GIG: Jersey Boys
DATE: Saturday 3rd November 2012
VENUE: Prince Edward Theatre, Old Compton Street, London
COST: £37.50
OUR VERDICT: Oh What a Night
Whilst in London, on this fresh, autumn afternoon, we popped into the theatre box office on the off chance there were some discounted tickets available for the matinee show, and our luck was in.
Seated in the Grand Circle, the seats were a tiny bit cramped, but we had a terrific view of the stage. The show itself was brilliant. After the bad expereience of seeing the Beatles show a few weeks before, this was a real West End Show. It is not a case of a show to fit around a bunch of Four Season's songs.... it is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, with the music complimenting this. The change of sets, was very slick, the costumes authentic and the New York accents and singing from the cast were absolutely spot on. There were two drummers during the show, and we think they had the best fun, being wheeled (seemingly by remote control) around the stage as the sets changed, and coming up and down from below the stage.
This show really made you think that there is a great film to be made of this groups rise to fame. The storyline was warm, funny and poignant at times too. In fact, Bob Crewe deserves a movie of his own!
This is what a West End show is all about. The audience loved it all. We loved it all.
A closing word about the theatre. The price of the ticket included a £1 charge towards the restoration fund, and it is in dire need of restoration. More toliets would be a bonus, and ones that flush, even better!
LET IT BE
GIG: Let It
Be
DATE: Saturday
13th October 2012
VENUE: Prince
Of Wales Theatre, Coventry Street, London
COST: £60 (plus
really extortionate booking fees £17)
OUR VERDICT: Could
have seen the same show for a tiny fraction of the price
The Prince of
Wales Theatre, at one end of London’s Leicester Square is a really comfortable
theatre. The seats are soft and have plenty of leg room compared with many
other London theatres.
We were in
the third row for the Saturday matinee and on either side of the stage were a
large radio and large TV mocked up in 60’s style. As the theatre started to
fill, the TV screens flashed up a series of Beatles questions with multiple
choice answers for the audience to test their Beatles knowledge. This should
have been taken as the first sign of the “cheap” production to come, as there
were spelling mistakes (feaures, instead of feature for example). The questions
were fairly easy to guess - Minty, not being a Beatles fan got the majority of
them just through a bit of common sense! During the show, the screens were used
to “broadcast” the actual performance in an authentic black and white 60’s hue,
changing to colour as the later part of the decade kicked in. Rather
annoyingly, the “broadcast” had about a 2 second time delay so the film did not
match with what you were actually hearing.
The first
half took us from the early days at The Cavern (no sign of the Germany era)
through to Sgt Peppers time, and the second half from the Magical Mystical Tour
to Abbey Road. Whilst the band were OK, they were supported in the second half
of the show by a keyboard player to generate the majority of the instruments
needed (strings, brass etc).
 |
| "Lennon" |
Be warned
though, this is NOT a theatre show. It is just a straight forward tribute band trawling
through a selection of the Beatles back catalogue in (near) chronological order, with
changes of costumes. They may have dressed like the Beatles, albeit with very
bad stick-on moustaches in the second half, but the only one who truly resembled
their Beatles counterpart throughout the entire show was George Harrison. That being said we could not really see Ringo until the end when he ventured from behind the drum kit!
There was nothing
wrong with the band themselves – they played and sang well enough, but
considering all the audience got was a basic tribute band with no dialogue, no
story, no ad-libs and not much inter-action with the audience (limited to asking us to clap along or stand
up) it was really quite appalling.
The one bit that worked well was an acoustic section that finished with George's acoustic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" Anthology version. But even this version was a bit wasted as it changed half-way to the electric version. There was a great opportunity to really rock out here, but a rather insipid, 'going through the motions' lead, put paid to that idea!
West
End prices for what you can see in a pub for ten quid is not on. It's going to catch a lot of unsuspecting tourist out we reckon. Our tickets were bought before the show started it's run. If we'd seen any of the reviews beforehand we'd definitely have skipped this one.
The real shame is that the band are fine, it's just that this is a very bad idea for a London West End theatre show. The tickets cost as much as a Paul McCartney gig!
