[Sam Hill]

Lemme Get an Encore: The Beach Boys

In less than a week, The Beach Boys – read: Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks – will embark on their 50th anniversary tour, which includes a highly-anticipated headlining performance at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival next weekend. Now, based on recent Beach Boys gigs, those featuring only Love, Johnston, and on occasional “lucky” dates, John Stamos, the band tends to knock out close to 40 songs each night (mostly because their hits span two to three minutes in length). But, with Wilson, Jardine, and even Marks in the picture, one has to start speculating what they’ll play and if they’ll even dig deep into their back catalogue.

“We have to make sure we have a great flowing song list but also make sure we don’t sound like a greatest-hits band,” Johnston told The Los Angeles Times back in February. “We have a lot to balance.” True, but there’s also a lot of opportunity. Given the band’s tumultuous years throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, this 50th Anniversary Tour really opens the door to hear some of the later material that either went unnoticed or never had a chance to be performed by the full band. Also, considering last year’s achingly long-awaited release of The Smile Sessions, there are a lot of unspoken goldies to consider. With that in mind, it’s anyone’s guess what will actually end up in these sets.

But, hey, it doesn’t hurt to make some suggestions.

By Michael Roffman on April 17th, 2012


Consequence of Sound

[The Mad Raider]

Rolling Stone
By Mike Powell
April 25, 2012 9:17 AM ET



The Beach Boys Kick Off 50th Anniversary Tour in Tucson
42-song set features trademark harmonies, a slew of beach balls




You probably could've guessed it was a Beach Boys show just by the shirts the men in the audience wore: Collared, short-sleeved and oversized, with palm trees, hibiscus flowers and nautical gear printed all over them. At the back of the stage, surfboards were lined up like Grecian columns on either side of a huge video screen. It wasn't until midway through the band's second set that Mike Love acknowledged what half the people in the audience must've been thinking: "It's, uh, been a little while since we've all been on tour together."

This year, the Beach Boys turn 50. Until the Grammys this past February, Brian Wilson, the band's troubled heart, hadn't been on stage with the rest of them since 1996. The tour kickoff last night at the Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater in Tucson was, in that sense, a milestone: not only a marker of their anniversary, but of a public reconciliation between Wilson and the band's other surviving original members: Al Jardine, Bruce Johnson, David Marks and Wilson's cousin, Mike Love.

It's not until a band like the Beach Boys runs through their hits back-to-back in rapid succession that you realize just how many hits they've had. Over the course of nearly two and a half hours, they played an astonishing 42 songs, many of them medley-style, with nearly no banter in between. Amid the most familiar stuff – "California Girls," "Surfin' Safari," "Good Vibrations" – were a healthy number of deep cuts and covers, including "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and Phil Spector's "Then He Kissed Me," which Jardine probably wisely rephrased as "Then I Kissed Her." There were also two uncanny video appearances by Carl and Dennis Wilson, both of whom died years ago. (Dennis "sang" "Forever," while Carl took on "God Only Knows," a song Brian wrote for him on 1966's Pet Sounds.) And about halfway through the second set, something new showed up: A reflective midtempo ballad called "That's Why God Made the Radio" – a moment that, like so much of the band's best music, elevated the adolescent to the divine.



Onstage, Mike Love was a low-key kind of showboat, stepping back and forth with the beat, miming the revving of a motorcycle engine on "Little Honda" and hugging his elbows when he sang "and the northern girls with the way they kiss, they keep their boyfriends warm at night" on "California Girls." Brian seemed placid and stone-faced, sitting at the bench of a large white grand piano. "Ladies and gentlemen, Brian Wilson," Al Jardine said after "This Whole World," at which point the crowd rose to their feet in reverence as he sat, blinking. In a sense, Love and Wilson have always been spiritual opposites: Brian wanted to escape to the solace of his bed on "In My Room"; Mike wanted to escape to the solace of tropical beaches on "Kokomo." They are as strange a pair as they've ever been, but it's their balance – between Brian's quiet yearning and Mike's inability to have anything short of a good time – that creates the band's strange chemistry.

