There may as well have been sand on the ground at The Pabst Theater on Tuesday, Aug. 23, as Brian Wilson and his band returned to throw a beach party-like concert, playing classic Beach Boys tunes and songs off of Wilson's latest release, "Smile."
The show was divided into two sets. The first was dedicated mostly to the Beach Boys classics many in the audience knew by heart: "California Girls," "Surfer Girl," "God Only Knows," "In My Room," "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and "Sloop John B.:
The band, comprising multi-talented multi-instrumentalists, dazzled with harmonies to rival the Beach Boys in their heyday. Wilson recruited an orchestra from Sweden to play this tour with him, and there wasn't a point during the show when less than 10 musicians were on stage.
As an early present, Wilson and his band played "Little Saint Nick" -- from the Beach Boys' Christmas album -- as red and green lights danced their way around the stage and theater.
The theater then erupted during the opening notes of "Help Me Rhonda" and the mainly 40-and-up crowd rose to its feet and danced like teenagers.
After the one-hour set and a brief intermission, the second set focused on "Smile," that ill-fated Beach Boys collaboration with Van Dyke Parks that was doomed to languish in the vault until Wilson completed it and released it last year.
The set had only a few breaks between long periods of borderline ambient music. The crowd remained seated during this part of the show, but applauded appreciatively, giving points for originality even though the tunes were less familiar.
But when "Good Vibrations" arrived, the crowd again rose to its feet and danced like there was no tomorrow. Beach Boys fans were again rewarded with an encore that included "Johnny B. Goode," "Barbara Ann" and "Surfin' U.S.A."
