In which Andrew goes to see Brian Wilson and comes back feeling alive.

Before I begin, I want to let it known that there are some people who read this on occasion who do not care for the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.
I know you exist, and no only do I feel sorry for you, but I also want you to go fuck yourself.
I mean that like I mean it when I say "I really like Batman, Highlander and collecting stuff"

Ok. I don't want you to do that, really, but if I may Geek out a little: When it comes to things I like a lot, things that make me think that life is really worth living - Like a Sith Lord, I speak in absolutes.

Last night I went to The Brian Wilson Concert @ The State Theatre in Downtown Minneapolis.
To say that it was a great show would be the same as telling Odin that The Earth and the Cosmos were just 'ok'.
And yes, this blog is going to be a very long one about my undying love for Brian Wilson, among other things. If you don't like passion, sunshine, love and having fun: Please go to the next blog where they talk about which mall they hate the most or which sports team did something that one time.

And away we go:

A few years ago, lets call it ten years ago, as it will be the anniversary of when John Bungert and I became best friends on December 10th(more on that as the day approaches)
J-Man and I were sitting in my apartment on the cusp of the downtown Minneapolis zone talking about music we liked.
John was already an accomplished musician at this time, so his opinion mattered. My own musical tastes had stopped growing three years prior when I graduated from high school.
(Incidentally, I know I am repeating myself from a previous blog, but it is relevant to this one and it's my party)
John spoke of The Beach Boys, and while I considered myself a fan because my Step Mother would only listen to WKLR when driving me around for various things like my summer of Tuberculosis tests, when everyone was convinced I had the consumption but it turned out I was just allergic to the tests. I have fair skin, you see, but I digress.
WKLR was the Oldies station. And growing up, I find I know the words to either too many really good songs that defined and shaped generations, or not enough. Depends on your perspective.
The Beach Boys were always one of my favourites. I knew mostof the words to their standard catalog, but the real heavy stuff was out of my range of knowledge.
He mentioned 'Pet Sounds' and how it was the inspiration for so many albums and bands that I liked.
I said I had not heard of it.
"Let's go" He said without pause.
And we were off to Cheapo to buy a copy. It cost me the last $13 I had to my name, but I got a copy of that album and we listened to it all the way through without speaking when we got back to my place.
When it was done, I needed to hear it again.
And that $13 has been listened to at least a hundred times since then. At least.
There are so many interviews and essays about Pet Sounds that I won't go into detail about how much it meant to me. The lyrics, The Music and the overflow of emotion that that album contains is different for each listener. But I am a firm believer in that album being put on the top of every 'Best of' list.
So my love of The Beach Boys grew and grew since then. So many albums that I wasn't aware of and songs that were better than the last one. And don't get me wrong, there were some crap tracks. Usually when Brian wasn't involved as much as he should have been.
But the vast majority of songs are amazing.
Brian Wilson's use of complex harmonies give them the ability to be 'rediscovered' each time you listen to them. Your brain just doesn't have enough power to grasp everything one of his songs has within it with just one listen. Which is great to me, because I am the type to listen to one song over and over again for an entire week without getting sick of it.
That, and I am a bit dense, so repetition helps things stick. Der Der Der.