And while this was in some ways a show about Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys are a highly professional enterprise that depend on highly professional people. At any given time there were between six and fifteen hands on stage, including multitaskers on various saxophones and someone to pick up the French horn on "God Only Knows," the harmonica on "Heroes and Villains" and the theremin for "Good Vibrations." Oh, and do that singing thing they do, too.

Considering it was the first night of a semi-momentous reunion tour, there wasn't a whole lot of sentimentality going back and forth, which isn't to say the band didn't care about each other, only that they probably cared about the audience more. There were moments, though, between the childhood photographs of the band flashing on the big screen and the brief congratulations they gave each other between songs, that the weight of their history together was felt. At the end of "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)," Al Jardine looked at the floor, shook his head and laughed. In the 50 years between then and now, they'd grown up.

Throughout the night, a security guard patiently collected beach balls that had traveled through the crowd, stockpiling them behind a large speaker at stage right. By the end of the second set, the pile had reached halfway up the speakers to the jumbo screen, where Brian's white grand piano lingered on the screen for a second, then disappeared. During the encore he batted them back into the crowd, one by one.

Setlist:

"Do It Again"
"Catch A Wave"
"Don't Back Down"
"Surfin' Safari"
"Surfer Girl"
"The Little Girl I Once Knew"
"Wendy"
"Then He Kissed Me" (Phil Spector/The Crystals)
"This Whole World"
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers)
"When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)"
"You're So Good to Me"
"In Them Old Cottonfields Back Home"
"Be True to Your School"
"Disney Girls"
"Please Let Me Wonder"
"Don't Worry Baby"
"Little Honda"
"Little Deuce Coupe"
"409"
"Shut Down"
"I Get Around"
"Sloop John B"
"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
"Forever"
"Sail On Sailor"
"Heroes and Villains"
"In My Room"
"All This Is That"
"God Only Knows"
"That's Why God Made the Radio"
"California Dreaming" (The Mamas and the Papas)
"California Girls"
"Dance Dance Dance"
"All Summer Long"
"Help Me Rhonda"
"Rock and Roll Music" (Chuck Berry)
"Barbara Ann"
"Surfin' U.S.A."

Encore:
"Kokomo"
"Good Vibrations"
"Fun Fun Fun"

[viper]

Thanks for posting this. It seems like a fun place to be last night.

Great set list! Hope they add more new songs from the upcoming album as the tour goes on.

[jamsvet]

Nice article in todays LA times

http://latimesblogs....-in-tucson.html

[viper]

From Dallas Observer


The Beach Boys Verizon Theatre
Thursday, April 26

In the past few decades, various incarnations of the Beach Boys toured the oldies/county fair circuit, rehashing the popular hits over and over again, usually for a cheap ticket price (or even free). Alas, with Brian Wilson back in the fold, the result was an incredible evening of two-plus hours of music.This certainly wasn't the version of the band you saw on Full House. Rather, the production was more on the scale of Wilson's solo tours in the last ten years.

Starting the show at 7:30 p.m. and not leaving the stage until 10 p.m., the surviving members, including Al Jardine, Mike Love, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston, were joined by no fewer than ten (!) backing musicians. The most recognizable was keyboardist/percussionist Darian Sahanaja, who has worked with Wilson on a number of projects, including the re-recording of Smile. With this many people, it was much easier to recreate the Wrecking Crew house band sound from the original recordings.

Despite the guitar overload (six guitars was a little too much), the focal point of the house mix was the gorgeous vocal melodies the band has been known for since the beginning. While certain elder statesmen in the band don't have the same vocal strength as they used to, they still pulled off the classic Beach Boys sound. You know, the kinds of harmonies that hit your heart and make the hair on your neck point towards the ceiling?

The mostly-packed Verizon audience, where men wore Hawaiian shirts, sang along to the few dozen familiar hits. But the deeper cuts from the band's catalog stood out, and they didn't make people head for the bathroom or concession stands. From Johnston's "Disney Girls" to Wilson's "Sail On, Sailor," there was space for the ripe new song, "That's Why God Made the Radio."

Also of note were two songs in tribute to the deceased Wilson brothers, Dennis and Carl.They performed "Forever" with Dennis' recorded vocals and "God Only Knows" with Carl's, as video montages played in the center of the stage. Certainly heartfelt, and probably way more sincere than what TLC is planning to do on their upcoming tour.

