The Beach Boys - Wild Honey Tour 2017

I suspect Wild Honey was chosen because it's a cool non-threatening title. Most real fans like the album and most casual fans have never heard of it.

Smiley Smile tour anyone?

 

Wow a great setlist. At this stage I really enjoy the touring Beach Boys shows a lot more than Brian's and the membership has coalesced into a crack unit (especially with the addition of Jeff Foskett.)

Weird that some deep cuts strongly associated with Al Jardine are included. I can see "Then I Kissed Her" being a natural, but "Cotton Fields" and especially "Lady Lynda" are surprising to me. I'm not complaining though.

 

Mike sings lead on:
Aren't You Glad
A Thing or Two
Let The Wind Blow

 

Can anyone who has been to one of the UK shows already let me know what is available in terms of merchandise and whether it's worth making the effort to get to the merchandising stand?

Best Wishes,
David

 

Well, I wouldn't want to question someone named "Dr Beachboy". I'm traveling and don't have access to youtube, but I always thought that it was Brian on lead on both "Let the Wind Blow" and "A Thing or Two". Or, at least it sounded that way in my memory. Oh well, you learn something new every day.

 

I saw Brian this year, and it was incredible, just a fantasic vibe. Was disappointed to not hear "Heroes and Villains" though.

Was going to pass on Mike Love and the Beach Boys Experience until I saw that 49 song setlist. Might have to rethink that one

 

Just wondering, does Mike still play theremin on stage on "Wild Honey" and "Good Vibrations?" It was really cool when he did that back in the late '60s and '70s. Or does someone else play it or is it just reproduced on synth?

 

As far as the tour title goes, in Germany it's announced as "The Beach Boys - One Night All The Hits Tour 2017"

 

Lady Lynda was a big hit in the U.K. which is probably why Mike and Bruce have exhumed it for their UK tour, Jardine or no Jardine.

 

That is Mike on the verses of both A Thing Or Two and Let The Wind Blow.

 

Both top ten hits in the U.K. though.

 

they did just about all of these in recent years

 

Mike sings lead on Aren't You Glad, co-lead on A Thing or Two, and co-lead on Let The Wind Blow.

The album was 99% Mike and Brian co-writes also, which could help explain Love's Love for the album

 

Sadly many of those deep cuts have been gone from Brian's set for list for many years. Hopefully they can add more rare solo and Beach Boys songs, but due to having to play Pet Sounds and the hits there isn't the time I guess.

 

The current setlist has Wake the World, Add Some Music, She Knows Me Too Well, Feel Flows, Wild Honey and Let Him Run Wild. Plus the PS tracks, all but four of which would qualify as deep cuts.

 

Plus the title track for Wild Honey does at least have some name recognition as it is regularly included on Best ofs.

Sure, but I think most would agree that the set lists were much more interesting and balanced back in the day. For Brian to only be playing 1 solo song seems a real waste for example.

 

Oh yes of course, that makes sense.

 

I think going to a Brian Wilson show is a chance for many to pay homage at this point. Your mileage may vary on how many times you feel you need to do this. ;-) Touring Beach Boys is just great fun with plenty of surprises. Highlight for me last time I saw them (which was already a few years ago) was hearing them do a sparkling "All I Wanna Do". Wish I coulda been in the UK for them doing The Move's "Fire Brigade" with Roy Wood (Mike, Bruce and David Marks seemed lost but the band nailed it!)

 

I believe this is there longest ever set list and at the same venue. Not many bands would do a 34 song 1st set!

The Beach Boys Setlist at Royal Albert Hall, London

Plus this from 2015. They did 2 from Wild Honey then. So we get 1 additional song on the so called Wild Honey tour!

The Beach Boys Setlist at Royal Albert Hall, London

 

That will remain forever tied as the best concert I've ever been to, along with Love doing Forever Changes in 2003. I'm sure there'll be others, but those two were just magical.

 

There's some nice T-shirts, including a yellow one with the WH album cover printed on it, and another purple one with 'Aren't You Glad' emblazoned over a swirled graphic of the album, plus a couple more with 60s photos of the band. I bought the yellow one myself, and it's pretty good quality.

Other than that, there's keyrings and some other little things. Can't remember exactly what.

The closest Mike gets to playing an instrument is pointing his mic at the sax player when he comes up to do a solo. In terms of band, there's the core members Mike, Bruce (keys), John Cowsill (drums), Jeff Foskett (guitars), Scott Totten (guitars), Brian Eichenberger (bass), Tim Bonhomme (keys) and Randy Leago (sax), plus a four piece horn section and a multi-tasking percussionist playing the timpanis, vibes and other bits here and there.

 

I'm guessing that either Bruce or Tim does sort of a synthesized theremin effect on those 2 songs.

 

That's my recollection from a concert I attended in Oklahoma several years ago and I think it was Tim. Mike used to do the theremin part using a Moog ribbon synthesizer. A real Theremin was never used on "Good Vibrations". The original was done by Paul Tanner on an electro-theremin.

The Real Instrument Behind The Sound In 'Good Vibrations'

 

Yes, it's in my own top 10. A wonderful surprise. Al was just brilliant that night.

 

No horn section or percussionist in Dublin, but an excellent show nonetheless. Some great vocals from JF, ST and BE.

The sound in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre can be "hit or miss". A definite hit tonight.

Set list was much the same as above.