Brian Wilson Live At The Surf Ballroom

This is definitely one of those instances where words, no matter how apt, no matter how descriptive, are simply insufficient.  On Sunday night, July 31st, I watched Brian Wilson in concert for the third time, this time at the legendary Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.  Granted most of its legend comes from who died after playing there, but still, in all fairness, it's a pretty nice venue.  Decent acoustics, intimate to the tune of four feet from the artist and a museum in its own right.

I previously saw Brian at his US premiere of SMiLE at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis.  It was spellbinding, mesmerizing and tear-inducing to see his performance of the abandoned album that played such a large part in derailing both his music career and his life.  It was an experience that would be difficult to approximate, much less surpass.

I saw him on his following tour in support of That Lucky Old Sun.  This time it was at the State Theater in Minneapolis.  Both the Orpheum and the State have the benefit of being nice, smaller, seated venues with warm, realistic acoustics. This concert was also superior, both because of the quality of the album he was touring behind, and my relative proximity to the stage: fourth row, third seat from center.

So the scene was set for a letdown.  [Speaking of letdowns, Mike Love, and his fraudulently named "Beach Boys," played the same night about three hours north of me at Mystic Lake Casino.  No word yet on whether he wore his traditional shitty-looking faux-Hawaiian shirt with his self-esteem and bald-spot protecting baseball cap.]

Back to Brian.  His tour program typically unfolds in this manner:
     1] an hour or so of classics, with some wonderfully obscure tracks thrown in before an intermission
     2] the complete album he is touring behind, before another intermission
     3] a return to absolute gold classics for his encore.

Brians recent album, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, is a nice, jazzy subdued affair, but I had concerns about how it would translate to the stage, especially after getting everybody pumped up with an hour of chestnuts.  Brian was hip to my concerns though, as his concert modus operandi was altered for this tour.

This first segment remained the same, as this setlist will attest.

1] California Girls
2] Do You Wanna Dance
3] Catch A Wave
4] Wendy
5] Then I Kissed Her
6] Little Deuce Coupe
7] Surfer Girl
8] In My Room
9] Please Let Me Wonder
10] Row, Row, Row Your Boat [sung in rounds with the audience]
11] Don't Worry baby
12] Salt Lake City
13] Drive-In
14] When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)
15] You're So Good to Me
16] Do You Wanna Dance
17] I Get Around
18] Do It Again

In a break with recent format though, Brian played only a mini-set of tunes from his recent Gershwin album before diving back into a full hour onslaught of amazing classics.  The second setlist, as procured by me and autographed by band members Darian Sahanaja, Scott Bennett and Paul Mertens, was as follows:

The second encore consisted of only one song, and in another break from previous tours, it wasn't "Love And Mercy," this time sending us home with "All Summer Long."  Both songs are great, but I think I prefer the uber-serenity of  "Love And Mercy" as the closer.

Overall, the performance was world class.  It took Brian about three numbers to really hit his mark, muffing a few early lyrics and struggling with his voice at the onset, but from then on, he was aces.  His band, as usual, was flawless, although I missed the string quartet he brought along on the two previous tours.  Also missing was Taylor Mills, the lone female voice in his band and a pretty face to look at.  She was mentioned by the band during introductions, so I speculate she might be "with child."

Note: I forgot my damn camera so all these images are from my Palm Pixi.  While lacking the zoom and resolution a genuine camera would provide, it nonetheless provided images far better than I could sketch.

So how close was I to the stage this time?  Stagefront, about five feet to the left, which meant that whenever Brian looked at his monitor, placed to the right of his keyboard, his line of sight was my beaming face.  I swear to God during "Pet Sounds," Brian was stoically listening to his band crush the instrumental, when he glanced down at his monitor before returning a smile, appropriately enough, to me.  Pretty damn cool.  I felt like Marcia Brady mooning over Davy Jones in that one Brady Bunch episode.

Again, how close was I to the stage?  Here's what it looked like when Paul Mertens did a stagefront sax solo.

He was inches from me.  One of several great, multi-instrument players in Brian's band, and a nice friendly chap as well.

Brian played his keyboard more than at the previous shows I'd been to, looking active on about eight of the tracks before strapping on his Fender bass for the last few numbers of the first encore.  I also thought he appeared a little more frail this time, displaying shaky hands as he sipped his water bottle and requiring a hand to help him down the steps when he exited the stage.  He was also a little grayer this time, but hell, he's sixty-nine, so I think he's allowed that.

It can't be understated how fantastic, and sympathetic to this material, that his touring band is, clearly showing the familiarity of four major tours and years of kinship.

From the onset, the foot was tapping.

Darian Sahanaja, who was directly in front of me

The setlist I captured

The man, the myth, my hero

Strapped with the Fender bass

Post-concert I was blessed to chat with the three who signed my setlist: Darian, Scott, and Paul.  In fact, I made Darian laugh.

Sharing a chuckle with Darian

Darian, right before I lifted his wallet

An amazing night, loaded with ready-made memories.  If this does indeed prove to be Mr. Wilson's final tour, I will have no regrets.  An amazing performer with an amazing catalog, who overcame amazing personal strife to put on an amazing show.

My cap is doffed to you Mr. Wilson.

Note: clicking on the pictures will give you a larger view of them.