Bristol - Colston Hall Sunday 15th May - Fans Pre Meet, Drinks food and a laugh

[Rob Dean]

Hi,
For those going to the BW gig, we no longer have to find a pub/venue for a chat and a beer anymore in Bristol.
A few years ago a rather nice building was built adjacent (and indeed part of) to the Colston Hall.

Details per below link, the area Colston Street Bar & Kitchen is open on Sundays between 10am and 10.30pm.
As I have such a long way to travel (all of 20 miles) I will no doubt need subsistence on board prior to the gig.

4pm (or before??) - See you all ;-)

http://www.colstonhall.org/visit-us/food-and-drink/

[Cliff1000uk]

Hi Rob,

I'll be at The Colston Hall around 2pm as I've purchased the soundcheck/meet and greet package but it would great to say hello between that and the gig starting

Cliff

[Rob Dean]

Just a reminder to those going to the first date of the UK Tour in Bristol.

Meet up at 4pm in the Bar area adjacent to the venue

AND Cliff, enjoy your experience and see you in the Bar 

[The Shift]

You're inviting SmileySmilers to HAVE A LAUGH?? In each other's COMPANY?? Jeez I love you!

[Cliff1000uk]

Just a reminder to those going to the first date of the UK Tour in Bristol.

Meet up at 4pm in the Bar area adjacent to the venue

AND Cliff, enjoy your experience and see you in the Bar 

Thanks Rob-the soundcheck etc starts at 3.30pm so I will try and see you guys afterwards

[Loaf]

Just got back from the gig. I got to meet the great Rob Dean (and see his freshly signed Blondie solo LP, amongst other treasures) and a couple of his friends, but no Cliff...?

A sold-out concert, which is nice to see after a couple of noticeably-not-sold-out shows in Bristol over the last few years.

The first half of the show was a little by-the-numbers, mostly pre-1966 stuff. I wonder if jet lag got the better of the guys because the opening Our Prayer was all over the place, in terms of pitch and timing. It's my first time seeing this incarnation of the band. No Jeff, Darian, Scott, and I think it shows. Those guys are huge talents that provided a lot of the heavy-lifting in terms of representing the music on stage. I understand why the classic 2002 Pet Sounds line-up can't be together right now, but as great as it is to see Gary Griffin and Billy Hinsche, they aren't quite in the same league.

Okay, quibbles out of the way, onto the positive stuff. Matt Jardine has a great falsetto for this music. Maybe it's his familiarity with the music, maybe it's the family genes in the vocal pipes, but he did an excellent job and deserved his ovations. It was great to see Al with the band. His mic-positioning can be a little wayward, meaning half his lines are delivered off-mic but when positioned correctly, he sounded great and seemed to love singing this material. He had a quiet confidence to his manner that comes from knowing you've got a great songbook underpinning everything.

And then the gig transformed from the ordinary into something really rather special. Blondie Chaplin brought an incredible energy and rock n' roll spirit to his showcases. Wild Honey was a great jam, Funky Pretty was a cool surprise, and Sail On Sailor rocked. Hiring Blondie was a stroke of genius.

The Pet Sounds LP was as expected and the energy the band brought to the encores was great to see hear and feel. There were loads of people dancing up at the front by the end of it, and the band really seemed to appreciate it. Al and even Brian were full of smiles.

Brian was his usual charming and vulnerable self, and walking very tenderly. Someone in the merch queue remarked, on seeing the list of tour dates on the backs of the shirts, that there are many more dates and a long way to go to the end of the tour. Part of me really hopes it's Brian's last. I won't deny him the chance to keep touring and getting the appreciation and making money, but he's getting on a bit now and his health seems more fragile than before. It's been 14 years (wow!) since the 2002 Pet Sounds tour.

[mikeddonn]

Thanks for the review!

Shame Darian isn't there, he'll be missed for sure.

A thought occurred to me abut Brian's back as I got up from sitting down.  I'm a lot younger than Brian but when I get up after sitting for a period of time it takes me time to start moving freely.  It doesn't last and probably comes from old football injuries and such like.  Brian sits at the piano for a while during a show.  I'm sure when he gets off stage and walks around he's fine.  He goes walking with Melinda when he's not on tour so I'm sure it just a stiffness we see when he walks off stage after a show.  Hope so anyway!

[Shady]

Great review, can't wait for Glasgow.

That said, I'm really disturbed by the tour dates, it's way too much.

[ash]

I went with a party of 15. That's was us dancing at the front at the end. My friends who'd never seen Brian before thought it was f-ing brilliant. I've only seen him about 30 times ! Loved it. I was very surprised by the quality of Brian's singing. He was much better than I remembered him being. I first saw him in the usa on the Paul Simon tour and it's always noticable how Jeff looked after him. He looked a lot less "frightened" than i ever remember. Seemed to be in a good place. Yes there weren't many of the "art" numbers apart from Pet Sounds and no Darian but I had a fing great time and thought it was fing brilliant.
I took my kids age 11 and 13. After Al's first solo vocal my 13 year old grabbed my shirt and said "wow that guy can really sing".
If the rest of the UK shows are as good you'll have a great time. I wish I was going again tomorrow but now that I don't live in London I can't go every night at the Festival Hall.
I'll give it a 9.9 out of ten with the occasion 11. I can't really express how much I loved it and sitting in row D at the front was a treat.
Have to mention Nicky Wonder - what a guy and Probyn too but everyone in the band rules. Fantastic.

[HeyJude]

If anyone had reviews and setlists, please feel free to post them over in the 2016 tour thread. Very interested to see how the setlists evolve.

[donald]

Glad you guys in Britain are having a good time with the tour and are so appreciative and supportive of Brian at this stage of his career.  I too have enjoyed seeing him touring in the US, but have had the feeling that he may be nearing a spell of retirement. I too am feeling a need to slide on in to near full time retirement.     I am conflicted seeing Brian still on the road at such a pace.