BRIAN WILSON

Cliffs Pavilion,
Southend on Sea
Sunday 4th September 2016


Brian at the beach. What's not to like? Well, Southend on Sea at least. A one off gig after the UK tour a few months ago. And an excuse for lots of friends to get together again, and enjoy a bit of seaside to boot.

We spent a few hours down on the promenade, and bumped into some familiar faces. This turned out to be a gig were we not only met old friends, including some surprise ones, but made a few new ones too. There was a meal arranged beforehand, and of course Probyn and Nelson turned up there.

The venue itself was a bit odd with the stalls being standing only. Standing at a Brian Wilson gig is a strange sight for us. Thankfully we managed to get tickets for seats upstairs.

Three Beach Boys, Brian, Blondie, Al

Brian came on to a great ovation and we settled down for another enjoyable gig. It doesn't matter how many times we've seen and heard this show, it's always a joy. There was a moment when playing the Pet Sounds album, Brian stopped the song, and called on his assistant to say he had heartburn. After a quick tablet, Brian carried on. It took him a while to get back in his stride, but by the end of the night the place was rocking again.

The format of the show was different to what we had experienced in May - this was a straight single set show, with no interval which meant the stage time overall was much shorter. We still got some of the old hits on either side of "Pet Sounds", and the chance to see Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin in the limelight.

The night was ended off by a group of us finding a cafe/bar serving drink till late at night. The barman was very enthusiastic about music. And while we were enjoying Rockabilly music, supping our drinks outside on a lovely evening, I'm not too sure the local residents were.

Al Jardine

Gary Griffin & Billy Hinsche - The Pet Shop Boys

Mike D'Amico on drums

The Wonder of Nick

Nelson Bragg in action

Paul Von Mertens on Sax

Brian at the Grand Piano and Al