We'd have been
better going to see Jersey Boys.
 |
| Backdrop to the stage at the end |
 |
| The end of the show |
CHRIS ISAAK
GIG: Chris Isaak
DATE: Saturday 6th October 2012
VENUE: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
COST: £30 plus the usual daylight robbery service charges of £4.75
OUR VERDICT: Charismatic Isaak
www.chrisisaak.com/
Supporting Chris Isaak tonight was a guy called Paul Freemen, from Wales – just him, an acoustic guitar and harmonica on that big stage. He gave us the best part of half an hour of his own material. He also demonstrated how there are only eight notes and the same chord progression, he strummed his guitar with no variation while doing a medley mash up of about half a dozen songs which included “With Or Without You” and “Don’t Stop Believing”. Funny enough, he was right!!!
A short interval and at 9pm, Chris Isaak and his band took to the stage, Chris dressed in a light blue sequinned suit and the band in black. The whole ninety minute show was very slick, with some choreographed formation dancing (in Shadows style) thrown in. The guitar changes were seamless, and the good relationship between Chris and the band was really evident with everyone on the stage having just as much fun as the audience. When Chris addressed the audience in between songs, he was extremely charismatic, putting Wolverhampton in the same league as New York and Paris, and encouraged everyone to take photos, saying “I didn’t get all dressed up NOT to have my picture taken!”. Cameras were then released!!
Our
seats were towards the back, near the sound desk. If there is one place to sit
in a hall, it’s near the sound desk as you tend to get the full benefit of the
sound. Our ears were certainly spoiled. As the stage is very high at the Civic
Hall, we also had quite a good view. The sound tonight was absolutely spot on.
You could hear the full richness of Chris’ voice, the tinkling of the piano,
and the various percussion being played alongside the usual drum beat, bass
line (sometimes an upright double bass) and guitars.
At one point, Chris asked his drummer, Kenney Johnson, to “play something pretty” and then came down from the stage and into the audience, and whilst still singing, proceeded to shake hands with everyone near the aisle. We thought we’d been transported to an Elvis show! The women loved it, including the one who lunged forward from her place in the rear stalls, almost climbing over people to get to the aisle to get a photo, but alas, Chris was already on his way back to the stage before she managed it!!!
“Blue Hotel” was played early on in the set, along with “Pretty Girls Don’t Cry”. “During “Dance of Love” the audience got to their feet and the guitarist, Hershel Yatovitz did a choreographed dance during the chorus. Hershel also had a stint off stage, working his way up the left side, through the gap between front and rear stalls to the middle aisle and back again, much to the thrill of the crowd. “Wicked Game” attracted an audible sound of pleasure from the audience as it started and a huge volume of applause and whistles at the end. It did sound terrific.
Isaak’s latest album, "Beyond the Sun" is a Sun records tribute and once the roadies moved the piano from the back of the stage to the front left, we were treated to some fine old rock and roll and tunes from that great label, kicking off with “Ring of Fire”, and a couple of Elvis numbers, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” which showed Chris’ romantic side as he asked the audience to hold the one they love during it, and “It’s Now Or Never”. By this time we had left our seats and were in the middle aisle as close to the stage as we could get (no heavy handed security at all and everyone was good natured) and caught a fabulous rendition of “Great Balls Of Fire” with stage smoke and flames pouring out of the piano to compliment the on-fire piano playing.
When the set finished, the audience pounded the floor with their feet, demanding Isaak’s presence back on the stage and Chris re-appeared in a silver mirrored suit, dazzling us all with an encore which included a superb version of “Pretty Woman”.
As the encore finished, Chris took in the enthusiastic applause and turned his guitar around to show the message “Thanks a lot” to the crowd.
Chris Isaak is a really gracious man, not only demonstrated through his thanks to the audience, but after the show, he spared some time to meet fans gathered outside by his tour bus. He made time for everyone, signing tickets, photos and stopping to have his picture taken with anyone who asked him, including us. We had a fantastic night.
