Brian Wilson- Norway 2007

[REDLAWMAN]

I'm a big-time Beach Boys fan and I've just watched a long clip of a gig he did as 'Brian Wilson & Co.' in '07 in Oslo on You tube.

Immediately before it, I watched two other vids of the Boys from TV shows in '65 and '67, when he was all over a LPB and a Sonic Blue P respectively.

In Norway, he had a a guy with a cap playing a 5-string better than God himself right behind him, while he sang a bit and carried a bass for little more than posterity.

God love him: I guess that's livin' the dream personified......Still of fine voice though.

[REDLAWMAN]

And when you watch the 'Lost' concert footage in front of the live TV audience, and following the band 'intros' they all start singing 'Little Deuce Coupe', the vocal harmonies alone remind me why life is so good...

[Doctor J]

I've seen him three times in the last ten years - the Pet Sounds tour, his greatest hits tour and then last year his Gershwin tour, the 5 string guy always used a Lakland 55-02, very tidy player but didn't sing. Last year he had a new guy who was playing a P and sang, again a fantastic solid player. Brian never played his P for the encore, just held it really.

I enjoyed the Gershwin gig the most, principally because I was better prepared for it mentally The Pet Sounds tour was just too much to take in, the band is [i]that[/i] good and they played everything [i]exactly[/i] as it was on the record (fade-outs excepted, of course). The greatest hits tour was a lot of fun but, again, still too much to take in. For the Gershwin tour he played the whole Gershwin album, which was good because I quite enjoyed the album, took a ten minute break, and then came out and played the hits and used a string quartet on some songs which he used through the Gershwin section. Just mind-blowing stuff But I knew what to expect this time so, I felt, was better prepared to take it all in. The vocals during Heroes and Villains get me every time and God Only Knows still gets several minutes standing ovation every time too.

I was actually a little disappointed when I heard of the Beach Boys reunion, those Wondermints fellas are impeccable musicians. You're never going to see a better band in preparation or execution.