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Post by Kapitan on Sept 17, 2019 17:07:34 GMT
I’m also in the middle. I’d be disturbed if there were more conclusive evidence he didn’t want to tour, but if his disinterested performances are supposed to be that evidence, we’ve got to go back decades and decades. (I think it’s most likely that in the light of day, he understands and agrees with whoever—family, doctors, management—that it’s better for him to tour than not to. But that he hates it. For me that’s easy to understand. I’m that way about exercise, for example.) But we’ ALL speculating.
Absent that evidence, I just see it as increasingly terrible performances that are kinda hard to watch, much less pay for. Great band surrounding a legendary musician performing his brilliant material mostly without him. Not inspired, not disturbed, but not likely to buy another ticket.
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Post by kds on Sept 17, 2019 17:33:38 GMT
It looks like I was a tad off base about the rising ticket prices. For S&Gs, I looked up tickets for two shows at the end of the month in PA (and there are a LOT of tickets available).
The first is a BW + Zombies show where tickets in the orchestra area can be had for $69 (before taxes / fees) and $124 in the pit. The second a BW Greatest Hits show has 2nd row tickets available for $59.
Now, there's a show on Oct, a Pet Sounds show, where orchestra seats are $99. And that falls in line with the trend of the shows I saw in 2015 and 2016 where the 2016 PS show tickets were as much as $40 more for comparable seats than the NPP Tour in 2015.
Where am I going with this? I can't remember. But, is a performance of Pet Sounds really worth that extra money?
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Post by lonelysummer on Sept 18, 2019 3:11:11 GMT
Question: are we the only ones who can see what is going on? Nah, we’re nothing special. People are just coming to it from different places, I think. Yes, there are a few—very few—who honestly seem to think Brian Wilson sounds objectively good. There are also flat-earthers, neo-Nazis, etc. What a world… But the vast majority seem to be more of these kinds of perspectives: - “He sounds great [for someone his age]” - “He sounds great [compared to this other time I saw him when he was worse]” - “He sounds great [considering all he’s been through]” - “It’s just great that he’s still alive and working” - “It’s great seeing Al and Blondie on stage with him” - “It’s great seeing him surrounded by people who care about him” In other words, they know perfectly well that if he auditioned for his own band and his name were Bryan Wilshire, he’d be politely and hastily shown the door. It isn’t a musical thing for them, but an emotional one. And as some people here demonstrate, different people can have a different emotional reaction to the same thing. For a few of you, it’s disturbing to see Brian looking uninterested and singing badly; for them, it’s heroic and inspirational. Yeah, I don't find anything heroic about it. He is just there because, without him, there is no Brian Wilson tour. A lot of musicians would be out of work. At this point, I would be more interested in an Al Jardine solo tour.
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Post by kds on Sept 18, 2019 13:29:43 GMT
Nah, we’re nothing special. People are just coming to it from different places, I think. Yes, there are a few—very few—who honestly seem to think Brian Wilson sounds objectively good. There are also flat-earthers, neo-Nazis, etc. What a world… But the vast majority seem to be more of these kinds of perspectives: - “He sounds great [for someone his age]” - “He sounds great [compared to this other time I saw him when he was worse]” - “He sounds great [considering all he’s been through]” - “It’s just great that he’s still alive and working” - “It’s great seeing Al and Blondie on stage with him” - “It’s great seeing him surrounded by people who care about him” In other words, they know perfectly well that if he auditioned for his own band and his name were Bryan Wilshire, he’d be politely and hastily shown the door. It isn’t a musical thing for them, but an emotional one. And as some people here demonstrate, different people can have a different emotional reaction to the same thing. For a few of you, it’s disturbing to see Brian looking uninterested and singing badly; for them, it’s heroic and inspirational. Yeah, I don't find anything heroic about it. He is just there because, without him, there is no Brian Wilson tour. A lot of musicians would be out of work. At this point, I would be more interested in an Al Jardine solo tour. Al's been doing his Storytellers shows for the last two years during BW down time. It's a fun show. And he comes out and meets the fans afterward.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Sept 25, 2019 1:45:57 GMT
I saw Brian last night at the Taft Theatre in Cincinnati. First of all, the Zombies were a real treat to see and sounded a lot like they did 50 years ago, especially when Chris White came on during Odyssey and Oracle.
When Brian started singing California Girls, my heart kind of sank as his voice sounded super nasally/thin. The mix must have been a bit off too because I was struggling to hear everyone's voices. On I Get Around, he was still sounding pretty nasally, but he was actually a bit animated, acting like he was driving and cracking a couple smiles. That was really surprising considering he was virtually emotionless and motionless on every recent video I've seen. Al struggled a bit with Help Me Rhonda, although it seemed more illness related than age. Doesn't help that he always backs away from the mic for no reason.
Brian introduced Darian for Darlin' and of course he did an excellent rendition. After that they talked a bit about Friends and the stage went mostly dark and Brian sang Meant for You. I'm not one to get emotional at concerts, but he had my eyes watering a bit. He sounded great! AL introduced Wake the World as a song about "getting up and going to bed over and over, kind of boring really, but is pretty interesting musically." He sounded much better on this. Brian sang Busy Doin' Nothin' and sounded really good. There were points where you could almost hear 1968 Brian singing it.
