Brian to Perform Pet Sounds LIVE

By Michael deMartin

Brian's playing a special concert at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus on November 1. It will be a 40th Anniversary celebration of Pet Sounds and the album will be performed live in its entirety. No question this will be a great show. When Brian turns it on, his performances can be special, so we can expect some magic. And anyone who's seen Brian live knows his band is out of this world. They're great musicians and singers and to perform this intricate work live so well is pretty astounding.

If you're anywhere near L.A., it's worth it - click on the title of this post for more information and to order tickets.

Speaking of live performances: Last night I took my family to see "The Beach Boys" at the Mohegan Theater in Conneciticut (we got tickets from their press guy who set up my interviews with Mike and Bruce for the podcast series). It was a little weird: Mike and Bruce and a bunch of young guys banging out the hits. Mike sounded pretty good but the sounds wasn't great and the band drowned him out. Bruce sounded good even though Mike made fun as he sang "I Write The Songs." They played three songs from Pet Sounds and the difference between their versions and Brian's band is big. Whereas Probyn plays a French Horn on the intro of "God Only Knows," the keyboard player plays a simulation on his synthesizer. Same with other instruments. Not that there's anything wrong with that - people were singing and dancing and having a good time. And, the place was filled to capacity and it was no small venue.

Mike and Bruce were cool afterwards - they said hi to our two 6-year olds and we chatted a little bit. Gotta give them credit - they've been doing this for over 40 years and they still sound like they're having fun, fun, fun.