With a 20-minute intermission in the middle the show, the band came out for three more songs at the very end, and seemed a little out of steam by then, but it didn't really matter. Mike Love sang less and less, talking more through his vocals. Wilson, at times, looked like he was sitting in with the band on his white piano, but when it was time for him to take the lead, he did. Major kudos to him for just being there, if you know a little about his long story.

For a band that plays to the inner-teenager of everyone, you're not going to find a better live version of this music anywhere else. This was the real deal Beach Boys, and this tour is certainly not something to be overlooked in the band's winding and tumultuous 50-year story.

Personal bias: There was one summer growing up where my mother wouldn't stop playing a Beach Boys greatest hits compilation tape in the family minivan. I grew to hate many of the songs about surfing, cars and girls. By the time I worked for KLUV between 2002 and 2004, the hate had lightened up. Certainly helped that I fell in love with Pet Sounds by then.

By the way: Speaking of KLUV, Mike Love gave the station a shout-out before going into "California Girls."

Set list:
"Do It Again"
"Catch a Wave"
"Don't Back Down"
"Surfin' Safari"
"Surfer Girl"
"The Little Girl I Once Knew"
"Wendy"
"Then I Kissed Her"
"You're So Good to Me"
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love"
"When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)"
"Cottonfields"
"Be True to Your School"
"Disney Girls"
"Please Let Me Wonder"
"Don't Worry Baby"
"Little Honda"
"Little Deuce Coupe"
"409"
"Shut Down"
"I Get Around"
"Sloop John B"
"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
"California Dreamin'"
"Forever"
"Sail On, Sailor"
"Heroes and Villains"
"In My Room"
"All This is That"
"God Only Knows"
"That's Why God Made the Radio"
"California Girls"
"Dance, Dance, Dance"
"All Summer Long"
"Help Me, Rhonda"
"Rock and Roll Music"
"Do You Wanna Dance"
"Barbara Ann"
"Surfin' USA"

Encore
"Kokomo"
"Good Vibrations"
"Fun, Fun, Fun"

[RockabillyNBlues]

Wanted to get a review in from The Beach Boys in Atlanta last weekend! http://rockabillynbl...lanta-4-28.html

[The Mad Raider]

RockabillyNBlues, on 01 May 2012 - 04:13 PM, said:

Wanted to get a review in from The Beach Boys in Atlanta last weekend! http://rockabillynbl...lanta-4-28.html

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I'm really excited to see them in Berkeley, California!

[viper]

The Beach Boys were awesome at the St. Augustine Ampitheatre in St,. Augustine, Florida last night! Beach balls were thrown out just before the start of the show and they were in fine form. The show was filmed for PBS to be aired next month. The camera crew were distracting at first but they became almost invisible as the show went on.

The set list was pretty much the same as previously reported. Brian was just singing along during the first set, even on the song he sang lead on (he had strong support from the rest of the band on vocals). He became more animated and gave a stronger vocal performance later on when he took the lead on “Sloop John B,” “Good Vibrations,” and “Sail on Sailor.” Mike was ever the showman, but he's toned it down to a manageable level. From the reviews I've read from previous shows, it seemed The Beach Boys had a formula for this tour and they didn't f... um, mess with it. It was what I had expected and so much more. It was a blast!

I'm going to see them in NYC and did not plan on going to this show. I scored tickets at the last minute. Am I glad I went, I may just be spotted in the audience when this gets shown on PBS!

[ians]

But how will we recognise you??? (Ignoring the fact that I won't see it in the UK!)

[viper]

ians, on 04 May 2012 - 09:01 AM, said:

But how will we recognise you??? (Ignoring the fact that I won't see it in the UK!)

I'm the one with the Hawaiian shirt! lol

I'm sure this wil be on DVD. The Beach Boys spent several days in historic old St. Augustine, they were filmed sightseeing before the show. I bet this will be bonus features or somehow weaved into the concert show.

[Sam Hill]

Thanks for posting the reviews everyone!

Viper, glad you had a great time at the show. Is St. Augustine's Ampitheatre much different from The Greek at UC Berkeley? I can't wait to see them there! Enjoy the NYC show!