The one thing notable about Wouldn't it Be Nice, is that Brian actually sang the bridge! He didn't even stop to take a breath. I almost missed because I had kind of zoned out expecting him to talk through it. Things kind of went off the rails on Sloop John B, suddenly Brian didn't sound as good and then he stopped singing, so Al took over the rest of the song. Brian also really struggled to hit the high notes on God only Knows.
Next up was Blondie's set. This was my first time seeing him and he didn't disappoint. I've read that some crowds aren't really into his antics and guitar solos, but the crowd loved it last night, me included. It really struck me how perfect his voice is for Feel Flows and Long Promised road. Speaking of which, Blondie introduced the song by saying it's the name of Brian's upcoming documentary, so I guess that's still on. Brian sang the bridge and sounded top notch.
Brian again introduced Darian for I Can Hear Music. After that, Brian sang Little Bird. He sounded decent and was at least singing the whole thing. The instrumentals were next and to my surprise got a pretty big round of applause from the crowd. I loved hearing Til I Die live, even though Brian sort of talked through it. Surf's Up was great as always and Brian sounded like he did 10 years ago on Heroes and Villains. He then asked the crowd of they were ready for some Good Vibrations and went right into it. He sounded better on his parts than when I saw him in 2015 and 2012. He started to sing Surfin' USA, then stopped and AL sang the rest. Love and Mercy closed out the show and he generally sounded just like he did at the end of the Love and Mercy biopic.
Some other notes. I've read and seen that Brian hasn't been doing any backing vocals when he's not doing the lead, but that wasn't the case last night. Most songs he was even very audible, especially Don't Worry Baby and Help Me Rhonda. He was also pretty animated, with the aforementioned miming on I Get Around and lots of hand movements.
Overall, I'd say it was an on night for him aside from the beginning, all things considered. Definitely a decline from 2015, but still something I would recommend people go see. I'm glad I did.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 25, 2019 2:27:32 GMT
Very nice review. Overall, yes, you must've caught Brian on one of his better nights. I've been following Brian's recent shows various places and reading about people walking out.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on Sept 25, 2019 2:47:47 GMT
I don't know if people are specifically walking out because of Brian. I know there was a lady sitting next to me who came to specifically see the Zombies. She said she likes the Beach Boys, but I think it was just to make conversation. She left before half of the set was over.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 6, 2019 0:58:14 GMT
New review. Positive, but not very informed. It's by a guy who was apparently in the Reagan and Bush administrations.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 6, 2019 12:46:19 GMT
Are we at a crossroads with Brian's touring? If I'm correct, the Pets Sounds shows are a wrap (seriously) as is the Something Great From '68/Zombies tour. I did a quick check and Brian doesn't have a Christmas tour this year. There are only two Greatest Hits shows (are they makeup dates?) scheduled in January 2020 and that's it. It at least looks like things might be slowing down - 2 shows in four months. Good.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 6, 2019 13:01:34 GMT
I've always been pretty adamant in the "he should do what he wants" camp, but I have to say the past year or two of shows have been pretty bad. So while he should do what he wants, he ought to consider his fans, as well, who are spending pretty big sums to watch him sing poorly or not at all (while his band admittedly does a stellar job night after night).
He was never a great frontman or showman, but in his earlier solo years he could at least manage some rendition of the leads (minus a few high notes). Then he handed out a few leads. And now he barely sings--it's Matt, Al, Blondie, and Darian--and when he does, he doesn't sing well. It seems to me to be beyond debate that he's not capable of a featured role in a full-length concert anymore, much less a tour.
Hopefully he remains relatively active and healthy, and I'd still love to get new music from him. Maybe not full length albums, but just online-only singles. (Heck, that's been my "solution" for his various problems, be they industrial support, his waxing and waning excitement about projects, his impatience, or the cost of major releases.) Maybe he can do occasional shows in and around L.A., leaning on talented guests. I almost suggested maybe another Beach Boys reunion is in the works, but a quick look at their tour schedule makes that unlikely: they're booked as usual.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 6, 2019 13:15:12 GMT
I almost suggested maybe another Beach Boys reunion is in the works, but a quick look at their tour schedule makes that unlikely: they're booked as usual.
Yeah, The Beach Boys are already booked into August 2020. I'm looking at 2021 as the year they'll probably call their 60th anniversary - even though 2012 was the 50th. Hey, it's The Beach Boys! If they wait until 2022, Mike, Brian, and Al will be in their 80's. Anyway, I would expect...something...new for the 60th Anniversary. I mean, Jerry Schilling is doing such a great job.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 6, 2019 13:21:13 GMT
Realistically, if they intend to do anything together again, they ought not schedule it too far out. It's not to be morbid that I say, they're at ages where it's unwise to think of some vague, years-away future.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 30, 2019 20:16:31 GMT
Here is a Happy New Year message and video from Brian:
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