Brian Wilson Tickets

Anybody who grew up in the 60's and liked music (which is everybody) loved The Beach Boys and their unique sound. It was The Beach Boys, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones - life was GOOD! To be at the concert in Ottawa on Monday evening (June 20) was like going back in time to relive those glory days of Rock 'n Roll. Yes, Brain Wilson may not be the musician and singer that he once was, but to be in his presence and to listen to his music that his amazing band played and sang was like being in the presence of "GENIUS". You just know that he hand picked that band knowing that he expected nothing less than perfection and that is what they gave in their performance. Brain has gone through many difficult times in his life and just to have survived to the age of 69 (his birthday was Monday night ) is a major accompolishment. To still want to perform and also to put together the Gershwin album is nothing short of a miracle. It was unfortunate that more fans didn't show up because they missed out on a "night of nights" for anyone who claims to be a lover of Rock 'n Roll. I feel sorry for them because they may never get a chance to see this icon again. An amazing concert from an amazing man. P.S. The reporter from the Citizen (Cobb) should be fired from his job. He wouldn't know good music if it hit him in the face. He probably didn't even know who Brain Wilson is and the musical genius he represents. It is like telling Michaelangelo he is to old the paint anymore.

Brian is a music icon. In the Gershwin(?) set, the arrangements hinted at Beach Boy harmonies. The Beach Boys set brought back memories of a happier carefree time. For a 69 year old who has been through what he has in his life, I found him amazing. I couldn't find any criticisms. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see and hear him live and I enjoyed the concert tremendously. His back up band of musicians were excellent. They seemed to be enjoying themselves and that helped set the atmosphere. For those who may criticize Brian or the concert, just remember he has gone throught psychological probelms and admittedly still has stage fright - try walking in his shoes for awhile! Fred & Bobbi

Brian Wilson is in the show because he wrote tons of great songs that shaped the North American musical landscape. He sings a lot of those tunes, probably not as well as he did before, but still with the energy that a composer has for his music. His band is incredible - probably in line with Paul McCartney's comment that it is the best touring band in the world. Every arrangement was interesting and varied, and you could hear every part. The 7-8 part vocal arrangements were amazingly tight and lush. The players were all superb too. If you liked the Gershwins you had your money's worth by the intermission. If you also like the Beach boys, you got a huge bonus after the break. One of the best for me!!

The experience of attending a Brian Wilson concert is difficult thing to describe. I had the good fortune to see him perform with the original Beach Boy lineup (less drummer Dennis Wilson who passed away in 1983) at the Winnipeg Arena and was knocked out from the opening bars of “California Girls” to the end of the show. Wilson’s solo show, though laden with many Beach Boy hits, is a very different experience from the days when the Wilson brothers, Mike Love, and Al Jardine reigned the pop charts, yet it is an intriguing experience nonetheless. Wilson, the musical genius responsible for some of the most beloved pop music hits of the last century is front row center in his solo show, a place that the “California Girls” hitmaker does not find altogether comfortable, having relied on Love, brother Carl, and Al Jardine to handle fronting back in the Beach Boys days. Brian was the “behind the scenes” mastermind, the guy that wrote, produced and arranged the vast majority of their hits. Brian’s struggle with drugs and mental illness are well known, so Winnipeg fans were prepared to cut him slack, which they demonstrated right off the hop, giving the legendary singer-songwriter a standing ovation as he sauntered onstage promptly at 7:30pm – just for showing up. Brian welcomed the crowd, and gave a brief, but lucid explanation about how his latest release “Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin” came about, and explained the band would play all 14 tracks from the album, take a break, and then return with a Beach Boys set at which the crowd roared its approval. The Gershwin set was a bit of hit and miss affair as far as the arrangements. Brian’s 9 piece band, supplemented by a Winnipeg string section were all solid players, and the vocal harmonies, arranged by Wilson, were superb. Brian struggled a bit vocally at the beginning of the show, but improved substantially as the night went along. He sat behind the piano (a la Bob Dylan), often not playing, alternatively gesticulating playfully with his hands, but then would drop his hands to his side motionless, and stare off into space awaiting his vocal cues, almost as if he was unaware that a theatre packed with fans had their eyes on him. Wilson came closest to the mark with his renditions of “Summertime” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” A sound glitch towards the end of the set almost derailed the band, but the set was saved by the band and fans using the opportunity to sing Brian “Happy Birthday” (technically Brian’s birthday was 2 days previous, but better late than never). After a quick break, the band returned and launched into a set of Beach Boys tunes, kicking of with the beat heavy, harmony-laced “Do It Again” much to the crowds delight. Brian dug deep into his back catalogue, playing early tracks such the vocally lush ballad “Surfer Girl,” (the first song he ever wrote), a good cross section from the Beach Boys’ hugely influential 1966 album “Pet Sound” and even pulled out “Sail on Sailor” from the Beach Boys’ relatively obscure 1973 album “Holland” album, well handled vocally by keyboardist Darian Sahanaja. Although Wilson’s voice was much stronger in the 2nd set, and he handled the majority of the songs vocally himself, some lead vocals were taken over by other bandmembers, most notably guitarist Jeffrey Foskett who did an excellent job of “Then I Kissed Her” and “Don’t Worry Baby.” Brian received a huge standing ovation for a song he described as “the best song I ever wrote,” the Pet Sounds’ classic “God Only Knows.” He wrapped up the 2nd set with the Beach Boys 1966 smash “Good Vibrations,” but came back for an lengthy encore consisting of “Johnny B Good,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “Barbara Ann,” (for which Brian strapped on the bass guitar, much to the delight of the crowd), Surfin’ USA” and “Fun Fun Fun,” which had the entire audience on their start to finish. Wilson showed his appreciation by returning and playing a 2nd encore, the haunting “All Summer Long.” Gershwin and The Beach Boys were a strange mix, but hey….. all geniuses are bit eccentric, and Brian Wilson wouldn’t be Brian Wilson without his quirks. As for me, I’ll be driving with my sunroof open, listening to plenty of Wilson penned songs all summer long. Keep on rockin’ Brian.

