Brian Wilson Newcastle City Hall 6th March 2004
No support.
I didn’t think I would ever get to see Brian Wilson in concert. I’d seen the Beach Boys twice in the early 1970s, but on both occasions Brian was not in the band. At one of the concerts, at Wembley Stadium, Brian was there backstage and I think he may have come on stage to say “hello” to the crowd. But he had not actually played with the band for some years.
Then in the late 1990s the impossible happened. Brian Wilson put a band together and starting to play concerts. Those who saw him, reviewers and fans alike, were ecstatic and unanimous in praise for the man and his music. It is easy to use the word “genius”; we probably do so too often, but in the case of Brian Wilson, the term is true and well-deserved.
I got my first chance to see Brian Wilson when he came to Newcastle City Hall in March 2004. We (me, Marie, David and Laura) went along. We all wanted to see this. It was the “Smile” tour and consisted of a Beach Boys greatest hits set, followed by the legendary “Smile” album played in its entirety.
Brian Wilson had assembled a large band of first class musicians and vocalists to help him recreate the Beach Boys music and their lush harmonies. And they did so, faultlessly. This was a long show, but the pace and the pure class of the music and the performance didn’t let up for a moment. It was great to see Brian on stage, a few feet in front of us, looking and sounding great. Most of the Smile album was unfamiliar to me, but that didn’t matter. An amazing concert, and the first of a few visits by Brian to the UK. And during the encore, they played my favourite songs: “Do It Again” and “I Get Around”. It really doesn’t get much better đŸ™‚
First Set: And Your Dream Comes True; In My Room; Hawaii; Please Let Me Wonder; All Summer Long; Good Timin’; You’re Welcome; Sloop John B; God Only Knows; Time to Get Alone; Soul Searchin’; California Girls; Dance, Dance, Dance; Darlin’; City Blues; Marcella
Brian Wilson Presents SMILE: Our Prayer/Gee; Heroes and Villains; Roll Plymouth Rock; Barnyard; Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine; Cabinessence; Wonderful; Look (Song for Children); Child Is Father of the Man; Surf’s Up; I’m in Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop; Vega-Tables; On a Holiday; Wind Chimes; Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow; In Blue Hawaii; Good Vibrations
Encore: Do It Again; I Get Around; Help Me, Rhonda; Barbara Ann; Surfin’ U.S.A.; Fun, Fun, Fun
Encore 2: Love and Mercy
4 Feb
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by abitoftap on February 4, 2015 at 9:29 am
I saw this tour at the Ipswich Regent. I’m not ashamed that I was in bits during the first sequence when Brian was at the side of the stage with two or three band members, pretty much vocals only, with minimal accompaniment and when they sang In My Room…..ahhhhh.
The Smile set with added horns was thrilling after years of bootleg reconstructions!
Probably one of my all time top gigs.
Slight downer…we went to see him again with the same band a few years later….set list all the BB hits, not as much finesse and a lot louder all the way through. Very disappointing.
Posted by vintagerock on February 4, 2015 at 9:55 am
Many thanks James Best wishes Peter