The Beach Boys - Wild Honey Tour 2017

No qualifiers, no inverted commas, no buts required. This is the best version of The Beach Boys you'll see. Mike is on fire, Bruce sounds far better than he did in 2012, and Jeff and Scott are vocally excellent subs.

I'm at the interval at the Albert Hall gig, and they've already knocked out 20+ songs in the first half (mostly pre-Smile bar some Wild Honey songs and a couple of others).

Of course, there's the absence of Al, Brian and David, but what they've done so far has been rapturous. They're there is spirit, and on the videos, same as Dennis and Carl. This is comparable in quality to the Albert Hall gig of 2012, on the reunion tour. No jokes.

I won't spoil with setlist giveaways, but it's a joy. Go see them.

 

Oh, and Marilyn Wilson is in attendance.

 

Yeah. Don't let your preconceptions or pride stop you seeing three hours of sheer joy.

Won't last forever - that's kinda sad.

 

I'm glad they sound good, but calling themselves "The Beach Boys" leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

Is John Stamos sitting in on drums?

 

One of the times I saw Mike's Beach Boys, it was billed as "The Beach Boys Band." When I saw them more recently about 2 years ago, it was billed as The Beach Boys. Jeff Foskett is an incredibly talented musician and now that he's touring in Mike's Beach Boys, this is a major upgrade.

 

I'll wait for the MIU Tour.

 

what 'wild honey' tunes did they do?

 

I can only hope that Brian counters with a Love You tour.

 

Just out of curiosity, was there any special reason or occasion for Marilyn Wilson to be in attendance?

 

If the setlist included "She's Got Rhythm", "Pitter Patter", "My Diane", I would definitely catch a show on this tour! You kinda need Al for most of the MIU stuff, though...

 

And Student Demonstration Time as an encore!

 

And Hey, Little Tomboy as the second encore!

 

Sounds great! I only had enough cash to see Brian this year, and as I'd never seen him before, and as I had seen Mike's BBs in 2001, Brian got the nod this time. But it seems from youtube stuff I've seen recently that Mike's band have seriously raised their game in recent years, especially since Jeff Foskett rejoined. Old gags about Stamos and static setlists no longer cut it in the wake of the deep cut digging, fan pleasing proposition the touring band now presents.

 

ironically, Mike n Bruce (The Beach Boys), and Brian Wilson and co, are pretty much fighting for the same audience these days.
Brian has steered away more and more from his solo things, and doing more of a Beach Boys show these days.
Guess that's where the money is. Brian's early 2000's sets were really amazing and incredible.
Deep Cuts, Solo songs, rarities, and a kickass band to boot!

 

I saw a show in 2002, and in the setlist were:
you're welcome
til I die
good timin
Hawaii
imagination
melt away
please let me wonder
lay down burden
little girl I once knew
this whole world
meant for you
Marcella
little saint nick

gone are those days...

 

Please never forget Matchpoint Of Our Love.

 

I could listen to the coda of that song on loop. Forever.

 

Yes. My friend once said that if he ever learned that last guitar lick, he'd quit and never play again.

 

A few of these (This Whole World, Marcella, Little Girl, Please Let Me Wonder) have been done by Brian pretty regularly. There are still some nuggets in the current set, not to mention Pet Sounds.

 

yeah but the golden nuggets have turned into a Brian's version of the Beach Boys. I know he still does a couple of things fans love, wake the world,
honkin' down the highway, but overall, his set has turned into a greatest hits set. It's not a Brian Wilson show, but more of a 'Brian Wilson
tribute to the band I created and produced this awesome music with'. The late 90's and early 2000's Brian tour was more about Brian than The Beach Boys.

 

Title track (lead vocal: John Cowsill), Darlin' (Jeff Foskett), Aren't You Glad (Mike). I was expecting more, but all three were excellent - John Cowsill absolutely tore it up. Apparently they haven't done Aren't You Glad since 1971.

Carl and Dennis also took leads on God Only Knows and Do You Wanna Dance. Mike was full of praise for Carl in his post-song acknowledgement and reminisced about Carl singing the song so beautifully all the way until he passed away.

They did nearly half of Pet Sounds with an absolutely stunning version of You Still Believe In Me sung by Brian Eichinger. He and John were their secret weapons really, as they are an incredible rhythm section; they must've been hugely influenced by the 2012 tour as they're recreating the studio sounds much more faithfully.

Haters gonna hate - can't do much about that. But this was a superb balance between the hits presented as well as they can be, and some treats for the hardcore devoted.

Nah, she was just given a dedication as she was in the audience and Mike thanked her for putting up with the band while she was married to Brian, which was quite funny.

 

The touring Beach Boys have done a great job for several years now.

Scott Totten deserves a huge amount of credit as the band leader and I am sure he has nudged Mike into adding more and more obscure songs. People should forget their preconceptions and go to see them while they still have the chance.

 

I used to feel that way circa 1998, but my opinion has changed now. Brian, Al and Carl's estate all voted for Mike to be able to tour as The Beach Boys and they have all been very handsomely remunerated since. And Mike is now doing a great job of performing the group's songs. It's all good.