Brian is reported to be appearing on the Yahoo Music web site on September 1st.

clipped from www.latimes.com

Another key element of the Yahoo series, now in its second year, is a Q&A between fans and performer that typically comes midway through each set. Questions are vetted by the show's producers, and they aren't always voiced by the fans who submitted them. But the results can be wildly unpredictable.

At last week's Brian Wilson taping (to be posted Sept. 1), a fan asked what he regretted most. Wilson responded straightforwardly with a laundry list of the drugs he'd used. "They messed with my brain," he said, "so I regret that."

Go behind the scenes and learn about one of the hardest jobs you could ever take on: security guard at a Beach Boys concert.

clipped from www.venturacountystar.com

But the estimated 12,500 people around me didn't seem to need that much securing. They ranged from the woman in the low-cut top who kept sauntering up the aisle, once blowing kisses at the musicians, to the group in the front who rolled their eyes at her act. If she was in her early 20s, they were twice her age and then some. One carried a cane.

The other guys wearing the yellow shirts told me our job is to help people have a good time, more customer service than security. They told me to be polite but firm when I asked people lingering in the aisles to find their seats.

"Mostly you have to be a good listener," said Travis McKenna, head of security for the Grandstand Arena. "You're here to help."

Excitement is brewing for Al Jardine's upcoming concert.

clipped from www.sanluisobispo.com

Al Jardine’s Endless Summer Band
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday (free)
Though not as well known as some of the other Beach Boys, guitarist Jardine was a founding member. In fact, he first hooked up with band leader Brian Wilson through their high school football team. Considered the “lost Beach Boy” by some, Jardine’s vocals can be heard on songs like “Tell Me Why,” “Cotton Fields” and “Then I Kissed Her.” His most famous vocal, though, is the lead on “Help Me, Rhonda,” one of the band’s best known songs. And, of course, he appeared on all the Beach Boys classics, including “God Only Knows,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “I Get Around.”
Life’s not always a beach:Mike Love owns the rights to the Beach Boys name, and legal action prevents Jardine from using any band name that references the Beach Boys.

clipped from www.newtimesslo.com

More MidState Fair action

This week’s other headliners include Al Jardine’s Endless Summer Band, a grandstand show that’s free with your fair admission. Jardine, you’ll recall, was a member of the Beach Boys, a friend of the Wilson Brothers and their cousin Mike Love. Jardine took over for forgotten Beach Boy David Marks, who was forced out of the band. He enjoyed a long tenure with the Beach Boys until Brian Wilson’s famous meltdown, and now he tours without the Beach Boy name, due to legal wrangling between the various band members, though expect to hear Beach Boys hits all night long on Monday, July 28, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Two reviews of John Stamos' performance on July 4th.

First, the good news:

clipped from www.feelingthevibe.com

John Stamos has some amazing amount of energy. We mentioned that he was on the drums, well that wasn’t all. He also for certain songs, would leave the drums and move up to the front line near Mike Love where he sang and played the guitar. John sang “Good Timin’” and with his sensual sounding voice, he performed the song with great emotion.

Now, the bad news:

clipped from www.starmagazine.com

John Stamos is no guitar hero, claims a source who saw the 44-year-old TV hunk take the stage with the Beach Boys during a July 4 Hilton Casino Resort's Beach Party concert in Atlantic City. "John's been friends with the Beach Boys for years," says the source. "He's a terrific drummer, and often sits in with them, as he did on July 4. At that show, he also grabbed a guitar and played along in a number of songs. But his playing was sloppy, and it looked like he was more concerned with jumping around and posing like a rock god at the edge of the stage. One of the crew members said, 'We turned down the sound on his guitar!'"

KBS Radio reports Brian Wilson is offering a refund to disgruntled New York fans.

In response to several disgruntled fans, Brian Wilson and his wife and manager Melinda Wilson have decided to refund fans'tickets for his July 11th New York City concert at Hammerstein Ballroom.

Fans complained that the show, which was a benefit for the Stand Up For A Cure cancer benefit, ran up to several hundred dollars but had poor visibility for some seats, and only contained a 75-minute performance by Wilson. Wilson performed with a scaled-back band, and his setlist lacked Beach Boys or solo rarities.

Melinda Wilson chatted with fans on brianwilson.com and said that Brian wanted to refund the money to fans who were unhappy by having them send their ticket stubs to their publicist for reimbursement.