DATE: Saturday 6th October 2012
VENUE: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton
COST: £30 plus the usual daylight robbery service charges of £4.75
OUR VERDICT: Charismatic Isaak
www.chrisisaak.com/
Supporting Chris Isaak tonight was a guy called Paul Freemen, from Wales – just him, an acoustic guitar and harmonica on that big stage. He gave us the best part of half an hour of his own material. He also demonstrated how there are only eight notes and the same chord progression, he strummed his guitar with no variation while doing a medley mash up of about half a dozen songs which included “With Or Without You” and “Don’t Stop Believing”. Funny enough, he was right!!!
 |
| Chris Isaak wows the audience |
A short interval and at 9pm, Chris Isaak and his band took to the stage, Chris dressed in a light blue sequinned suit and the band in black. The whole ninety minute show was very slick, with some choreographed formation dancing (in Shadows style) thrown in. The guitar changes were seamless, and the good relationship between Chris and the band was really evident with everyone on the stage having just as much fun as the audience. When Chris addressed the audience in between songs, he was extremely charismatic, putting Wolverhampton in the same league as New York and Paris, and encouraged everyone to take photos, saying “I didn’t get all dressed up NOT to have my picture taken!”. Cameras were then released!!
At one point, Chris asked his drummer, Kenney Johnson, to “play something pretty” and then came down from the stage and into the audience, and whilst still singing, proceeded to shake hands with everyone near the aisle. We thought we’d been transported to an Elvis show! The women loved it, including the one who lunged forward from her place in the rear stalls, almost climbing over people to get to the aisle to get a photo, but alas, Chris was already on his way back to the stage before she managed it!!!
“Blue Hotel” was played early on in the set, along with “Pretty Girls Don’t Cry”. “During “Dance of Love” the audience got to their feet and the guitarist, Hershel Yatovitz did a choreographed dance during the chorus. Hershel also had a stint off stage, working his way up the left side, through the gap between front and rear stalls to the middle aisle and back again, much to the thrill of the crowd. “Wicked Game” attracted an audible sound of pleasure from the audience as it started and a huge volume of applause and whistles at the end. It did sound terrific.
Isaak’s latest album, "Beyond the Sun" is a Sun records tribute and once the roadies moved the piano from the back of the stage to the front left, we were treated to some fine old rock and roll and tunes from that great label, kicking off with “Ring of Fire”, and a couple of Elvis numbers, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” which showed Chris’ romantic side as he asked the audience to hold the one they love during it, and “It’s Now Or Never”. By this time we had left our seats and were in the middle aisle as close to the stage as we could get (no heavy handed security at all and everyone was good natured) and caught a fabulous rendition of “Great Balls Of Fire” with stage smoke and flames pouring out of the piano to compliment the on-fire piano playing.
When the set finished, the audience pounded the floor with their feet, demanding Isaak’s presence back on the stage and Chris re-appeared in a silver mirrored suit, dazzling us all with an encore which included a superb version of “Pretty Woman”.
 |
| The encore, wearing his mirrored suit |
 |
| (L-R)Bass player Roly Salley, drummer Kenney Johnson and guitarist Hershel Yatovitz harmonise |
As the encore finished, Chris took in the enthusiastic applause and turned his guitar around to show the message “Thanks a lot” to the crowd.
 |
| Chris thanks the crowd |
Chris Isaak is a really gracious man, not only demonstrated through his thanks to the audience, but after the show, he spared some time to meet fans gathered outside by his tour bus. He made time for everyone, signing tickets, photos and stopping to have his picture taken with anyone who asked him, including us. We had a fantastic night.
 |
| The Beeb and Chris |
 |
| Minty and Chris |
 |
| The Beeb swaps guitar picks with Hershel |
DANNY BHOY
GIG: Danny
Bhoy
DATE: Friday 5th
October 2012
VENUE: The
Stables, Wavendon, Milton Keynes
COST: £15
(and no booking fee!!)
OUR VERDICT: Laugh
out loud funny
Links:
The Stables is
a great venue, where no seat is a bad seat and heads don’t really get in the way
of your view, and that makes it a fab place to see any entertainment act, music,
comedy….
Tonight comedian Danny
Bhoy was appearing as part of his “Wanderlust” tour. The venue was almost sold
out, just a few seats left empty as we settled in for eighty minutes of constant laughter.
Obviously we
are not going to reveal the content of his stage show as this would only spoil
it for those who are yet to see the rest of the tour, but suffice to say, it
was very well written, linked together, absolutely hilarious, the content
striking a chord with many of the audience which made it even more funny. His
show is well paced, with pauses in all the right places which allowed us to
have a good laugh without missing the next gag!
