Thursday, August 10, 2006

Brian to Perform Pet Sounds LIVE


By Michael deMartin

Brian's playing a special concert at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus on November 1. It will be a 40th Anniversary celebration of Pet Sounds and the album will be performed live in its entirety. No question this will be a great show. When Brian turns it on, his performances can be special, so we can expect some magic. And anyone who's seen Brian live knows his band is out of this world. They're great musicians and singers and to perform this intricate work live so well is pretty astounding.

If you're anywhere near L.A., it's worth it - click on the title of this post for more information and to order tickets.

Speaking of live performances: Last night I took my family to see "The Beach Boys" at the Mohegan Theater in Conneciticut (we got tickets from their press guy who set up my interviews with Mike and Bruce for the podcast series). It was a little weird: Mike and Bruce and a bunch of young guys banging out the hits. Mike sounded pretty good but the sounds wasn't great and the band drowned him out. Bruce sounded good even though Mike made fun as he sang "I Write The Songs." They played three songs from Pet Sounds and the difference between their versions and Brian's band is big. Whereas Probyn plays a French Horn on the intro of "God Only Knows," the keyboard player plays a simulation on his synthesizer. Same with other instruments. Not that there's anything wrong with that - people were singing and dancing and having a good time. And, the place was filled to capacity and it was no small venue.

Mike and Bruce were cool afterwards - they said hi to our two 6-year olds and we chatted a little bit. Gotta give them credit - they've been doing this for over 40 years and they still sound like they're having fun, fun, fun.

3 Comments:

At 9:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I rather see Brian and his real bandmates any day give me a french horn intro...
tho that is my taste Want real sounds like was meant to be played (live)
then lame snyth opening

 
At 7:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,
I just saw the Mike Love crew last night at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly Ma. I said the same thing about the french horn!! I was told I was too picky but after seeing Brian on the Smile tour last year in Boston- the sound just couldn't compare. I really noticed it on Dance, Dance, Dance,- They couldn't create that wave of sound with their instrumentation.
The biggest bright spot was Joe Cowsill - I thought he was tremendous! He added so much energy and enthusiasm. His rendition of Oh Darlin' was a blast! What a great treat. Overall I thought it was a really fun night but it was not of the musical caliber of The Brian Wilson Band.
People don't get the difference. When a composer like Brian presents his work with orchestration, complexity and nuance- the same songs take on a richness that you didn't even know they had. To my mind that's the wonder of music and performance - I wish everyone could appreciate it.

 
At 7:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry...it's John Cowsill too much partying last night!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home