Brian Wilson @ State
Posted on November 16th, 2008 – 3:41 PMBy Jon Bream
Indeed, Brian Wilson is one of rock’s legendary geniuses. No one can argue with the work he did in the 1960s with the Beach Boys. But anybody’s who has seen Wilson since he launched his comeback 10 years ago with the “Imagination” album comes away from a concert with one word: Damaged.
Wilson’s performance Saturday at the half-full State Theatre was not nearly as exciting as his “Pet Sounds” and “Smile” shows in the Twin Cities. Backed once again by the excellent 10-piece Wondermints, he played 55 minutes of Beach Boys songs. There was great joy in the music but Wilson delivered them with an expressionless face and a voice lacking character. (It appears as if he had a stroke but the Life of Brian has been about drug abuse, misguided therapies and a type of bipolar disorder.) Before most of the songs, he offered a simple-minded comment (e.g. “this one has a Chuck Berry kind of lyric with a littel gee-tar to start it out” before “Dance Dance Dance.”).
Among the Beach Boy highlights were “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (with high vocals by Jeffrey Foskett, not Wilson) and “God Only Knows” (with Wilson on lead).
After intermission, Wilson presented his new album, “That Lucky Old Sun,” in its entirety. He was clearly more into it than he was in the first set. The autobiographical, Beach Boys-evoking album about L.A. is far from genius but it was enjoyable and Brian was clearly enjoying himself. The group received a standing ovation for “Going Home,” a wonderful vocal workout that was the second to last song.
Then Wilson encored with a bunch of high-energy Beach Boy classics before closing with “Love and Mercy,” the theme song from 1998’s comeback CD.
First set: 1. California Girls 2. Dance Dance Dance 3. Surfer Girl 4. In My Room 5. Salt Lake City 6. All Summer Long 7. Please Let Me Wonder 8. Add Some Music 9. The Little Girl I Once Knew 10. Do You Wanna Dance 11. Do It Again 12. Sail On Sailor 13. Marcella 14. I Get Around 15. Wouldnt It Be Nice 16. God Only Knows 17. Good Vibrations
Second set: That Lucky Old Sun/Morning beat/Room with a View/Good Kind of Love/Forever She’ll Be My Surfer Girl/Venice Beach/Live Let Live/Mexican Girl/Cinco De Mayo California Role/Between Pictures/Oxygen to the Brain/Can’t Wait Too Long/Midnight’s Another Day/That’s Luck Old Sun/Going Home/Southern California
encore: 1. Johnny B Goode 2. Help Me Rhonda 3. Barbara Ann 4. Surfin USA 5. Fun Fun Fun 6. Love and Mercy
What did you think of the concert? Please post your comment here:
4 Responses to "Brian Wilson @ State"
This is nit-picking, but not all of the backing band are Wondermints: only Darian Sahanaja (keyboards), NIck Walusko (guitar), Mike D’Amico (drums) and sometimes Probyn Gregory (guitar/french horn/trumpet/tannerin/etc.). The rest are musicians from various other bands and backgrounds.
Expressionless,lacking character,simple minded? Sounds like a certain reviewer we all know. Geez Jon, he’s had enough stuff in his life to fill two of yours.
The show I was at had fans dancing and crying at the same time. I don’t know what show you were at. And judging by the fans appreciative response (read noise)they don’t know what show you were at either.
I remember the old Beach Boys days..like the Guthrie in 1969..Civic Center 1977 and outdoors at Midway Stadium with hundreds of Beach Balls bouncing around the crowd in 1980. Brian was always a NO show. Now that he’s lost his edge to perform Live. He tours every year. Go figure. Sadly his brothers Dennis and Carl have passed away. That would be have been a Fun Beach Boys Reunion.
Just to clarify: “Love and Mercy” appeared on the 1988 comeback CD, “Brian Wilson”. The 1998 CD “Imagination” was more of a continuation of his comeback, or a second coming-back. Those records definitely have their charms, but “damaged” seems like an appropriate word for The Genius. Too bad - he’s put out incredible music but seems to suffer for his emotional content.
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