Minty could
listen to DannyBhoy’s voice for the rest of eternity, his soft Scottish lilt entrancing to say the least! His interaction with some of the audience (those
who were a tad late and found their seats after the house lights had gone down,
the girls munching on big bags of crisps and Ryan, the young lad in the front row
with the Beiber hairdo) shows he is a funny guy, not sticking to a script all
the time and has no hesitation in bringing the audience into the fold.
The Beeb couldn't resist letting Danny Bhoy know that he wasn't the only Scotsman in the venue, sounding very much the scary Glaswegian, which created a lot of laughter as Danny Bhoy retorted to the shout out!
Eighty
minutes is a long time to thrill an audience with comedy and even longer nowadays
for anyone to sit still in the audience but the time just flew past and before
we knew it, Danny Bhoy was doing his wrap up, weaving everything together and
leaving the stage to a rapturous applause.
A brilliant
show. Go see it.
 |
| The tour flyer |
THE BEACH BOYS - Wembley
GIG: The
Beach Boys
DATE: Friday 28th
September 2012
VENUE: Wembley
Arena, London
COST: £55
plus wildly extortionate booking fee of £7.88
OUR VERDICT: Phenomenal
final show
Links:
It was quite
bittersweet that the first Beach Boys concert Minty went to (circa 1986) was at
Wembley Arena and tonight’s concert, at the same venue was the very last time we
would be able to see the surviving members playing together in harmony. The
last time Minty saw The Beach Boys play Wembley Arena, (around 1989), half of the
venue had the seats blacked out and the arena was less than half full. Tonight
there was hardly an empty seat (including the VIP seats in the first 20 rows
that didn’t sell and were released for general sale a couple of weeks before
the gig at half price!).
 |
| The Arena was packed |
 |
| Mike Love |
Just to
remind you all, the front line is the five surviving Beach Boys, Brian Wilson,
Mike Love, David Marks, Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston, along with Scott Totten,
from the Mike and Bruce touring band, and Jeff Foskett who toured as a Beach Boy
during the 80’s, and is also Brian Wilson’s right hand man in his own touring
band set up. The back line have a real musical pedigree, with members of Brian
Wilson’s touring band, Darian Sahanaja, Mike D’Amico, Probyn Gregory, Scott Bennett,
Nelson Bragg, Paul Von Mertens and the drummer from the Mike & Bruce set
up, John Cowsill.
 |
| Not a bad picture considering how far away we were! |
Our seats
were up in the Gods, but that meant we had the option of standing or sitting
down, unlike those on the main arena floor who had no choice but to stand
for the full length as those at the front stood up, out of their seats from the
very first drum beat to “Do It Again” pounding through the sound system.
 |
| The backdrop to the stage showed some great video - this one of the waves |
The set list
was only marginally shorter than last night with just a mere fifty five tunes - “Little
Girl I Once Knew”, “Marcella”, “Good Timin’”, Still Cruising”, “Our Prayer” and
“Let Him Run Wild” being omitted tonight.
 |
| Sometimes had to use the screens.... |
Once again,
the sound was awesome, and the two screens either side of the stage showed the
film being shot of the concert, so for those of us up in the Gods, we could see
some close up views. We are at great risk of repeating what we wrote about last
night’s Albert Hall gig, and we would be spot on if we were to just copy and
paste that review!
 |
| Brian Wilson |
Highlights
for us tonight were Brian’s vocal on “Please Let Me Wonder” and “You’re So Good
To Me”. He really got into “Heroes And Villains” and he beamed all the way through
“California Dreaming”.
"Add Some Music" never fails to disappoint us, and Brian was very comfortable performing this tonight.
"Add Some Music" never fails to disappoint us, and Brian was very comfortable performing this tonight.
Mike Love was the quintessential front man, dressed in
his gold sparkly jacket, but with a white shirt tonight. His vocals sounded
spot on through the Wembley sound system. Bruce was a bit weak on “Wendy” but “Disney
Girls” got a rapturous applause.
 |
| Darlin' by Darian Sahanaja |
Darian
Sahanaja singing “Darlin’” was just wonderful again and yesterday’s lump in
Minty’s throat turned to glassy eyes as the videotape for “Forever” and “God
Only Knows” with Dennis and Carl on the leads was played for the last time.
 |
| Dennis Wilson - Forever |
 |
| Carl Wilson - God Only Knows |
The songs
from the new album “That’s Why God Made the Radio” and the new single “Isn’t It
Time” really shone through and the album’s final track, “Summer’s Gone” made it
into the main set tonight, sounding awesome once again. The videotape projected
on the big screen above the stage of a setting sun was so fitting.
 |
| During the encore - Fun Fun Fun |
People around
us laughed as The Beeb sang the “hum de dums” on Good Vibrations but again,
no-one else joined in! There was certainly a lot of love in that arena tonight
and a lot of fun had on stage, including Scott Bennett jumping on the grand
piano for a bit of “Surfin’ USA”.