Call me a fanboy, call me what you will. I don't give a hoot (to quote Kermit).
Brian Wilson is a genius.
And please don't bring up his depression or the time he spent in self imposed exile from the world.
We all have our off days. Brian just had a lot more than most of us. I feel it adds to his interesting story, and gave him a much deeper well of emotion to draw from with his melodies.
Where was I?
Right. Brian Wilson.
As I write this, I am distracted by shiny things like watching interviews and video of the Man himself. Ergo, this diatribe is taking me forever to write and post.
I own a lot of DVD's that tell his story and has concert footage out the wazoo, but since last night's concert, I am a little BW crazy. I get that way after seeing him or listening to his albums. And since he doesn't tour all that often, I feel fortunate when I get to see him.
J-man has been with me each time, so it has become our thing. Starting with the Pet Sounds Symphonic tour in 2000. Or was it 99? I can't recall exactly, but I do remember audio taping the whole show, sadly hearing nothing but John and I screaming like teenage girls at a boy band concert. Which, incidentally, is all you can hear on the tapes. Us. Screaming about how much we love Brian.
Then we went and saw him open for Paul Simon a few years later. I still feel that Paul Simon should have opened for Brian, but I don't make the rules, I just break them...
I didn't tape that concert, because I just assumed it would be more shrieking.
Then came the SMILE concert. Words can't describe any of these shows, people. And to try and do it is like describing tasting red wine.
I have long thought that asking what wine is like is ridiculous. I worked in a wine shop, and have heard all the descriptions. "Nutty with a vanilla twist and an oak aftertaste bursting with a subtle hint of cherry" It tastes like red wine. Blow me.
My tastes are not cultured, and I will argue till the end that yours are not either. Every person is different. Water tastes like water and feels wet. Snow is cold and Artificial Watermelon tastes like sugary heaven. Do you think differently? Good. You are human.
And just because I like Brian Wilson and you like gangsta rap doesn't mean I'm better than you. It just means I'm happier ;)
I knew that Brian was coming into town with his new album 'That Old Lucky Sun' a couple of months ago. I also knew that I didn't have the money to buy tickets when they went on sale.
I pretty much reserved myself to not seeing Brian this time around.
Life would suck, I'd get over it.
But still, when yesterday came and both John and I felt that Brian needed us in the audience, we decided to try our luck at buying tickets from a scalper.
And keep in mind that our luck has not been the best.
I mean, we don't write dark poetry by streams of black hate in meadows of the damned, but we don't consider ourselves lucky people.
And usually when we want something so bad that food tastes yucky and even kittens don't seem cute, we end up disappointed.
Last night, our luck changed.

A scalper had tickets, and they happened to be in the front row. That's right. The front row. The seats reserved for Kings and radio contest winners. The seats that God herself would have had to pay three times the face value of on ebay for.

In fact, throughout the day, I was looking at craigslist and messaging people who were selling tickets, trying in vain to lowball the insane amount they were asking.
And so, with silly grins, and $60 each paid to the guy in the polar fleece in front of The State Theatre, we watched and listened to Brian Wilson and his Band play some Beach Boy classics and in the second act, listened to the full performance of 'That Old Lucky Sun'.
He ended the entire night with 'Love and Mercy'. One of his best in recent years. Coming a close second to 'Lay Down Burden' that makes me cry everytime I hear it. Written as a tribute to his late brother, Carl, that song really helps my case when I try and convert people from casual listeners to Iron clad fans.


So yeah. I like Brian Wilson.
And after every concert I attend, I like him even more, making a point to thank John for really making me listen that one day. And for making me spend my last $13.

I have always offered to make my friends and family cd's of his music. And the mixes that I make are always available for the asking. Even now. Because if I can get one person to really like his music as much as I do, then I've done my good deed for the day.
Please, ask me for a cd. I'll gladly make you one.

In other news, I am having trouble with a tooth, and it is boring a hole into my brain. I need to go to NIP and have it either pulled, or blasted out of my skull with some C4. It is causing me to lose sleep and crave soup. I never crave soup. I am not usually a soup guy.
Soup. Soup Soup.
And tomorrow is The Monday Night Comedy Show. Lots of good acts, per usual. If you can make it, please come. You can find the facebook event page here:

MNCS!

And if that link doesn't work, you are out of luck, as I am impressed I know what a link is.

I am here at The Beat Coffeehouse in Uptown until 3pm, where you can come and say hi to me and listen to Pet sounds and Die Prinzen mixed with some Elvis and REM. I may be a Brian Wilson fan, but I am also and eccentric billionaire who moonlights as a poor Barista and Blog writer.
Please keep in mind, my opinions are my own, and you should follow them to the letter.
Have a phenomenal day, you Space Aces.


Yours with a bushy bushy blond hairdo*,
Andy





*Which also means Stay Awesome