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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@mindspring.com> |
| Subject | Re: SMILE in Philly. |
| Date | Sat, 9 Oct 2004 11:39:30 -0400 |
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Mike:
I had two of those guys behind me at the Keswick. Indier-than-thou, who
felt compelled to offer a running commentary on every tune, even if it
meant shouting over the music. I don't know if they'll ever know how
close they came to grievous bodily harm ...
And, yeah, he played "Help Me Rhonda," but so what??? It was pure magic
-- the whole night.
john
On Oct 9, 2004, at 11:28 AM, Michael Bennett wrote:
> I bet if you compared the review of the show I saw
> last week and John's below, there would be very little
> variation. I was talking to a lurking Auditeer, who
> told me some folks he knew were disappointed by the
> show. Why? Because they were snobby indie rock
> types, who were offended that Brian played so many
> hits. Screw them -- that's what made the show so
> phenomenal -- hearing one of the most original pieces
> of pop music ever and also hearing some of the most
> cherished rock tunes of the '60s.
>
> Mike
> --- "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>> Morning All.
>> My wife and I are freshly back from Philly and our
>> jaunt to see Brian
>> Wilson at the historic Keswick Theatre in suburban
>> Montgomery County.
>> What can I say about this show??
>>
>> In a word: transcendental.
>>
>> Brian and his excellent backing band took the stage
>> shortly after 8
>> p.m. Standing in a circle at stage right, they
>> played a short acoustic
>> set of Beach Boys favorites, including, but not
>> limited to, a stunning
>> version of "Add A Little Music To Your Day," that
>> was so beautiful that
>> it damn near left me in tears. And if you ever
>> doubted it, after last
>> night, it's crystal clear that 'Mints' leaders
>> Probyn Gregory and
>> Darian Sahanaja have a deep and abiding love for
>> Brian's music. The
>> harmonies were crisp and spot-on -- augmented, as
>> they were, by a
>> lovely female backing vocalist who I think might be
>> a distant relation
>> of Haylie Mills.
>>
>> The second part of the main set was strictly Beach
>> Boys favorites, "God
>> Only Knows," "California Girls," and a bunch of
>> others (forgive me --
>> no pen, thus no setlist) that was augmented by
>> Brian's decision to
>> perform Dennis' lovely "Forever," and Carl's "Soul
>> Searching." The
>> surprise addition of these two rarities -- esp.
>> "Forever," brought the
>> crowd to its feet. He also played "Imagination,"
>> from his 1998 solo LP
>> and "Getting In Over My Head," from his solo platter
>> earlier this year.
>> That latter record, on disc, sounds absolutely
>> moribund, but here, it
>> sounded lively and vibrant.
>>
>> After the first set ended, Brian and his band took a
>> 20-minute
>> intermission and then came back and played "Smile"
>> from start to
>> finish. I'd just bought the record, and I'd heard
>> the bootlegs down the
>> years, but nothing prepared me for what I was about
>> to hear. This
>> record is epic in every sense of the word. It's been
>> structured into
>> three movements and themes, esp. the main melody of
>> Heroes and
>> Villains, surface, then disappear, then recur,
>> linking the whole work
>> together. On "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," simulated flames
>> (billowing cloth
>> with lighting inside) leapt up from the stage. Lots
>> of folks in the
>> crowd had on toy plastic firemen's hats -- just like
>> in the sessions
>> way back when. And the woodwind player (ex of Poi
>> Dog Pondering) and
>> one of the guitarists, whose name escapes me at the
>> moment, brought out
>> a length of firehose and pretended to fight the
>> fire.
>> Highlights included "Cabinessence," "Blue Hawaii,"
>> and "Plymouth Rock
>> Roll Over." The Smile set was capped off with an
>> absolutely orgiastic
>> version of "Good Vibrations," that again brought the
>> crowd to its feet
>> and kept them there.
>>
>> For the encore, guitarist Jeffrey Foskett (himself
>> no slouch in the
>> vocal department) introduced each member of the-now
>> 18 piece band
>> (augmented by the Stockholm Strings and Horns. Yes,
>> they're actually
>> Swedish), and they played a set of surf favorites,
>> including "Surfing
>> Safari," "Get Around," "Help Me Rhonda," and a bunch
>> of others.
>>
>> Finally, Brian came out and sang "Love and Mercy" to
>> cap off the show.
>> Total running time -- just about 3 hours. And it
>> was, by far, the best
>> $57.50/ticket that I have ever spent.
>>
>> What to say about Brian? It's clear he no longer has
>> the voice of the
>> angels he once had. But he can still sing. And he
>> seemed in great
>> spirits last night. There were some friends in the
>> crowd whom he waved
>> to a couple of times. At the end of the night, he
>> leaned quickly into
>> the microphone and gently admonished everyone to
>> "Drive Safely," before
>> he literally skipped off stage with his band.
>> As he does most shows, Brian stayed firmly behind a
>> piano that remained
>> unused for most of the night. Contrary to rumour,
>> however, it was
>> plugged in, because he played several really lovely
>> runs on it. On the
>> Beach Boys set at the end of the night, he actually
>> got up to play
>> bass, thumb-style, with the rest of the band.
>>
>>
>> If you've the opportunity, go see this tour. I
>> swear, you will not
>> regret it.
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>
>
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