Melinda said in her various messages: "Brian saw the posts and asked me to respond. He's really sensitive to all of your feelings and doesn't want to offending anyone. He wanted to make this offer to keep everyone cool (as he said)... With the exception of the charity show, most of these ticket prices are less than they have been in the past. On (July) 17th, the show (in Brooklyn, New York's Coney Island) is FREE please take advantage of that. Hope this clears the air for you. Thank you for being Brian's fan."

Homemade chocolate chip cookies are in my contract, as well.

It was clear to anyone watching Brian Wilson perform that the ravages of drugs and mental illness have left him impaired. While driving to the gig with Wilson on Wednesday, one of his entourage spotted a huge building on Wellington Street and asked his driver,"What church is that?"

"It's not a church," responded the driver. "It's our Parliament Buildings."

"Ah, yes, this is the capital isn't it?" replied the visitor. He then turned to Wilson: "Brian when you're on stage say 'It's good to be in Ottawa.' Got that. Now say it back to me Brian."

Minutes into his show, Wilson repeated the exact words.

Backstage, the writer of the Beach Boys' most memorable music was subdued, but clearly delighted by the homemade chocolate chip cookies that were requested in his contract.

NOT a five star rating for this Ottawa concert.

For more than an hour, Wilson seemed pretty out of it, at least as far as fronting a band at Bluesfest goes. He spent virtually the whole 75-minutes perched on a stool, staring blankly out at the audience and singing occasionally while his enthusiastic band pumped out lively party versions of old favourites...

Initially, I found Wilson's brief show horrifying and somewhat humiliating.

I thought he had recovered sufficiently from the paralyzing mental breakdown he suffered 35 years ago enough at least to perform. Instead, an obviously exhausted Wilson looked like he wouldn't be able to finish the show, saying nothing other than monosyllabic hellos.

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, the sound system crashed into dead silence for almost two songs early in the set.

It's a credit to Wilson that the music he wrote 40 years ago still makes old foggies feel like teenagers. Eventually, the show lost some of its macabre polish, or we just got used to seeing him in a comatose state. By then, the fans were well into the music and the memories.

But there was something about the reality of seeing Wilson like this that makes the fantasy of The Beach Boys suddenly hard to take.

Newsday.com reports the sexual harassment case involving a Beach Boys concert has been settled.

May 21, 2008

NEWARK, N.J.

Former New Jersey acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco's (dee-fran-SESS'-cohz) law firm has settled sexual harassment charges filed by an attorney.

Michele D'Onofrio alleged DiFrancesco asked her to stay an extra night in his suite to see a Beach Boys concert at an Atlantic City convention in 2002.

She also said he made lewd comments about her plans to have reconstructive surgery after breast cancer and the firm fired her in retaliation for complaining about a judge.

Terms were not disclosed and there is no admission of wrongdoing.

DiFrancesco tells The Star-Ledger of Newark there's plenty he wants to say about the settlement, but nothing he can say.

A judge earlier ruled that DiFrancesco and his partners could be questioned under oath about "consensual private relationships."

DiFrancesco was Senate president when he filled Christie Whitman's remaining term as governor in 2001 and 2002.

Apparently Brian Wilson was a big hit at the recent Rainforest concert.

At the twentieth anniversary "Rainforest" show, held at Carnegie Hall Thursday night, the usual star suspects – Sting, Billy Joel and James Taylor - turned out to croon. But the evening found a clear highlight in a section devoted to the summery West Coast music of guest star Brian Wilson.

Coming towards the close of this long, slow, and often aimless night, Wilson provided some needed animation and helped redeem much of what came before.

But the show didn't kick into high gear until Wilson and his band came out to bat out 8 undying hits. From the sumptuous chords of "God Only Knows" (with Sting taking some verses) to the creamy pep of "Fun Fun Fun" (with James Taylor adding his own touches), Wilson's songs provided a model of complex harmonics spun into blissful pop. You could make fun of the middle-aged stars twisting along to these songs like drunken uncles at the wedding. Or you could carp about the tossed-off feel of the rest of the night. But hey, it's a benefit show meant to generate good will and big bucks not to floor you with inspiration. And at those modest goals, it succeeded.

An "anonymous donor" is paying to bring the Beach Boys to Wellesley.

The group that once played for nearly two million people on Independence Day 1985 will be playing for (presumably fewer) fans on the high school baseball field on the last day of Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend.

The cost of bringing the internationally known band here is being borne by an anonymous donor “who has a passion for the Beach Boys and wants to share her passion with the town,” said Roy Switzler, Celebrations Committee chairman. “It’s because of her that all this is happening.”

The committee has been working with the donor for months to ensure that all the details, such as adequate police protection and town permits, are in place. At this point, a few details are pending resolution, but the concert is a go.