[jamsvet]

Have fun in NYC. Went to St Augustine a couple of years ago and drank from "The Fountain of Youth" Guess that explains why I won't let MY Beach Boys die.

[viper]

Sam Hill, on 05 May 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

Viper, glad you had a great time at the show. Is St. Augustine's Ampitheatre much different from The Greek at UC Berkeley? I can't wait to see them there! Enjoy the NYC show!

Thanks Sam! You're going to have a blast when they hit The Bay Area! St. Augustine's Ampitheater seats about half of what The Greek does. Its a nice place for a concert, but I like The Greek so much better! Go Bears!

jamsvet, on 06 May 2012 - 04:39 AM, said:

Have fun in NYC. Went to St Augustine a couple of years ago and drank from "The Fountain of Youth" Guess that explains why I won't let MY Beach Boys die.

Thanks "Vettehead!" The Beacon is a nice intimate, indoor theater. I've seen many concerts there in the past and is one of my favorite mid-size venues. I think the reason The Beach Boys chose to film their St. Augustine show was they stopped by "The Fountain of Youth" for a drink (and maybe a dip) before they went on stage. They were in great form!

[Pop Rocks]

Thanks for the reviews and the setlist! Two more weeks, I can't wait to see them!

[The Mad Raider]

PB Pulse
By Larry Aydlette
May 05, 2012


Review: Beach Boys reunite for one last surfin’ safari



It was the concert most Beach Boys fans thought would never happen.

After all the lawsuits and acrimony among the surviving members of this dysfunctional family band, nobody expected to see Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston on stage together again. But about a year ago, Wilson began hinting in interviews that financial considerations might bring him back in the mix to celebrate the group’s 50th anniversary.

The promoters must have ponied up because the Boys have been everywhere lately — an appearance on the Grammys, singing the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium, a new album out in June and this 66-date world tour, which stopped at the Seminole Hard Rock Live on Friday night.

The money was on display here, too — in the visual bling of a large drive-in-like screen and surfboard-ringed set, and a riser curved like a wave where a pack of high-octane musicians, mostly from Wilson’s solo band, backed up the original members.

Is the investment paying off? Well, the show was sold out, and plenty of merch seemed to be moving in the lobby. As for the music, the audience certainly got good value: 43 songs in about two-and-a-half hours. Not bad for a group with its principal members close to or over 70.

The show featured the musical strength of Wilson’s recent solo tours, with a deeper sense of celebrating the band’s legacy. Each member got his moment in the spotlight — the seemingly ageless Jardine sang gritty versions of Cotton Fields and Then I Kissed Her. Johnston turned in a surprisingly tender reading of Disney Girls, his ode to nostalgia that he finally seems the right age to sing. And it was wonderful to see David Marks (who departed as a teenager in the early ’60s) with the full lineup and ripping off guitar solos in tribute to Carl Wilson.

Speaking of, the group acknowledged late members Carl and Dennis Wilson by singing backup to their voices on two songs, God Only Knows and Forever. This kind of raising the dead karaoke could be considered mawkish or cheesy, but instead it was incredibly moving as pictures of the brothers flashed on screen and the mind turned to the long and sometimes tragic dimensions of the band’s history. At one point, you could see Brian staring at pictures of Carl and you had to wonder what he was thinking.

Of course, “What is Brian thinking?” is a favorite parlor game among fans. Unlike his solo tours, where he is located at center stage and interacts more, he was placed to the side behind a white grand piano. He spoke one or two sentences, tops, all night long. But when called upon, he turned in strong, rough vocals on You’re So Good To Me, Please Let Me Wonder and Sail On Sailor.



Age has slowed down Mike Love’s funky stage moves and his nasally voice is a bit pitchy, as the Idol judges say. But Love, in all his yacht rockin’ glory, is still the centerpiece of the group onstage, bantering good-naturedly with Jardine and ad-libbing “That sounds like a Beatles song” when a blast of feedback screeched through the speakers. And it’s impossible to overlook how many of the band’s greatest songs sport his lead vocals, especially on a burning-rubber run of Little Honda, Little Deuce Coupe, 409, Shut Down and I Get Around, which ended the first set.

