Brian Wilson is speaking between songs. Actually, during the first set, he is speaking before every song. And maybe not that chatty, not that effusive, but cogent. "I write all my songs on music instruments. This next song is the only song I've written entirely in my head. I was on a beach in Hawaii…" The song was the classic "Girl Don't Tell Me" off The Beach Boys masterful Summer Days (And Summer Nights) and while the perfect performance is expected by now (except for Wilson's voice which went out of tune here and there) the surprise is that it was there at all. Replacing "All Summer Long" is my bet, and while the classic end of summer song is loved, I prefer the change-up..
Monday was the final of a three day stand. Wilson is in town playing (in the second set) his entire Reimagining Gershwin album as part of Blue Note's month long jazz festival and tonight is a treat, the chance to see one of the greatest melodist's of the 20th century playing one of the greatest melodist's of the 20th century in a nightclub. The Highline is busy but not quite sold out, the sitelines pretty good, and the band very, very good.
Wilson's 12 piece band reminds me of the New York Philharmonic playing Schubert on a real good day… if Schubert showed up to join em. These are exquisitely detailed songs and, as guitarist Jeff Foskett, who has a terrific falsetto, notes, most bands couldn't play "Heroes And Villains" or "Good Vibrations" let alone play em back to back, as this band does to close the first set.
The first set is one long Beach Boys greatest hits -amazingly enough, Wilson chooses not to dip into his solo career at all. Indeed, his only foray into 1970's BB is "Sail On Sailor" and "Add Some Music To Your Life". BB wise, I can see why there is no "Disney Girls" (Brian didn't write it) but I can't see why there is no "Wild Honey" or "Surf's Up" (or "Caroline, No" come to think of it) or, really, he could've played the entire Loves You album and I would've been a happy man.
Still, how can you complain when you get "Please Let Me Wonder" ? The setlist was a little shook up and we got less than Sunday, "Then I Kissed Her, "All Summer Long" and "Love And Mercy", MIA and "Add Some Music To Your Life" and "Girl Don't Tell Me" replacing them. The playing was like a watch, a precise ticking and not a replica exactly… or maybe a replica. I am making it sound stoic when that wasn't the effect, the joy was palpable but professional. Like a hooker who loves her work.
This is the fourth time I have seen Wilson since his return to touring in the 1990s and it is the first time I haven't felt awkward in his presence. He still seems damaged, and old, but he isn't elsewhere, he is attuned, enthralled and leading his band and leading them well. The band are all pros and they manage to unweave some intricate instrumentals (they also bring on a string section) and reach for perfection. If I am not 100% satisfied, I think what I would want is somebody with more conscious artistry in their MCing than Brian Wilson. A Mike Love for instance…
The second set begins and ends with a "Rhapsody In Blue" This is an act that singlehandedly justifies the entire Reimagining Gershwin exercise, that justifies Gershwin's heirs approaching him in the first place. Wilson re-arranged the instrumental intro and reprise for voices. It is among the most beautiful sounds you will ever hear and it is a privilege to hear it perform live. Nothing else on the album and in person comes close but the "Our Love Is Here To Stay" is the worst moment in the concert, taken way too fast,.The encores are a terrific very Beach Boysy singalong, with oh wow this is terrific, Wilson strapping on his guitar for "Barbara Ann" and me singing along to "We're waxing down our surfboard, we can't wait for June…" and finally "Fun Fun Fun".
So a very good set, a pleasure to watch, but not the Beach Boys. What follows is a (mostly) annotated setlist.
First Set
1. Let's Do It Again – Wilson's voice is shot bad but it will get better.
2. Catch A Wave – Watching so close, you can hear and see the intricate layers, you can watch just a moment of saxophone, like a note, in the chorus.
3. Dance Dance Dance – Wilson has something to say about every song. This one? Written in Nashville.
4. Girls Don't Tell Me – Best song of the night, if only because he WROTE IT IN HIS MIND. But if not that? The "I'm the guy-hi-hi who left you with tears in his eyes…" line.
