db44
Oct 13th, 2004, 06:29 AM
As in the first song Brian did last night, the a capella song off of Today, and yes it is a good way to describe the night.
First off, let me say this show was a tremendous relief of sorts. Through all the videos I've seen of him in his young days, through all the times I've seen him live in concert now (this was the eighth time), it was the first time I could really see Brian as "being there." He wasn't stiff, he was having fun, he was ad libbing more and better than anything I've seen of him in the past. He was jogging off stage with a jump in his step. This hero has hopefully completely vanquished the villians.
Music-wise, he opened with an acoustic set including "And Your Dreams Come True," "Surfer Girl," "Good to My Baby," "Hawaii" and "Add Some Music." He did "Wendy" in honor of his proud new mommie of a daughter. Brian also led the audience in a round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." To get from their semi-circle acoustic setup to their main instruments they did the a capella "You're Welcome" which is perfect because it never necessarily ends until they want it to. So they were able to keep going for the 3-4 minutes it took to set up. Perfect and seamless.
The plugged set included another bunch of unexpected gems (i.e. the a capella songs and "Good to My Baby'). Here the surprises included "Forever" (which he dedicated to both Dennis Carl), "Marcella," "Drive-In," "Sail On Sailor" and "Good Timin.'" Of his solo stuff, he did four songs in this set: "Your Imagination, (a handful of claps from some of the audience for the line "I miss the way that I used to call the shots around here." I was one of those clapping)" "Gettin' in Over My Head," "Desert Drive" and "Soul Searchin'" The latter I guess isn't technically solo (the song of of ...Head he did with a tape of Carl). This set also included "God Only Knows" (which he billed as McCartney's favorite song), "Sloop John B," Dance Dance Dance" and "California Girls."
After the intemission came SMiLE. It was incredible how true they could stay to the album, and as I commented to Bekah on IM last night, to do that without using tape or effects. A minor annoyance was the people who clapped after the "big" songs, instead of letting the whole movement go through without interuption. They did SMiLE flawlessly.
After that there were no surprises. Jeffery Foskett, the leader of the band behind Brian came out and introduced everyone (including Van Dyke Parks who was sitting in the orchestra seats). Then was the standard hits set: "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Do it Again" and the likes. As always, he closed with "Love and Mercy."
Between Brian's aware state and having fun and joking and just being in Carnegie Hall (and the acoustic situation of the place), this concert was definitely the best Brian show I've seen yet.
It left me with a problem though: So many great moments from so many excellent albums... I don't know which one to replace SMiLE with in my car for now!
First off, let me say this show was a tremendous relief of sorts. Through all the videos I've seen of him in his young days, through all the times I've seen him live in concert now (this was the eighth time), it was the first time I could really see Brian as "being there." He wasn't stiff, he was having fun, he was ad libbing more and better than anything I've seen of him in the past. He was jogging off stage with a jump in his step. This hero has hopefully completely vanquished the villians.
Music-wise, he opened with an acoustic set including "And Your Dreams Come True," "Surfer Girl," "Good to My Baby," "Hawaii" and "Add Some Music." He did "Wendy" in honor of his proud new mommie of a daughter. Brian also led the audience in a round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." To get from their semi-circle acoustic setup to their main instruments they did the a capella "You're Welcome" which is perfect because it never necessarily ends until they want it to. So they were able to keep going for the 3-4 minutes it took to set up. Perfect and seamless.
The plugged set included another bunch of unexpected gems (i.e. the a capella songs and "Good to My Baby'). Here the surprises included "Forever" (which he dedicated to both Dennis Carl), "Marcella," "Drive-In," "Sail On Sailor" and "Good Timin.'" Of his solo stuff, he did four songs in this set: "Your Imagination, (a handful of claps from some of the audience for the line "I miss the way that I used to call the shots around here." I was one of those clapping)" "Gettin' in Over My Head," "Desert Drive" and "Soul Searchin'" The latter I guess isn't technically solo (the song of of ...Head he did with a tape of Carl). This set also included "God Only Knows" (which he billed as McCartney's favorite song), "Sloop John B," Dance Dance Dance" and "California Girls."
After the intemission came SMiLE. It was incredible how true they could stay to the album, and as I commented to Bekah on IM last night, to do that without using tape or effects. A minor annoyance was the people who clapped after the "big" songs, instead of letting the whole movement go through without interuption. They did SMiLE flawlessly.
After that there were no surprises. Jeffery Foskett, the leader of the band behind Brian came out and introduced everyone (including Van Dyke Parks who was sitting in the orchestra seats). Then was the standard hits set: "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Do it Again" and the likes. As always, he closed with "Love and Mercy."
Between Brian's aware state and having fun and joking and just being in Carnegie Hall (and the acoustic situation of the place), this concert was definitely the best Brian show I've seen yet.
It left me with a problem though: So many great moments from so many excellent albums... I don't know which one to replace SMiLE with in my car for now!