The second half of the show never quite matched that high, but the band also explored some of its lesser-known songs for the hardcore fan. I was shocked to hear the beautiful, harmony-drenched, Mahirishi-era All This Is That and nearly as surprised when Brian launched into a forceful version of This Whole World. The band also took a mini-tour of Brian’s melancholy moods, from the early In My Room to the Pet Sounds masterpiece I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times. Most of the audience was happier with the fun, fun, fun stuff, but the band should get credit for displaying its artistic range.

Even thought they were never introduced individually, the 10 backing musicians were the evening’s secret weapons, providing much of the music’s thunderous punch as well as the depth and richness of the harmonies. Especially strong were the two-man percussion duo of John Cowsill and Nelson Bragg, and guitarist-singer and longtime Wilson compatriot Jeffrey Foskett, who handled the falsetto parts that nobody else can hit anymore.

All in all, the show felt like what the best Beach Boys shows have always felt like, a messy family publicly putting its differences aside to serenade us with glorious music and, on this tour, to take one last lap around the bases. What happens next? God only knows. Most people expect Wilson to return to his more adventurous solo work, but there’s enough magic here that I hope they do it again.

SET LIST
1. Do It Again
2. Catch A Wave
3. Don’t Back Down
4. Surfin’ Safari
5. Surfer Girl
6. You’re So Good To Me
7. Wendy
8. Then I Kissed Her
9. The Little Girl I Once Knew
10. Why Do Fools Fall In Love
11. When I Grow Up To Be A Man
12. Cotton Fields
13. Be True To Your School
14. Disney Girls
15. Please Let Me Wonder
16. Don’t Worry Baby
17. Little Honda
18. Little Deuce Coupe
19. 409
20. Shut Down
21. I Get Around
22. California Dreaming
23. Sloop John B
24. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
25. This Whole World
26. Forever
27. Sail On Sailor
28. Heroes and Villains
29. In My Room
30. All This Is That
31. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
32. God Only Knows
33. That’s Why God Made The Radio (the band’s sweet new single)
34. California Girls
35. All Summer Long
36. Help Me Rhonda
37. Rock and Roll Music
38. Do You Wanna Dance
39. Barbara Ann
40. Surfing U.S.A.
41. Kokomo
42. Good Vibrations
43. Fun, Fun, Fun

[Pop Rocks]

Here's a review of the New York City show from The New York Times.
By JON PARELES
Published: May 9, 2012


A Reunion of Memories and Marvels
The Beach Boys performed Tuesday night at the Beacon Theater in New York.



What amazing songs. That’s the lingering impression from Tuesday night’s Beacon Theater concert by the reunited Beach Boys, who until this year had not performed with Brian Wilson since 1996.

Over half a century after three brothers (Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson), a cousin (Mike Love) and a high school classmate (Al Jardine) started a band in 1961 in Hawthorne, Calif., the surviving original Beach Boys have put schisms, battles for credit and lawsuits behind them to perform songs that are no less startling for their Top 40 familiarity. The Beach Boys are in their 60s and 70s now, and it showed, but memory and a knowing backup band supplied what mortal performers cannot.

More than 40 songs breezed by in the concert, nearly every one packing musicianly marvels into its two or three minutes. The Beach Boys performed the obligatory hits along with more obscure songs like “The Little Girl I Once Knew,” a flopped 1965 single with unexpected pauses, sudden harmonic swerves and, Mr. Love said afterward, “nine million vocal parts.” Another oddity was “All This Is That,” a song that Mr. Love and Mr. Jardine wrote about transcendental meditation. They had a new one too: “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” with echoes of both “Surfer Girl” and “Sail On, Sailor” carrying lines like “It’s paradise when I lift up my antennae/Receiving your signal like a prayer.” It’s the title track of a new album due in June.

The current Beach Boys also include two longtime associates. Bruce Johnston, who has been in and out of the group since 1965, sang his song “Disney Girls” and seized the swooping high vocal line in “Fun, Fun, Fun.” The guitarist David Marks, who briefly replaced Mr. Jardine in 1962 and has performed in latter-day Beach Boys lineups, joined the vocal harmonies and fired off rowdy surf-rock leads.



They were bolstered strategically by the band of Beach Boys experts that helped Brian Wilson return to regular touring. Jeff Foskett, a guitarist, claimed most of the high, pure falsetto vocals, and took over the lead of “Don’t Worry Baby.”