First Half
1.
Do
It Again
2.
Little
Honda
3.
Catch
A Wave
4.
Hawaii
5.
Don’t
Back Down
6.
Surfin’
Safari
7.
Surfer
Girl
8.
Please
Let me Wonder
9.
This
Whole World
10. Wendy
11. Getcha Back
12. Then I Kissed Her
13. You’re So Good To Me
14. Kiss Me Baby
15. Isn’t It Time
16. Come Go With Me
17. Why Do Fools Fall In Love
18. When I Grow Up To Be A Man
19. Dance, Dance, Dance
20. Darlin’
21. Disney Girls
22. It’s OK
23. Cottonfields
24. Be True To Your School
25. Ballad Of Ole’ Betsy
26. Don’t Worry Baby
27. Little Deuce Coupe
28. 409
29. Shut Down
30. I Get Around
Second
Half
31. Pet Sounds
32. Add Some Music
33. Sail On Sailor
34. Heroes & Villains
35. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
36. California Dreaming
37. California Saga
38. In My Room
39. All This Is That
40. That’s Why God Made The Radio
41. Summer’s Gone
42. Forever
43. God Only Knows
44. Sloop John B
45. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
46. Good Vibrations
47. California Girls
48. All Summer Long
49. Help Me Rhonda
50. Rock & Roll Music
51. Do You Wanna Dance
52. Surfin’ USA
Encore
53. Kokomo
54. Barbara Ann
55. Fun, Fun, Fun
THE BEACH BOYS - Albert Hall
GIG: The
Beach Boys
DATE: Thursday
27th September 2012
VENUE: Royal
Albert Hall, London
COST: £95
plus wildly extortionate booking fee of £9.50
OUR VERDICT: Phenomenal
Links:
 |
| The Tour logo |
Excitement
had been building all week in anticipation of seeing the surviving members of the
Beach Boys reunited in the UK for the penultimate show of their 50th
Anniversary World Tour. We figured we would be in for a great show, especially
when we saw that they had brought the big screens with them to give us the
total Beach Boys experience with videos being played to accompany the songs. When
the house lights were turned down at about 7.45pm a great cheer erupted from
the expectant audience who filled every seat (just about) in the Royal Albert
Hall.
The front
line is the five Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, David Marks, Al Jardine
and Bruce Johnston, along with Scott Totten, from the Mike and Bruce touring
band and Jeff Foskett who toured as a
Beach Boy during the 80’s, and is also Brian Wilson’s right hand man in his own
touring band set up. The back line have a real musical pedigree, with members
of Brian Wilson’s touring band, Darian Sahanaja, Mike D’Amico, Probyn Gregory, Nelson Bragg, Scott
Bennett, Paul Von Mertens and the drummer from the Mike & Bruce set up,
John Cowsill.
The Beach
Boys are in their seventies now (except for the baby in the band, David Marks!),
have been on a gruelling world tour since April and at times during the show
Mike and Bruce’s vocals were a bit weak, and Brian missed a few words here and
there, but overall the sound was just fantastic (that two and a half hour sound
check paid off!!). Everyone on stage looked like they wanted to be there,
putting to one side the reports of discord and disappointment following Mike
Love’s ill-timed recent press statement (why he couldn’t have waited until
after the tour had concluded to tell us what we already knew, we don’t know!).
The show
kicked off with a strong drum beat from John Cowsill and dressed in black
trousers and shirt with a gold shimmery jacket, front man Mike Love’s dulcet
tones came through “It’s automatic, when we talk with old friends …….” with the
aptly titled “Do It Again” starting the set which delivered a non-stop, high
energy ride through the back catalogue with an amazing 61 songs being performed.