Entering the Pantages Theatre, I had a pretty good feeling about the night. For people watching, it ran the gamut from preteen to early pensioners. Overheard bits of conversations on the SMiLE box set, what they think of the Gershwin CD, past Beach Boys concerts locally or BW concerts elsewhere. That was helpful as I wound up going alone. I had originally bought 2 tickets in case Michele, the fan from Nanaimo, BC I had met up with in Vancouver nearly 4 years ago, would be interested. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it but was planning on going to the Vancouver show. So the pair were sold on Kijiji for a slightly reduced price since I had managed Plan B - an individual ticket which by some crazy luck was 3 rows closer (Main Floor Centre, Row 3, Seat 106 - pretty much smack dab in front of Brian). In the lobby, I wound up in a conversation with a slightly older couple (guessing 50s) who had won tickets from a radio contest which included a Meet and Greet. No cameras or recording devices were allowed in the theatre, though I had mine zipped in my jacket pocket in case anything happened outside before or after. So I told them I wasn't jealous, sneakily took it out and quickly flaunted my pic with BW taken outside the BC hotel. Assured them what you'll see is what you'll get - he's a gentle giant. They were escorted along with a few others into a room for the meeting. When they returned, I playfully asked how their lives have changed now. The man gave a little laugh, shrugged and nodded. The lady gently patted my arm and said I was right about the gentle giant thing. Onto the concert itself - Brian announces the first act will be the Gershwin set. It was smooth as silk. Rhapsody In Blue was naturally cool to hear live. Loved that extended "Summert-i-i-i-i-m-e". "Nothing But Love" provided some beautiful verité. About 2/3 through, a speaker by Scott started giving some fuzzy, distracting feedback. Scott along with a stagehand sprung into action trying to fix it for a minute or so. The performance ground to a halt with Brian calm but concerned asking what was wrong. After a few quiet seconds, a fellow behind me wisely started singing "Happy Birthday". I pitched in along with a whole whack of others in the house, keeping things loose. (Brian sang the last line along with us!) We were then treated with a Take 2 from the top. Interestingly, one of the songs played over intermission was Glen Campbell's version of "Guess I'm Dumb", the first I'd heard it since the sad news on his health.. Heard a few more bits of great conversations as I stretched my legs in the lobby. The GH half had enjoyable moments too. Indeed, Darian did a great job with "Darlin'" as did Scott with "Sail On Sailor" amd Jeff with WIBN and "Don't Worry Baby". "Heroes and Villains" and "Pet Sounds" were awesome. We were encouraged to stand up and dance on a few which was limiting given the snug seating. The best I could do was a tight twist on the spot or knee bobbing. One fellow did manage to hop down part of the aisle and dance in front briefly. It was a beautifully appreciative crowd. A fellow a row ahead and a few seats over, occasionally yelled out supportive stuff like "How do you do it, buddy?" and "It's okay, man" when "Nothing But Love" was stopped. Tons of roaring applause and audience participation. I sang/shouted the chorus of "Help Me Rhonda" and a few others along with other people. So in case any other Winnipeg attendees are reading, thanks for that awesome crowd response! Thanks also to the ladies and gentlemen of the string section. Last and certainly not least: Thank you so much Brian, Jeff, Scott, Probyn, Darian, Mike, Paul, Nelson, Nick and Bret for a fabulous night!

