Brian Wilson Live at the Venetian

Watched it on & off last night on AXS TV. It was embarrassing. Why sit in front of a piano and not play it almost the whole show? His voice was better than I expected but he still looked like a deer in headlights.
It was sad.

 

It's been very well known for years and years now that Brian usually has the deer in the headlights look when on stage, so I don't know why that surprises you. He sits behind a keyboard because he is most comfortable there, rather than standing or sitting behind just a mic , fidgeting around.

These are all givens at a Brian Wilson concert, so fans choose to accept these givens and enjoy the music, while Brian is still available and performing.

 

Saw it on AXS TV. I enjoyed some of the music, but it was mostly coming from Blondie Chaplin, Al Jardine and other vocalists. I would feel cheated if I paid for a ticket expecting to see a Brian Wilson concert.

 

That was kind of the point of the show. To showcase the new songs and the performers performing them. Brian can carry a full show. He has done so for many years. Even the last few years, considering that he's had Al there, he really doesn't always give Al enough to do. If you are a fan of the Beach Boys or Brian solo, since the 70's, Brian has always parked his butt behind a piano. Rarely has he come out from behind it until the encore.

 

I am not so sure Brian can carry a full show anymore. Just because he did it in the past doesn't mean he can still do it.

 

Watched it, too.
Trainwreck. I particularly enjoyed the cutaways showing Brian staring blankly into space at the keyboard, and then breaking into a big smile, as prompted off-camera. No wonder Jeffs Beck and Foskett each split.
And what's the deal with Blondie's right eye?

 

He looks like he is being forced to play live, though.

 

He's looked that way since the Imagination tour, and possibly back to Beach Boys shows.
That is the enigma that goes by the name of Brian Wilson. When asked about touring, one minute Brian says he'd rather be home, the next minute he says he loves the way the tour is going and he's excited to play...whatever he is currently playing .

No one here knows how he really feels and he is probably ambivalent himself from day to day about tourng. He's not considered an eccentric genius without reason.

 

Listen to his recent songs; lots of longing for "home."

 

Due to Brian's affinity for Norbit and Eddie Murphy's declining solo career, it might be time to think about a possible Wilson/Murphy duo act.

 

Isn't Norbit the one with the turban?
Oh, that's right. They tried that three years ago, but the wives reportedly didn't get along.

 

no different from any other tour he's done. Probably the case, too.

 

Well, that blows the argument for the people here that claim Brian doesn't really write "his" songs anymore,...someone is ghosting them for him.

I don't have any special insight whether Brian really loves touring but:
A: He's been out and about off and on since 1999 or so. If he totally hated it, I would think he'd find a way to get out of touring by now.
B. Maybe he's one of those guys that if he's not kept busy , will sit around and eat donuts all day or something.
The argument here is usually that his Svengali like handlers have forced Brian to do all kinds of things, and some of that may be true of course, but it's also possible that it's in Brian's best interests mentally to keep him moving so the voices in his head don't take over or similar. We really have little idea what HIS needs are.

 

Why does it surprise me? It doesn't surprise me. I've read things over the years about his state of mind. I find it fascinating from a train wreck point of view. Can't look away. I am not exactly a fan and don't follow him. I just happen to change the channel and it was on.

 

It may not be the most visually appealing show to watch but as always: it's about the music.

 

It's kinda funny to me how on a Music forum everyone seems so caught up in the visuals. Same thing with Dylan on the Letterman show. Wilson and Dylan are both eccentric performers but I love their music.

 

That would make sense then. It just that usually here when a person starts a thread about someone they are either a big fan of that artist, or thy can't wait to stick a knife into a non favorite.
Apparently that's not your case though.

 

I am in no way making fun of him. Other than the singing, he was barely a participant in his own show. It looked like he didn't want to be there and was so comfortable. I couldn't turn away. Who is this Blonde Chapman? Even the station had the stars listed as Blonde, Chapman. I thought Blonde (the girl) was a guest star. even the station info had it listed a 2 different people. I never ever heard of him. Wasn't the guest drummer one of the Rutles?

 

He was in the group in the early 70s and sang Sail on Sailor.

 

Blondie Chaplin was one of the Beach Boys in 1972-73 and was very prominent on the Carl and The Passions and Holland albums. Before that he was a member of the South African band The Flames/The Flame and after that he played with The Rolling Stones. He's a very talented singer, guitarist and songwriter.

 

As drbeachboy already mentioned, the show you saw was promoting Brian's new album, No Pier Pressure, which features many guest vocalists, including Blondie Chaplin, who was a Beach Boy himself in the early 70's.

 

In addition to being diagnosed with tardive dyskinesia, it's well known that Brian had some kind of back surgery a few years ago - being so tall and having suffered from major weight changes all his life, it's hardly surprising he prefers to sit behind a piano rather than stand. Apart from some occasional standing up to play bass guitar, he's been pretty much sat behind a keyboard or piano ever since he first started performing on a regular basis around the release of Imagination, with even his comments between songs and stage movements also dictated by cues on a prompter. While many are looking for the cattle prod behind him (that may not be there in the first place), I'd rather wait for another of his occasional surprise moments or the rare times his younger voice creeps through... When he wants to, this genius is still capable of blossoming in a live setting!

 

Hmm...The Venetian show had a couple real interesting rarities in the setlist, but last week's show in NJ was only the usual Beach Boys stuff, only two songs from No Pier Pressure and no real surprises. Hope he shakes things up a little more.

 

Fine, sit behind the piano. But, For God's Sake, play it, don't just sit behind it!

 

I seem to recall one of the members of Brian's band explaining that he considers the piano/keyboard as more an emotional crutch rather than an instrument, and the last real time I can remember him actually playing this was for the short instrumental break during Wind Chimes on the SMiLE concert DVD, though he is still clearly capable of more when he feels like it. Saying that, I also once read that his piano had to be muted at various intervals throughout the Knebworth '80 show because he'd suddenly start playing a completely different song to the rest of The Beach Boys - usually either the infamous Shortenin' Bread/Ding Dang riff or another track from the same setlist.