SMILE-Rock talk ahead.
Last night, I went to see Brian Wilson on the last night of his SMILE tour. Smile was his unfinished follow up (of sorts) to Pet Sounds (One of the best records evah!!) It was an amazing show. The crowd was fascinating, a mix of Beach Boys fans and then the nerdy diehard Brian Wilson followers. The average age was about 45. When we first sat down I looked over and saw Rodney Bingenheimer walking down the aisle. Wow! Rocking Rodney! (Check out the great documentary "Mayor of Sunset Strip" to learn about this interesting little man) I had to go over and tell him I'm a fan, and it turned out he's sitting with a promoter friend of mine (I did bookkeeping for him on his last big show. I sat and talked to him for a while. He's promoting the Nancy Sinatra show tonight and I'm might check it out.
Anyhow, after that the show started, the first set was hits from lots of different albums. Including amazing versions of Sloop John B and God Only Knows (with strings!! *sob*) The band playing with him "The Wondermints" were amazing! The guy singing falsetto was unbelievable, I swear he was better than the original. In the second half, the played SMILE straight through. The instrumentation was awesome. The composition was great. In short, it blew me away. Musically, one of the most interesting things I have witnessed lately. The whole show was really charged, I think due to the enthusiasm of the crowd, as well as the fact that thsi is the last show of this rather long tour. I'm really glad I got a chance to witness this!
Anyhow, after that the show started, the first set was hits from lots of different albums. Including amazing versions of Sloop John B and God Only Knows (with strings!! *sob*) The band playing with him "The Wondermints" were amazing! The guy singing falsetto was unbelievable, I swear he was better than the original. In the second half, the played SMILE straight through. The instrumentation was awesome. The composition was great. In short, it blew me away. Musically, one of the most interesting things I have witnessed lately. The whole show was really charged, I think due to the enthusiasm of the crowd, as well as the fact that thsi is the last show of this rather long tour. I'm really glad I got a chance to witness this!