Brian Wilson Times Square Newcastle 6 August 2017

Support from: Seasick Steve and Martha Reeves

     I hate printed tickets

When I was growing up in the 1960s, there were three singles which stood out for me. Each one was a defining moment. When I heard each of these singles, I stopped doing whatever I was doing and listened intently to the music and the lyrics. Each of these three songs sounded completely new, completely different; as if they had come from another dimension, another planet, some other place. The sound, the lyrics, the music and the mood were all so special to me and remain so until this day. The records were: “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan, “Strawberry Fields” by the Beatles and “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys. “Good Vibrations” later became widely acclaimed as one of the finest and most important works of the rock era (Wikipedia). So going to see Brian Wilson, the genius behind the last of these three singles is always special.

The other thing that I think is worthy of mention here, and of consideration, is a question. There are, in effect, two versions of the Beach Boys touring. Which one is the genuine article? There is Brian Wilson, the driving force and genius behind the early Beach boys and all those great hitswho is touring with, original Beach Boys guitarist Al Jardine, and The Beach Boys touring band which is fronted by original member Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, who joined the band in 1965 when Brian Wilson stopped touring. Now Mike Love wrote the lyrics to “Good Vibrations” while Brian Wilson composed the music and they were both original members of the band. But many people believe without any of the Wilson brothers, there is no Beach Boys.

Source Wikimediacommons Dr Bertrande

Not too many years ago, I went to see the Mike Love touring version of The Beach Boys with Marie at York racecourse. The band played after the horseracing and Marie and I stayed in a lovely hotel directly opposite the racecourse. The Beach Boys played all the hits, and did a pretty good job of doing so, and it was a pleasurable evening (although we did lose on every race). But something was missing. Without Brian, and the true genius of the band, for me The Beach Boys are not complete. I also saw The Beach Boys in the 1970s when Carl and Dennis Wilson were both alive, and Brian was not touring at the time, and they were tremendous. So I think there is a place for both bands, but saying that Brian Wilson is something special; he is the genius behind this band and carries with him the soul and essence of The Beach Boys.

Anyway, to the concert. David, Shauna, Laura, my carer Alan and I all went along to this Brian Wilson concert which took place in Times Square Newcastle, an open-air venue at the Centre For Life. The support acts were pretty strong in the form of soul legend Martha Reeves, and country blues icon Seasick Steve. It was a very rainy day, so to our shame, we decided to miss out on the support acts, stayed dry, and turn up just in time for Brian Wilson’s set. When we did arrive, we were a little squashed on the disabled platform but managed to squeeze in. Brian Wilson’s set was in three segments. He started with some great Beach Boys classics: “California Girls” followed by another of my all-time favourites “I Get Around” and several other classics.

Then we were treated to the album Pet Sounds in its entirety.  Promoted as “the most progressive pop album ever“, Pet Sounds attracted recognition for its ambitious recording and sophisticated music. “It is widely considered to be among the most influential albums in the history of music” (Abjorensen, 2017). The opening song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a classic and great favourite of mine. Other standouts from the album are “Sloop John B”, “God Only Knows” and the closing song “Caroline, No”. Brian closed the set with another segment of Beach Boy hits including the aforementioned “Good Vibrations” (the theremin still gets me), “Barbara Ann” (which I remember being a big favourite of mine and my friends at the time it came out; we all sang it again and again in the play yard), “Help Me, Rhonda”, back to the very start and “Surfing USA”, another great favourite of mine “Fun, Fun, Fun” and they closed with “Love and Mercy”,  the opening track to Brian’s 1988 debut solo album.

My programme

Brian has assembled a great band around him and the songs sound as authentic as the originals. We all really enjoyed the concert, and had a great evening; although Laura was a little on edge and on the phone constantly to Dale as this was the first time she had left Phoebe’s side, as Phoebe was only four weeks old at the time. A lovely evening spent with family and in the presence of a true genius. We are looking forward to going to see Brian Wilson again at the Sage Gateshead in June 2021 post (we hope) coronavirus. Roll on “the new normal”.

Setlist: California Girls; Dance, Dance, Dance; I Get Around; Darlin’; Surfer Girl; Don’t Worry Baby;    Wild Honey; Sail On, Sailor.