5. Salt Lake City – Where the girls are pretty!
6. Surfer Girl – My girl and mine song (though she forgot so it probably doesn't count), heavenly three part harmonies are a thing of wonder
7. Please Let Me Wonder – The construction still baffles me (I don't get where that chorus comes from at all), and worth the $70 just to hear it.
8. Don't Worry Baby – Jeff's vocal is unreal. As good as Carl? Nearly.
9. Shut Down – Ooooh, some car songs
10. Little Deuce Coupe – The best of the three? Not quite.
11. I Get Around – This is their best car song.
12. Add Some Music To Your Day – This is as fine a version as you could hope for. Wilson should cover more 70s material, for one thing it is less indelibly fixed in our memories and easier to refresh.
13. Do You Wanna dance – And up go the house lights as everybody does wanna dance.
14. Darlin' – Brian claims this is rhythm and blues! Keyboardist Darian Sahanaja gets all of it.
15. California Girls – Another singalong
16. Pet Sounds – Brian wanted the instrumental to be a James Bond theme but they wouldn't use it.
17. Wouldn't It be Nice – The second song off his best album, though it reminds me of Warren Beatty's excellent "Shampoo" movie than anything else.
18. Sloop John B – Bow Bridges, a local string band, join them… and never leave!!
19. God Only Knows – It is the wind instruments that provide the emotional surge today, Wilson can't really sing it
20. Heroes And Villains – This is on the far side of Pet Sounds -all harmonies and strange tempo changes.
21. Good Vibrations -This was the single that didn't make the album.
2nd Set
22. Rhapsody In Blue (Intro)
23. The Like In I Love You – As obscure as we get. The first of two gershwin fragments he made into a song
24. Summertime – Around about here, Brian's control over his band becomes clearer. Despite the intricacies of the final two songs of the first set, this needs to be re-expressed to his band.
25. I Love You Porgy – relatively straightforward, but do you really wanna step into Ella's shoes? Still, pretty fair.
26. Plenty Of Nothing- Rickety dink instrumental
27. Ain't Necessarily So – Bluesy workout.
28. 'S wonderful – Antonio Carlos Jobin plus harmonies, cocktails at 5 workout.
29. They Can't Take That Away from Me – Like an outtake from the Beach Boys Party
30. Our Love Is Here To Stay
31. I've Got A Crush On You
32. I Got Rhythm – Of course they do, they're A ROCK BAND. The guitar is pure surf, the outro, the intro a coupla bars of "An American In Paris"
33. Someone To Watch Over Me – gets the soul quotient right. The problem with reimagining "Our Love Is Here To Stay" is that it is anything but upbeat. It is like running into your ex-wife on the street, all it is is baggage. The missing element here has yet to arrive but is given his due, the sense of loss hidden deep inside "Stay" is completely missed.
34. Nothing But Love – The song that got Wilson his cow-riting credit. I don't know it, and thought it was a classic I had missed.
35. Rhapsody In Blue (Reprise)
Encores
36. Johnny B. Goode – Hey, better than Chuck's version New Year's Eve -the keyboardist performs a keen Jamey Johnson impression.
37. Help Me, Rhonda – When they let loose, they are closer to the Beach Boys o your dreams. The hope might be, Brian's perfect band would be, the remaining Beach Boys along with this band, the band taking the stick outta their ass and Mike Love stop acting like an egotistical asshole. This isn't that, but it is getting there. The Beach Boys today, are a Karaoke band and they are fools, they actually think "Kokomo" is anything but crappy. This band is better but they are tightly wound. Here, they shake it out a bit.
38. Barbara Ann – Did I mention Brian Wilson slapped on his guitar?
39. Fun Fun Fun – She shouldn't have lie-ied…
And that's it, a night of love and mercy and a joy to see the ol' man in such good spirits. Brian has been making retirement comments lately -he doesn't seem so overjoyed to be in the spotlight but Monday night he seemed happy enough to make you hope he won't leave it quite yet.
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