Without pausing for breath, the surf medley followed and it was great to hear “Don’t
Back Down” included.
 |
| Nelson Bragg adds great percussion |
David Marks
taking the lead on “Getcha Back” was brilliant to hear and the harmony from the
rest of the band, just superb. Al Jardine got a great reaction from the crowd
on “Then I Kissed Her” and was by far the one with the strongest vocal. Brian
Wilson took the lead on many of the numbers, including “Please Let Me Wonder”,
and “Marcella”. On the latter, backing band member Scott Bennett’s vocal was
very audible and sounded incredible but the song was lacking the real guitar
rock out we have seen in past Brian Wilson solo tours and we wondered how even
more energetic the show would have been had the backing band been able to add more
of their individual flair to the set!
A charity was
being supported (Operation Smile) throughout the night and a rather moving
video of a wee girl with a cleft lip being remedied played while the Beach Boys
sang “Kiss Me Baby”. It appeared at the start of the song that the Boys were a
bit unsure who was supposed to take the lead on this song!
 |
| Brian Wilson |
Next up was a
track from the recently released album, and we got the radio edit of “Isn’t It
Time” which sounded great and got a good reaction from the audience, especially
bearing in mind many of them may not have been familiar with this song.
Another
surprise in the set was “Come Go With Me”, again with Al Jardine on lead and
the audience were really appreciative of hearing that one. The band nailed the next
song, another Doo Wop classic, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” with some fantastic
harmony to close the song off.
A technical
hitch seemed to befall Scott Bennett during “When I Grow Up To Be A Man” as he
lost the sound on the keyboard, but this did not detract from the overall
performance of the song and he was back up and running for the next tune!
 |
| Darian Sahanaja |
A real
highlight was seeing Darian Sahanaja in the glare of the supertouper as he took
the lead on “Darlin’”. He sounded amazing and dressed in a really smart suit and
tie for this gig, he looked marvellous too.
 |
| Bruce sings Disney Girls |
“Disney Girls”
is a gentle, soft song, and with minimal instrumentation (the only guitar being
played was from backing band member, Probyn Gregory) and Bruce Johnston
delivered a sweet vocal. The audience reaction at the end was brilliant.
“It’s OK” was
a bit of a disappointment as Mike Love’s voice was quite ropey and someone with
red pom-poms bounced about in the first row as “Be True To Your School” was sung,
and snapshots of The Beach Boys at Hawthorne high flashed up on the big screen
behind. When a picture of Carl Wilson (who passed away on 1999) flashed up the
audience gave a big cheer.
Scott Totten shone
through with his falsetto on “The Ballad Of Ole’ Betsy” and played some smouldering
solo guitar on the 90’s song “Still Cruising”.
 |
| The CEO of falsetto - Jeff Foskett |
By this point
we had been treated to twenty nine songs and the first half was rounded off with
a further five songs, a car medley beginning with the CEO of falsetto, Jeff
Foskett, giving us a perfect rendition of “Don’t Worry Baby” and ending with a
rapturous “I Get Around”.
We did spend
much of the first half having fun, playing “spot the bass guitarist” as Mike D’Amico
took turns behind the drum kit for some songs (we thought maybe to give John
Cowsill a break and allow him to pace himself for the monumentous set!) and
Probyn Gregory (very talented multi-instrumentalist) took on bass duties.
 |
| Mike D'Amico |
Other
times, Mike was nowhere to be seen at all and Probyn had firm control of the
bass guitar! There was no Nicky Wonder to play baritone guitar, so Probyn also stepped up and played way up the neck instead. That meant for a number or two
we had TWO basses.
 |
| David Marks |
The start of
the second half seemed to catch much of the audience off guard for some reason (even
though the announcements told us the band would be back in five, then three
minutes!) and they missed out on a hint of James Bond theme before delivering a
brilliant “Pet Sounds”, with David Marks on the lead guitar. David’s guitar
work was brilliant and it’s just a shame that not everyone made it back to
their seats in time to hear this in its full glory. Mike D’Amico was on drums
for this one and sounded great. The lights dimmed and when the lights went up
again The Beach Boys were gathered around Brian Wilson’s grand piano and our
ears were blessed with a beautiful version of Add Some Music. You couldn’t fault
this and Brian looked very comfortable and extremely happy. Indeed all through
the second half Brian just beamed with delight and really enjoyed his time on
the stage.
 |
| Mike Love |
“Our Prayer” just
oozed harmony, and surprised us with being in the set, given Mike’s apparent reluctance
to appreciate anything SMiLE related. The SMiLE theme continued with Heroes
& Villains, even including the “you’re under arrest” shout out. The best
reaction for Brian came at the end of “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times” when
the audience refused to let the show go on, until they had given a full
standing ovation and extended cheers. His rendition of the song from his
masterpiece album “Pet Sounds” justifiably deserved that accolade as he sang it
beautifully.
