Brian Wilson/Zombies tour

[Mike Boom]

https://pitchfork.com/news/brian-wilson-and-the-zombies-announce-tour/

Wilson will be joined on stage by former Beach Boys bandmates Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin.
He’ll primarily perform songs from the two Beach Boys albums: 1968’s Friends and 1971’s Surf’s Up.

The Zombies will open each show with a full performance of their seminal 1968 record, Odessey and Oracle.

[Snarfyguy]

Thanks!

I usually consider Friends my favorite Beach Boys album and I've really been enjoying that new archival release of outtakes. I thought I was over seeing BW live, but this has me excited.



Plus from what I understand, Colin Blunstone's voice is still in good shape, somehow.

[Muskrat]

When I saw "Zombies," I was thinking maybe Carl and Dennis were back in the band.

[`]

When I saw "Zombies," I was thinking maybe Carl and Dennis were back in the band.

When I saw BW and friends do Pet sounds two summers ago, he didn't look much more compos mentis than an extra from Night of the Living Dead himself.

More than two years later, he and his band still seem to be touring pretty much non-stop.

Not sure whether this is a case of BW himself wanting to stay on the road or his being pushed into doing so by those around him.

Much as I love Surfs Up and Friends, I think I'll be passing on this if it makes it to the UK.

[rorebhoy]

I wonder will Darian Sahanaja be playing in both bands - he played on the Zombies most recent O&O tour. I really hope it makes it over this side of the world

[BARON CORNY DOG]

I saw BW on the SMiLE tour and the Zombies about 10 years ago and thought I didn’t need to see either act again, but ... Friends! Oddly tempting!

[Mike Boom]

When I saw "Zombies," I was thinking maybe Carl and Dennis were back in the band.

[Snarfyguy]

Tickets for Beacon Theater = bought

Thanks for the heads-up!

[Mike Boom]

Tickets for Beacon Theater = bought

Thanks for the heads-up!

Jealous, I love both "Friends" and "Surfs Up"
Let us know how it was !

[Davey the Fat Boy]

I went back and forth on whether to go. I’ve seen both multiple times. But I finally relented. I figured that I’ll never regret the ticket price, but I might kick myself later for skipping one more chance to be in the presence of so many of my musical heroes.

[Snarfyguy]

I saw the show last week, and I'm of two minds.

The Zombies were fine, despite a warm-up set of rather generic blues-rock exercises. Blunstone's voice is in remarkable shape, but I felt he over-relied on vibrato. Still, storming versions of the Odesey (or however that was misspelled) and Oracle material and really a once-in-a-lifetime to see those players together.

As to the Brian Wilson set, it was the only opportunity I'll ever have to see such a sympathetic set of musicians render these particular fan favorites with the Bri-Guy at the helm. Unfortunately, Brian himself appears to be in rather poor shape, needing to be helped on and off the stage (with a walker yet), dispensing with even the appearance of playing and mostly sitting slouched over, inert, behind a prop piano. When he did venture to sing, it wasn't pleasant and I thought the guy who handled the falsetto parts, while technically talented, lacked soul.

He really doesn't seem to be enjoying himself, except perhaps inwardly relishing the adulation in the room (but there was really no acknowledgement of this). Al Jardine's in on this caper, so of course we have to hear his dumb songs, but *spoiler alert* Blondie Chaplin steals the show.

Upshot is, it's not really clear to me how much agency Brian Wilson has in all this, which is familiarly weird and depressing.

Oh well!

[Charlie O.]

... dispensing with even the appearance of playing and mostly sitting slouched over, inert, behind a prop piano. ... He really doesn't seem to be enjoying himself, except perhaps inwardly relishing the adulation in the room (but there was really no acknowledgement of this).... Upshot is, it's not really clear to me how much agency Brian Wilson has in all this, which is familiarly weird and depressing.

No kidding. I had the same misgivings when I saw him back in 2000. Friends who "knew people" that were part of his circle assured me that he mostly enjoyed it and it was good for him, but I wasn't entirely convinced. (He actually seemed somewhat more engaged a few years back when I saw him with Jeff Beck, but there was so much else wrong or at least deeply weird about that show that it was hard to really know how to gauge it.)

