen a genuinely half-assed show overall.  There may be moments of assery, but overall even a bad day would be... what, maybe 1/32nd-assed?

Thanks a lot for calling up a brief mental image of B.W's posterior divided into 32 equal parts.
Scarlett Johansson O.K., Brian nay!