Jon Stebbins, Beach Boys Insider und Autor der Bücher "Dennis Wilson - The Real Beach Boy" "David Marks - The Lost Beach Boy" und "The Beach Boys FAQ", sowie involviert in der CD Veröffentlichung von Dennis Wilson's Soloalbum Pacific Ocean Blue, hat dieses hier zu seinem Besuch beim Jazz Fest zu sagen:
I’m posting this after having been away from the Smiley board for a few days and being unaware of any relevant updates or comments regarding the post Arizona shows. The reason being I flew from California to New Orleans on Thursday April 26th and spent a few incredibly fun days there, seeing the Beach Boys of course, and generally immersing in the New Orleans experience, and not spending any time on a computer or my iphone. I got no sleep until last night, I’m back home and I wanted to share my thoughts without being influenced by what others thought. Moderators feel free to fold this into the New Orleans thread if you feel that’s aesthetically appropriate. I wanted to introduce this post in its own thread because I want more people to read it…simple.
I always thought the Beach Boys were over after Dennis died. Then I saw the surviving five together on the roof of Capitol Records back in 2006, and I immediately knew those five could actually be a legitimate Beach Boys again if they wanted to. It was obvious to me, the chemistry, the energy, the talent…it was enough. No Carl, No Dennis, it really sucks they died, but I could clearly see Brian, Mike, Al, Dave and Bruce have enough collective cache, magic, mojo whatever…when those five stand together they are The Beach Boys. Seeing the New Orleans concert only reminded me I was right.
I had amazing access. My friend Howie Edelson and I were provided total access thanks to Dave and Carrie Marks and we basically mingled and viewed the concert with the wives and family of the band. We were literally on stage during the show. My perspective of the show was from right behind Brian. I saw what he saw. See the photo I linked.
Backstage there were some celebs mingling with the boys and their families. Mike Campbell from Tom Petty’s band was there. Steve Zahn from HBO’s Treme was there too, as were Vicky Peterson of the Bangles and Susan Cowsill. John Stamos was everywhere, and some people like that. The mood was celebratory.
Everything was positive and fun. Everyone was happy. However, there was one little cloud hanging around that day, and it was Brian’s state. Within seconds of interacting with the entourage it was made clear to me that Brian was having an off day. He didn’t feel up to snuff. Brian is going to have these kind of days. Probably nearly half the time. Some worse than others. Some days he’s okay, fine, no problem. This day he was off, but to his credit he plowed through it. He sang lead on a quite a few things. He missed some cues, it was tough, but his voice is fine. No auto-tune, none, he does not need it, he can sing just fine. His contributions to the overall performance, even on a bad day, are more than they were in 1979 when he sat and smoked and barely sang. Now he’s part of the show, really. What I noticed was how much the others encouraged him. Al was just so dang kind, and enthusiastic toward Brian…constantly making eye contact with him and smiling at him and just projecting happy energy towards his old friend all through the concert.
Al is having a great time. He’s a BETTER performer now than he was in say 1977. He just killed it on “Cottonfields”, and overall he was huge.
Mike was great. He had so much fun. He was moving more than I expected. Voice is a little thin, but damn what A great front man for a 70 yr old. He was huge too.
Dave just controls the guitar sounds from beginning to end. He makes every solo an event, and Mike makes a big point of highlighting Dave’s presence by pointing, worshipping, glowing, and directing all the energy towards Dave when he’s playing a solo like on “I Get Around”, “409”, “Shut Down” “Barbara Ann”, ”Don’t Worry Baby” etc…etc… And Dave makes each of those solos his own while still referencing the original recording. He was huge too.
Those three guys dominate the show, at least the one I saw. Bruce is great, he sings his ass off, but visually you sometimes forget he’s there. Brian is a non-factor unless he’s singing a lead. But in his little moments, like when he sang the middle of “Surfer Girl” the crowd goes nuts for him. They know who he is.
The back line is the best one they ever had. The combination of Cowsill and Totten with Brian’s guys gives them more than they need. It’s a wealth of riches. Just Bennet and Darian alone are so talented, and to have them, and Jeff etc… as back line talent is ridiculous…in a good way. Special props to Cowsill and Nelson Bragg for the awesome energy they brought to the show. I nearly passed out watching them it was so high voltage, or maybe it was the daiquiris I was drinking. Either way they were on freaking fire!
The bottom line of this post is that The Beach Boys absolutely slayed 30,0000 fans. The crowd was so huge they were bursting the barriers of the space they had allotted for a Beach Boys appearance. I could not believe when I looked out there, from Brian’s perspective, it was wall to wall happy white people, which is weird in New Orleans, but man they were having a good time. The set was just one classic after another after another after another…the only time about 500 of them left to go to the bathroom was during “Why God Made The Radio” which is exactly what they would do in 1977 when the boys played “Honkin Down The Highway”. And just when you thought they’d played all the classics they spring “Heroes and Villains” on you, or “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and then you realize…they’ve played 25 iconic masterpieces, and they still have BETTER songs in their arsenal. I never thought, in this day and at their age, I’d see the Beach Boys OWNING a stadium-sized audience in the way they did in New Orleans on Friday April 27th 2012. They did it. As senior citizens with their leader having a bad day they absolutely blew the audience away. And they made it look easy, and fun. Go see this tour.