Pet Sounds: Wouldn’t It Be Nice; You Still Believe in Me; That’s Not Me; Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder); I’m Waiting for the Day; Let’s Go Away for Awhile; Sloop John B; God Only Knows; I Know There’s an Answer; Here Today; I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times; Pet Sounds; Caroline, No.

Good Vibrations; Barbara Ann; Help Me, Rhonda; Surfin’ U.S.A.; Fun, Fun, Fun; Love and Mercy

Abjorensen, Norman (2017). Historical Dictionary of Popular Music. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-5381-0215-2.

 

 

 

Brian Wilson Newcastle City Hall 6th March 2004

Brian Wilson Newcastle City Hall 6th March 2004
No support.
I didn’t think I would ever get to see Brian Wilson in concert. I’d seen the Beach Boys twice in the early 1970s, but on both occasions Brian was not in the band. At one of the concerts, at Wembley Stadium, Brian was there backstage and I think he may have come on stage to say “hello” to the crowd. But he had not actually played with the band for some years.
Then in the late 1990s the impossible happened. Brian Wilson put a band together and starting to play concerts. Those who saw him, reviewers and fans alike, were ecstatic and unanimous in praise for the man and his music. It is easy to use the word “genius”; we probably do so too often, but in the case of Brian Wilson, the term is true and well-deserved.
I got my first chance to see Brian Wilson when he came to Newcastle City Hall in March 2004. We (me, Marie, David and Laura) went along. We all wanted to see this. It was the “Smile” tour and consisted of a Beach Boys greatest hits set, followed by the legendary “Smile” album played in its entirety.
Brian Wilson had assembled a large band of first class musicians and vocalists to help him recreate the Beach Boys music and their lush harmonies. And they did so, faultlessly. This was a long show, but the pace and the pure class of the music and the performance didn’t let up for a moment. It was great to see Brian on stage, a few feet in front of us, looking and sounding great. Most of the Smile album was unfamiliar to me, but that didn’t matter. An amazing concert, and the first of a few visits by Brian to the UK. And during the encore, they played my favourite songs: “Do It Again” and “I Get Around”. It really doesn’t get much better 🙂
First Set: And Your Dream Comes True; In My Room; Hawaii; Please Let Me Wonder; All Summer Long; Good Timin’; You’re Welcome; Sloop John B; God Only Knows; Time to Get Alone; Soul Searchin’; California Girls; Dance, Dance, Dance; Darlin’; City Blues; Marcella
Brian Wilson Presents SMILE: Our Prayer/Gee; Heroes and Villains; Roll Plymouth Rock; Barnyard; Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine; Cabinessence; Wonderful; Look (Song for Children); Child Is Father of the Man; Surf’s Up; I’m in Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop; Vega-Tables; On a Holiday; Wind Chimes; Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow; In Blue Hawaii; Good Vibrations
Encore: Do It Again; I Get Around; Help Me, Rhonda; Barbara Ann; Surfin’ U.S.A.; Fun, Fun, Fun
Encore 2: Love and Mercy

