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11/03/2004: "smile"

Got back from a show in LA last night around 1:30, Brian Wilson's amazing performance of Smile. For those of you not in the know, Brian Wilson was the leader of the Beach Boys for many years and is generally considered one of, if not the greatest pop musician of all time. The album "Smile" was orginally supposed to be released in 1967 but due to internal struggles with the band, it was never completed and a watered down, (although still quite good) album "Smiley Smile" was issued in its place. Smile is definitely the most famous and talked about unreleased album of all time. (yes, even more so than Chinese Democracy). Early in 2004, Brian Wilson decided to finish his masterpiece and it was finally released in September to critical praise. If you're intersted in the facisnating history of Smile, there are many resources available on the web.

About the show...it was incredible. It was at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (very nice venue, very modern architecture) and I had amazing fifth row seats. I went with my friend David, who first introduced me to the more experimental Beach Boys work about 7 years ago (thanks Dave!) We were literally 20 feet from the stage, and sat about 10 feet directly behind Van Dyke Parks (the lyricist for the Smile album). The only one who had a better seat was Elijah Wood, who we saw in the dead center front row singing along to "Vege-tables". At any time there were about 15 musicians on stage performing the various instruments and singing...Brian Wilson's compositions were very complex. The highlights of the evening were definitely hearing Smile ("Surf's Up" in particular), and hearing "God Only Knows". Anyway, fantastic show and probably a once in a lifetime experience, 37 years in the making.