The show has a unique dynamic as Brian spends most of the concert sitting and occasionally playing piano chords while letting the band carry the load; it's the only concert I've been to with such a reversed role in terms of the front person almost being carried & led by the band instead of the reverse. And Brian does hit some off vocal notes occasionally. But what a band! Impeccable musicianship. Before this concert, the Eagles had the best live harmonies I've ever heard. The Brian Wilson group completely buries the Eagles. Three extremely gifted solo vocalists and the ability to deliver 8 part complex harmonies was unlike anything I've ever seen and can be described as nothing short of magical. An experience that no one should miss.

Outstanding performance , just like old days where music and sound were priorities rather than big theatrics.

I bought the tickets for Brian Wilson late 2010 after seeing that he was coming here randomly on the internet, the show was never really heavily advertised until the last month or so. I went on ticketmaster and saw that I was able to get 4th row tickets so I snatched them up and was pretty happy about it. After I told people that I was seeing him the general reaction was pretty negative. I didn't get one person asking me to take them along and nobody was interested in coming with me. As June got closer I tried to bring up the show again and still I got pretty negative comments about how bad it would be. I don't know, my first reaction to seeing that he was coming to Ottawa was, BRIAN FREAKIN WILSON!!! In a Theatre!!! 4th Row!!! My enthusiasm started to wane the more people tried to talk me out of it. I even tried to sell them below face and didn't get any offers. There was always a part of me that wanted to go though so that weekend I told my mom that I was taking her to the show on Monday and we were going to have a good time, if she didn't like it well you didn't pay for it. Sigh. That weekend we also found out that Brian Wilson was doing the Gershwin thing so that brought on more negative comments, including derogatory comments from one of our glorious commercial radio channels…so you're a radio DJ dissing Brian Wilson, no mention of his legacy or accomplishments, just sarcastic comments about his hearing loss and spotty past, nice. It's like being negative about everything is the cool thing to do, my music knowledge curve has risen steadily since switching to college radio and the internet. Show day my mom and I got to our 4th row seats in a half filled theatre. There were scattered people in the balcony and mezz and patches of people on the floor, it made me feel sad. Brian would be celebrating his 69th birthday, the crowd seemed mostly to be in that age group too, I was hoping this wouldn't turn into an awkward night. Brian's band came out first and led us all into singing Happy Birthday which was a nice way to start us off. The crowd was pretty mellow at this point, but sincere. Brian came out while we were singing and promptly sat down at a keyboard in the middle of the stage and they dove right into a Beach Boys song which sounded great right off the bat. I knew from the first moment he sat down that it was going to be a good night and I was overwhelmed by the moment, the significance of seenig Brian Wilson hit me all at once and I was so glad I came. Accompanying Brian was a 10 piece band plus a 6 piece orchestra from Ottawa, what an amazing opportunity for them. They started off with 23 Beach Boys songs. His band was spot on for all the songs and were all great singers individually. They were all featured in a couple of songs and were clearly helping Brian out on some of the vocals, but Brian was still holding his own. At times he appeared to just be listening and would cast at an appreciative glance at someone who just played a good solo or hit the right note or would whip around and glare if someone didn't hit the note, but I got the impression that he was orchestrating it at all and could totally see the genius status he has in building songs. It took a very large band to recreate a sound that 4 guys used to pull off. Most of the Beach Boys songs are just pure fun and eventually the crowd got moving a bit in their seats and was singing along, I know my mom and I were, it was really great to be there with her and she was just as excited as I was. Highlights of the Beach Boys set were Don't Worry Baby, Wouldn't It Be Nice and God Only Knows, three perfect songs and with that large band it was like a wall of sound. Brian was also engaging with the audience, not saying much, but trying to get us into it and announcing song titles and such, totally coherent and with it. After a really awesome Good Vibrations Brian walked off the stage with a wave and a 20 min. break was announced. My mom and I were just amazed at how good it had been so far. When the band came back Brian told us about how he was asked to arrange some Gershwin songs and would be playing that for us. This was the part of the evening that was comlpetely unknown to me, I had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being the part I was most impressed with. The Beach Boys set was very cool, but it was also Brian Wilson with a band that is very much not the Beach Boys no matter how good they sounded. The Gershwin set was current and Wilson arranged the songs to fit his vocals now and if anyone doubted whether he could still sing or not then there was no doubt once he started in on Rhapsody in Blue, he sounded amazing and that distinct Brian Wilson voice was strong and in command. His arrangements were beautiful and his band impressed me even most playing various instruments and harmonizing, it was just perfect, that's all I can say about it. It was beautiful in it's simplicity and a pleasure to watch a legend in command of this classic material. After this set which seemed to go by too fast, I could have listened to it all night, Brian popped up and was off the stage with a wave. Now the crowd was on it's feet and didn't sit down again until the end. A very gracious Brian came out and sat back down again and was ready to kick back into it, but a large cake was brought out and this time with no prompting we all sang Happy Birthday Dear Brian. While they had us on our feet they cranked up the energy and you can tell the band was really having fun. I looked around and the people up in the balcony and mezz had come down to fill up the floor apart from a few people who stayed up there to dance. I came out of that show with the happiest buzz ever, so glad I went and so worth it. Huge props and respect to Mr. Wilson.