The Beach Boys played under a video screen showing images of surfboards, cars and bikini-clad women. But if the Beach Boys had been only a surf-rock band, they would have disappeared when surf-rock lost its novelty. Brian Wilson, the band’s songwriting and production genius, had far more to offer. He started out writing songs that invented California as a teenager’s utopia but matured rapidly and idiosyncratically.

He was both a mirror and a shaper of 1960s America, as his songs moved from the buoyancy and innocence of “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Fun Fun Fun” to the introversion of “In My Room” and the sweeping ambition (and seesawing tempos) of “Heroes and Villains.”

Even when Mr. Wilson was writing songs like “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” his music was already merging, and extending, the rock ’n’ roll of doo-wop and Chuck Berry, the jazzy vocal harmonies of the Four Freshmen, the melodic grace of Tin Pan Alley and the urge to pack multiple key changes and surreal transitions into the brevity of a single.

Yet while the technical splendor of his songwriting was one of the Beach Boys’ lasting achievements — one that echoes down through generations of tuneful studio experimenters — this wasn’t a concert to get too technical about. It was a show of youthful exuberance and inspiration battling the effects of time.



Mr. Love was the lead singer for most songs, and memory filled out his thinning voice. Mr. Jardine, who sang lead on “Help Me Rhonda” but few other Beach Boys hits, was the heartiest among the band’s original singers. The set list was more egalitarian than it needed to be; Mr. Jardine sang “Help Me Rhonda” — along with most of the audience — but also got “And Then I Kissed Her” and “Cotton Fields” when there could have been more Beach Boys originals. (Meanwhile John Stamos, the actor, who introduced the band, grew intrusive in return visits to the stage, sitting in on drums and clowning on guitar.) The Beach Boys also accompanied video clips of the Wilson brothers no longer alive, Dennis (whose video clip malfunctioned) and Carl, who was heard in “God Only Knows.”

Memory also heard the best in Mr. Wilson’s voice after his years of struggle with mental illness. He sat at a white grand piano, looking impassive but taking part, until near the end of the set, when he stepped forward and strapped on a bass. (The backup band’s bass player continued to play.) And he took his share of lead vocals, determined but faltering, in songs like “Sail on Sailor,” “Sloop John B.,” “This Whole World” and the gorgeously timid 1965 album track and B-side “Please Let Me Wonder.”

As a young man Mr. Wilson was already thinking about how fleeting time is, and the reunited Beach Boys seized on songs like “All Summer Long,” “When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)” and the inevitable set starter for a reunited band, “Do It Again.”

In the concert’s most touching moment Mr. Wilson sang “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times,” a song from “Pet Sounds” about being an innovator who’s universally misunderstood: “Every time I get the inspiration to go change things around,” he sang, “No one wants to help me look for places where new things might be found.”

The chords and melody climbed, lingered, fell back; Mr. Wilson stayed with them, fighting his limitations, as the Beach Boys sang harmony. It was an aching memory and a heartbreaking vindication.

[jamsvet]

Even the reviewer comments on John Stamos sticking his nose into the concert. I pray he stays out of the concerts I'm going to. Thanks for posting.

BTW, I like how the reviewer called them Mr.Wilson, Mr. Love, etc.. He wasn't personal friends with them so he showed them the respect they deserve. I've met them several times and it's always Mr. Love, Mr.Wilson etc. They've never been to my house for dinner although the invitation is open.

[Sunflower1]

Thanks for the concert review Viper. Please share other concert reviews as well. I am so glad you had a good time. It's good to know that there was a camera crew filming for a DVD. That's exciting. Unfortunately, the boys are not touring anywhere near where I live so I won't be seeing them in person. I was crushed when I saw the list of tour date. Maybe, they'll add a few. Anyway, as jealous I am of all the fans who will be seeing the boys this summer, I'm enjoying reading the reviews. Something I never thought I would be saying is "The Beach Boys are appearing together on the same stage and they have a new album out!"