Scott Totten
took the lead on “Let Him Run Wild” and then Al Jardine stepped up to the mike
for “California Dreaming” and “California Saga”.
Brian Wilson
was very animated through “All This Is That”, a song from the Carl And The Passions, So Tough album, inspired by transcendental meditation and the harmony was really lush. This was
one of the best versions we’ve heard.
 |
| The grrreat BRIAN WILSON! |
Another song
from their new album followed, this time the title track, “That’s Why God Made
the Radio” and the band got it together tonight and nailed this one, without a
doubt. There is so much harmony and sound in this song, your ears melt!
Then we got
the experience many of the US fans got during the US leg of the tour – The
Beach Boys taking a back seat and adding only backing harmony as the big screen
above the stage played video of Dennis Wilson singing “Forever” and then the
same for Carl Wilson singing “God Only Knows”. It was truly a moving experience
and during “God Only Knows”, Brian played accompanying piano all the way
through. There was certainly lumps in our throats and can only imagine how
Brian must have felt watching his little brothers up there on the screen.
 |
| Probyn thrills on Good Vibrations |
Then it was
back to the high energy songs, and from this point on, no-one sat down. From “Wouldn’t
It Be Nice” onwards, everyone was up and dancing in their seat. The Beeb did
the obligatory “hum dee dums” along to “Good Vibrations” which made the people around
us laugh (sadly no-one joined in) and the second half rounded off with high
octane “Surfin’ USA”.
But the
audience would not let go of this special band so easily and the encore was “Kokomo”
followed by “Barbara Ann” where Brian moved out from the comfort of his grand
piano, and plucked his bass guitar.
 |
| Brian plucks his bass |
“Fun, Fun, Fun” rounded off that encore and
people who were starting to leave were stopped in their tracks as, after a bit
of on-stage discussion, the opening notes from the final song on their new
album were heard. We were amazed to hear “Summer’s Gone”, with Brian providing
the perfect vocal. This left us with such a warm glow, and was the best way to
end the show.
 |
| Take a bow |
 |
| The audience loved it all |
First Half
1.
Do
It Again
2.
Little
Honda
3.
Catch
A Wave
4.
Hawaii
5.
Don’t
Back Down
6.
Surfin’
Safari
7.
Surfer
Girl
8.
The
Little Girl I Once Knew
9.
This
Whole World
10. Wendy
11. Getcha Back
12. Then I Kissed Her
13. Please Let me Wonder
14. Marcella
15. You’re So Good To Me
16. Kiss Me Baby
17. Isn’t It Time
18. Come Go With Me
19. Why Do Fools Fall In Love
20. When I Grow Up To Be A Man
21. Dance, Dance, Dance
22. Darlin’
23. Disney Girls
24. Good Timin’
25. It’s OK
26. Cottonfields
27. Be True To Your School
28. Ballad Of Ole’ Betsy
29. Still Cruising
30. Don’t Worry Baby
31. Little Deuce Coupe
32. 409
33. Shut Down
34. I Get Around
Second
Half
35. Pet Sounds
36. Add Some Music
37. Sail On Sailor
38. Our Prayer
39. Heroes & Villains
40. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
41. Let Him Run Wild
42. California Dreaming
43. California Saga
44. In My Room
45. All This Is That
46. That’s Why God Made The Radio
47. Forever
48. God Only Knows
49. Sloop John B
50. Wouldn’t It Be Nice
51. Good Vibrations
52. California Girls
53. All Summer Long
54. Help Me Rhonda
55. Rock & Roll Music
56. Do You Wanna Dance
57. Surfin’ USA
Encore 1
58. Kokomo
59. Barbara Ann
60. Fun, Fun, Fun
Encore 2
61. Summer’s Gone
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