The Beach Boys York Races 25th June 2014

It’s been 40 (!) years since I last saw the Beach Boys in concert. Since then Dennis and Carl Wilson have both sadly passed away, and Brian Wilson has returned to live performance, briefly reuniting with Mike Lcve, Bruce Johnston, Al Jardine and David Marks for a 50th anniversary tour. The current line-up features only Mike Love and Bruce Johnston from the 1960s band, and has resulted in some controversy as to whether these guys can justify calling themselves the Beach Boys. I went along with Marie to this concert out of curiosity, but also to enjoy those great songs one more time. We stayed at a hotel overlooking the race course, and were able to stroll over to join the punters in the County Stand. There were six races before the Beach Boys came on stage. Sadly our betting skills are not great, and we succeeded in losing on every race. Oh well.
The stage was situated along from the stands, and the only way to get a decent view was to move along the course. The Beach Boys came on stage shortly before 9pm. We made our way close to the front, but found the sound to be pretty poor down there, so we returned to the stands. Although we were then only able to view the show on the massive screens, the sound was excellent. The set was, as you would expect, a mix of all those great hits. I was disappointed at first, the poor sound didn’t help, but things started to improve and by the end I was really enjoying it. One unexpected, and very welcome. surprise was the arrival of Roy Wood for a performance of “Fire Brigade”. The other highlight was a performance of “God Only Knows” which showed Carl Wilson singing on the video screens. Carl’s voice and the images, which were taken from the ’60s through to the ’80s, reminded me just how wonderful and influential The Beach Boys were.
Setlist: Do It Again; Goin’ to the Beach; Little Honda; Catch a Wave; Hawaii; Surf City; Surfin’ Safari; Surfer Girl; Don’t Worry Baby; Little Deuce Coupe; 409; Shut Down; I Get Around; Ballad of Ole’ Betsy; Why Do Fools Fall in Love; Darlin’; It’s OK; Fire Brigade (The Move cover, with Roy Wood); California Dreamin’; Cotton Fields; Sloop John B; Wouldn’t It Be Nice; Then He Kissed Me; California Girls; Pisces Brother; God Only Knows; Good Vibrations; Kokomo; Help Me, Rhonda; Do You Wanna Dance?; Barbara Ann; Surfin’ U.S.A. Encore: Wild Honey; Fun, Fun, Fun (with Roy Wood)

Elton John, Beach Boys, Eagles Wembley Stadium June 1975

Elton John, Beach Boys, Eagles Wembley Stadium June 1975 Line-up (pretty great actually): Elton John, The Beach Boys, Eagles, Joe Walsh, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Stackridge, DJ and compere Johnnie Walker. This was a big gig for Elton John. He had just changed his band, with only Davey Johnstone remained from the previous line-up, and was about to release a new album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. I went down to London with a couple of mates and we stayed at a friend’s flat in Acton. We spent a couple of days in the capital before the concert and went to see Ducks Deluxe at the Marquee club, which was pretty good fun, except one of our party took ill and we spent half the night in hospital. The Wembley concert had an amazing line-up with Stackridge opening the day, Mutter Slater on his usual top form. Next up were Rufus who featured Chaka Khan, and delivered some funky soul rhythms. The rest of the bill featured Joe Walsh (Rocky Mountain Way was a big crowd favourite) and then the Eagles who performed all their hits and were joined by Jackson Brown on piano for Take it Easy. But the day belonged to one band: the Beach Boys who transformed the London stadium into sunny California and had us singing along to endless hit after hit. They went down a storm and Elton had a lot to live up to. This was one day when Elton made the wrong call. He decided to devote the majority of the set to playing the new Captain Fantastic album in its entirety. Now remember the album had only just been released and most of the crowd won’t have known any of the track. This didn’t go down well with the crowd, who were up for a greatest hit set, particularly after the Fun Fun Fun of the Beach Boys. People started to leave the stadium in their droves, including us. We made our way back to Acton where a couple of the flatmates were having a domestic. We decided to avoid that and set off on our 250 mile drive home, getting back in the early hours of the next morning. Setlist: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding; Rocket Man; Candle in the Wind; The Bitch Is Back; Dixie Lily; Philadelphia Freedom; Chameleon; Bennie and the Jets; Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds; I Saw Her Standing There; Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy; Tower of Babel; Bitter Fingers; Tell Me When the Whistle Blows; Someone Saved My Life Tonight; (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket; Better Off Dead; Writing; We All Fall in Love Sometimes; Curtains; Pinball Wizard; Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting

Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Festival Lincoln 1972

Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Express Festival Lincoln May Bank holiday weekend 1972
I was 15 at the time and so excited about going to a real pop festival. My dad drove me and a couple of mates down on the Friday night, after we’d been to the local Mecca ballroom. We arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning, having missed the Friday night bands, and slept in a big crash tent for a few hours. We soon ran into a group of other lads who had also come down from Sunderland, and between us we built a cabin out of bails of hay and planks of wood which were lying around in the fields. I swear there were around 20 of us sleeping in there. We were quite close to the stage, and I pretty much stayed in that cabin all weekend. We could also stand on the roof and watch the bands. There was a massive (and very empty) press enclosure which divided the crowd from the stage, so no-one could get that close, which was bad planning. The weather was wet, with rain for most of the weekend. But I didn’t care; this was a real pop festival, and I was determined to enjoy every minute. The line-up for the remaining three days of the event was really strong. I’ll try and recall as much as I can.
Saturday. Nazareth opened the day around noon. I remember them playing Morning Dew, and thinking that they were ok. They were followed by Locomotive GT, Roxy Music who were playing their first major gig and Heads, Hands and Feet, featuring the great Albert Lee, who I remember playing “Warming up the band”. The first band I have strong memories of was Wishbone Ash. They hd just released “Argus” and their set consisted of all the classic Ash songs: Time Was, Blowin’ Free, Jailbait, The King Will Come, Phoenix etc. They were just wonderful at that time. Helen Reddy did not perform, and was replaced by Rory Gallagher, who had stayed on from the Friday to play again, as I understand his Friday set was cut short because of the weather. The Strawbs featured the classic Cousins/Hudson/Ford line-up at the time. This was before any of the hits. Pretty sure they played “The Hangman and the Papist” and “The Man who called himself Jesus”. Stone The Crows were next up. This was their first performance after Les Harvey’s death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. Maggie Bell’s performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave her the strongest reception of the day, sensing how real the blues was to her that night, coming only a few weeks after she had lost her boyfriend. Rod Stewart and The Faces closed Saturday night. I remember Rod wearing a silver lame jacket and that they were pretty ramshackle, but good.
Sunday. The Natural Acoustic Band started the day, followed by Focus who warmed the crowd up with Sylvia, and Brewers Droop who were a raunchy boogie band who popped up at a few festivals in those days. Spencer Davis played with his new band, which was heavy on steel guitar and country oriented, followed by The Incredible String Band. Lindisfarne were the first band to get the crowd going and were a big hit of the weekend. We were all on the roof of our cabin, singing along to Fog on the Tyne. Average White Band were followed by The Persuasions who were an a cappella soul band, and were impressive. The next big hit of the day were Slade, who just tore the place apart. They started this performance with a lot to prove to a “Hippy” crowd, who viewed slade as a pop act. By the end of the performance everyone was singing along and converted. They were just great. Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with the entire cast, did all their great sketches: Dead Parrot, Lumberjack Song, Argument; great fun. The Beach Boys closed the evening and were wonderful singing all the hits. Great end to a great day.
Monday. The morning featured some folk acts, who had been moved to the main stage because the folk tent had been damaged by the weather. I remember Jonathan Kelly performing and singing “Ballad of Cursed Anna” which is a favourite of mine to this day. Jackson Heights, featuring Lee Jackson from the Nice started the main part of the day off, followed by Atomic Rooster, Vincent Crane collapsing (as he normally did) during Gershatzer. Vinegar Joe with Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer were next up, followed by the Sutherland Brothers. The next two bands were both up and coming at the time: Genesis and Status Quo. They were both festival favourites, Peter Gabriel with his shaved forehead, telling those great stories to introduce beautiful songs such as Musical Box, and Quo were still trying to establish themselves as a proper rock band and shake off the pop image, which they were doing very well with tracks such as Someones Learning and Is It Really Me? Don McLean sang American Pie and the rain stopped for him. Humble Pie were something else. Steve Marriott was at the top of his game and was fully into his “My skin is white but my soul is black” routine. I Don’t Need No Doctor!! Just great. Sha Na Na, still featuring in all our minds from the Woodstock movie, had us all singing along. Joe Cocker closed the festival. He came on very late as I recall. There was a long wait and he took to the stage in the early hours of the morning. I remember him singing The Letter and Cry Me a River. He was good, but I was tired and cold by that time. All my mates had gone to sleep.
Other memories of the weekend. A large black and white screen above the stage, which worked some of the time. They showed movies on it throughout the night. I watched Marlon Brando in The Wild One, which was banned in the UK (!) at the time. Lots of chants of Wally. People openly selling dope with price lists on their tents. Hari Krishna’s giving out free food. A straw fight during (I think) Lindisfarne’s set. Everyone around me had also been to the Bickershaw festival a couple of weeks before, and were taking about how great The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart were. I was dead jealous.
I caught the train back on Tuesday. My mates variously hitched and scored lifts. I arrived home tired, unwashed, and determined to go to as many festivals as I could in the future, which I sort of stuck to for the remainder of the 70s.