Music was great -ESP the band . Wilson is a musical Titan but brought very little personality or enthusiasm to the stage. I wasn't expecting a lot but left disappointed. Best part was that there was a LOT of music. Gershwin was as I expected and I enjoyed it but not enough to buy the CD.

Pathetic! Everyone should have got their money back! He should not be on tour ever again! When he came out on stage and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him, he seemed to care less. He appeared bored being there and barely touched the keyboard. He had everyone on stage doingball the work for gods sake. Left at the break.

I felt it was very tremendous for people like Brian to continue to perform. It generated memories from the past and these entertainers have brought much pleasure to many listeners . Even if at times some might feel their performance is weak their icon and legend status compensates.

I had the good fortune of growing up listening to the Beach Boys. Of course when I heard the Brian Wilson was coming to Toronto, I had to go! He didn't disappoint! When you listened to all the music that he created and knew the troubles that he has lived through, it was such an honour to sit and listen to the tight harmonies, the beautiful melodies and the amazing textures of his music. He put his own signature on the Gershwin tunes while keeping true to their composers. What an amazing evening! Keep on making the music, Brian!

Simply fabulous! We enjoyed both sets and left fully satisfied. AMAZING!

The TO audience was clearly in love with Brian Wilson and I think it pumped them up to give us an even better show. The opening set, with almost every Beach Boys song you can name really had the crowd going. The band was tight, the vocals were smack on, and Brian looked like he was in his glory. After a break the band returned to share their version of several Gershwin classics - and although Brian admitted that they were quite nervous, again they pleased the crowd --- and more Beach Boys for the two encores and the fans went home happy.... very very happy.

Was great to see Brian Wilson perform 2 sets and 2 encores (one full set of Classic Wilson/Beach Boys songs, and a second set of Gershwin songs), which ended up being more than 2.5 hrs worth of concert. The band sounded great, Brian's voice was quite good as well... he even strapped on a bass near the end of the show... Overall a great time!

Attended the Brian Wilson concert at Massey Hall in Toronto on 06/18. Real good feeling music, the band was amazing, harmonies were excellent, and Brian was Brian lol. His music will never cease, timeless, beautifully emotional and I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to sit and listen. Highly recommend but wasn't crazy about the Gerswin stuff!

Brian's singing was okay. Unfortunately he didn't play any instruments. The set list was great. The 3 guitarists were really bad - they should have used classic guitars and vintage amps to get the classic Beach Boys sound - perhaps even listen to a Beach Boys CD to get the notes right - their effort sounded like a bad cover band at a wedding. Some of the Gershwin set was not my music style.