[Mike Boom]

Brian himself appears to be in rather poor shape, needing to be helped on and off the stage (with a walker yet), dispensing with even the appearance of playing and mostly sitting slouched over, inert, behind a prop piano. When he did venture to sing, it wasn't pleasant

this sounds very sad, I had no idea he was in such bad shape.

[Tactful Cactus]

Brian himself appears to be in rather poor shape, needing to be helped on and off the stage (with a walker yet), dispensing with even the appearance of playing and mostly sitting slouched over, inert, behind a prop piano. When he did venture to sing, it wasn't pleasant

this sounds very sad, I had no idea he was in such bad shape.

I saw him back in 2001 on the first Pet Sounds tour and he was exactly as described above. I think that's just the way he is rather than him being in decline. He's not really comfortable onstage, even in the BB glory days I don't think he liked being onstage, but he seems to enjoy the adulation.

[Flower]

We saw the reformed Zombies at HippieFest 2007 .... They were great! We saw them again in 2009 at a smaller venue and we were surprised that they were better than we remembered. So we jumped at the chance in 2012 to see them again in another town. The venue was filled with Baby Boomers who couldn't believe how great they were but for us, they had missed a step or two, so we decided to remember them as they were in concert in 2007 and 2009.

We never saw the original band.

The three times that we saw them, they started with "I Love You" and ended with "Summertime" .. the third time in 2012, they included more blues songs and really nailed "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted"

[bobzilla77]

I think Brian has good, mediocre and bad nights. My friends who saw the LA show said they enjoyed it.

His first tour or two, he was not singing well, and getting by on the quality backing band and good will of the audience. But by the time of the SMiLE tour in 2004, he proved he was capable of singing with heart, if not hitting the high notes. Most of the times I saw him after that, he seemed in decent shape. Not triumphant but passable. But once in a while, he would have a noticeably off show. It's been a few years, the tour with Beck was the last one I saw. That was pretty good.

I think the people around him care deeply about him, and while his situation is complicated, I generally accept the story that it is mostly healthy and good for him to be at work, on a reduced schedule, rather than retired.

But I recall they had to call off the first month of this tour because he was having mental issues, "not feeling like himself." And his long time guitarist Nick just passed away before the start of this tour. And I have never known him to need a walker getting on and off stage. So maybe he was just more down and feeling more ill than usual. I'd like to think he has some more good shows in him, selfishly, because I like seeing him in good shape.

[soundchaser]

I saw him on the SMiLE tour and, despite being pretty nervous at first, he really put on a great show, with, of course, a first class band. Before the show, we were chatting to a couple who it turned out ran the U.K. Beach Boys fan club. They invited us to meet Brian afterwards. It was all carefully managed and despite shaking his hand, it was sad to see the lights on but nobody home. But, he did sign my program, so that’s something I’ll always treasure. And a truly memorable night.

[Snarfyguy]

He did sing a short, pared-down version of Love and Mercy at the end of the set, which was touching, and during which he *coughed* right into the mic in the middle of delivering a line, something I don't think I've ever seen anyone do.

I had to laugh in spite of myself.

[Quaco]

He did sing a short, pared-down version of Love and Mercy at the end of the set, which was touching, and during which he *coughed* right into the mic in the middle of delivering a line, something I don't think I've ever seen anyone do.

I had to laugh in spite of myself.

Pure Brian. Sublime and ridiculous.

I thought it was a prop piano he was sitting behind, but the show I saw had them all gather around the piano and do "In My Room" at the end, and Brian played it. I gather it's a keyboard within that big piano casing.

Brian did seem to be contributing less, and when he did, it wasn't especially welcome. He can still manage the quirky parts, like "Busy Doin' Nothing", but the version of "Surf's Up" -- with Brian singing whatever lines he could reach and Matthew Jardine singing the rest, with no particular regard to the song or structure -- was stressful. The band and singers -- not to mention various guests -- are handling more and more of the show. We're seeing that we don't actually need a Brian for the music to live on. I feel that, unconsciously or not, they're preparing us for that.