Undersold. Too many fluffy Beach Boys songs. The Brian, front and center, with a little video monitor to help with lyrics and banter for a show reaching nearly three hours. I was very impressed with Brian's singing, which otherwise has been quite strained on albums such as Orange Crate Art, and quite ProTooled on albums like the remake of SMiLE. What Brian did in concert was to simply not sing when the part went too high. He just layed out, saving his voice for where it is still quite capable. His band covered perfectly. It is important to note, if you want that Beach Boys sound, you don't need the Beach Boys: you just need the exact correct vocal arrangements, executed properly. Done. Close your eyes, the magic was always in Brian's arrangements.
The highlight of the evening was new album That Lucky Old Sun performed uninterrupted as a thirty-five minute concert piece. Really amazing. (Yet another homage to Los Angeles, but we can forgive that.) SMiLE clearly is not a one-off deal. He may be 67, but he's still got it in him.
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