[The Mad Raider]

New York Daily News
Published: Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 1:47 PM
Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2012, 8:00 AM




The Beach Boys reunite with Brian Wilson, and it feels so good
New tour showcases key talent from classic band's original lineup

The Beach Boys, featuring (from left) Brian Wilson, David Marks, Mike Love and Al Jardine, performed Tuesday at the Beacon Theatre.The Beach Boys messed up the math of their 50th anniversary tour, which hit the Beacon Theatre Tuesday night.

Sticklers will note that it’s actually 51 years since this seminal harmony band formed in Hawthorne, Calif. If we’re being equally strict, the band couldn’t quite make good on the “reunion” part of the tour’s promise, either.

Two of the group’s original three brothers — Carl and Dennis Wilson — died years ago. But hey, it’s the spirit of the thing. And Tuesday’s show had so much of it, the full life and invention of the group’s cobwebbed catalogue once again seemed shiny and new.

The tour (which returns to the Jones Beach Theater June 24 and the PNC Bank Arts Center on June 27) boasts some genuinely rare features. It’s the first full road show to bring together Beach Boys genius Brian Wilson with four other key band members in 27 years. It’s also the first to loop back in original singer Al Jardine in 15 years.

The lure has paid off in sales. Other than just two intimate gigs at the 3,000-seat Beacon (including Wednesday), the rebranded group will be playing far larger venues than usual, and will even headline the New Orleans Jazzfest for the first time in their storied history.

The tour’s fleshed-out lineup also includes old hand Mike Love, singer/keyboardist Bruce Johnston (who has served worthy stints in the band since 1965), and guitarist David Marks, who first appeared with the Boys in 1962 and has cycled in and out for several tours of duty since.

Marks’ rockabilly-inflected leads lent the music its hardest edge. To approximate the high harmonies of brother Carl Wilson, they re-employed another “Boy” stand-in, Jeff Foskett, whose falsetto had the proper sweep and sensitivity.

If that wasn’t enough, the stage held up to eight more musicians, necessary to flesh out music this complex. For songs often meant to celebrate aspects of American life as simple as cars, girls and California sunshine, Brian Wilson’s writing style could be breathtakingly ornate.

The harmonies on songs like “Don’t Worry Baby” or “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” waft and wave through 10 layers of vocal cascades. Even in songs written by others, like Frankie Lymon’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” the vocal braids dazzled with their exactitude and range.

Although the show featured more than three dozen hits (packed into two hours and 20 minutes), it also turned to lesser-known songs of significance. “Please Let Me Wonder,” a 1965 B-side, contains one of Brian Wilson’s most poignant lyrics.

“The Little Girl I Once Knew,” from the same year, holds some of his most rococo harmonic arrangements. The group even performed a promising new song, “That’s Why God Made Radio.”

The group acknowledged its lost brothers in video cameos from Dennis (on “Forever”) and Carl (on “God Only Knows”). But it’s the imperial melody of a song like the latter that will make the over-50-year-old Beach Boys seem forever young.

email:jfarber@nydailynews.com



SET LIST:

1) Do It Again

2) Catch a Wave

3) Hawaii

4) Don’t Back Down

5) Surfin’ Safari

6) Surfer Girl

7) The Little Girl I Once Knew

8) Wendy

9) Then I Kissed Her

10) You’re So Good to Me

11) Why Do Fools Fall in Love

12) When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)

13) Cotton Fields

14) Be True to Your School

15) Disney Girls

16) Please Let Me Wonder

17) Don’t Worry Baby

18) Little Honda

19) Little Deuce Coupe

20) 409

21) Shut Down

22) I Get Around

23) California Dreamin’

24) Sloop John B

25) Wouldn’t It Be Nice

26) In My Room

27) This Whole World

28) Forever

29) Heroes and Villains

30) All This Is That

31) Sail on, Sailor

32) I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times

33) God Only Knows

34) That’s Why God Made the Radio

35) California Girls

36) All Summer Long

37) Help Me, Rhonda

38) Rock and Roll Music

39) Do You Wanna Dance?

40) Barbara Ann

41) Surfin’ USA

42) Kokomo

43) Good Vibrations

44) Fun, Fun, Fun

[Sunflower1]

Thanks Mad Raider for sharing the latest review and set list. I love their choices in opening with Do It Again. Other favorites and interesting choices are Cottonfields, This Whole World and Rock and Roll Music.