Brian reportedly performed "Heroes & Villains" himself at this show last night (for the first time since 1967 and the aborted "Lei'd in Hawaii" concert.) Vince Gill (!) sang Surf's Up. The Harlem Boys Choir opened the show with it. Three SMiLE songs were performed over the course of the show, four if you count GV-- Prayer, GV, Surfs Up (!!!!!) and H&V!!! What a night. Wait'll you see it July 4th on TNT.
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Tribute Review
It's sometime after 2 a.m. EST, and I'm still giddy! I took notes...now it's time to transcribe them.
First and foremost...IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brian was fantastic...his voice sounded better than ever, and he looked more comfortable on stage than I had ever seen him before.
The show began around 8:10, and ended well after 11 p.m. There were two large video screens that ran
shots of the performances, as well as video sequences during set changes.
"Our Prayer" - The Harlem Boys' Choir. stunning!
"Good Vibrations" - Heart, Jubilant Sykes, Harlem Boys' Choir. Stunning performance...during the 'gotta
keep those loving good...' part, HBC sings the "hum-bee-dah" background.
"Surf's Up" - Jimmy Webb, David Crosby, Vince Gill with BTB. Another showstopper. Of course,
BTB's performance of his was flawless.
"Heroes & Villains". Letter-perfect performance, including slide whistle. After the second "music box" round, they all sang the scale that we all know leads to the "how I love my girl" part. Wow!
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Vince Gill's performance (posted by Melinda Wilson on April 1, 2001)
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VH1 Coverage (http://www.vh1.com/thewire/content/news/1442352.jhtml )
Much like the musical output of the great California composer it celebrated, An All-Star Tribute to Brian
Wilson, which convened Thursday, March 29 at New York's Radio City Music Hall, ranged from the sublime to the slightly ridiculous. It began with the Boys Choir of Harlem singing the angelic "Our Prayer," the self-characterized "teenage symphony to God" that Wilson composed for the Beach Boys' legendary unfinished mid-'60s album, Smile.
Brian then took the stage to perform a note-perfect version of what is arguably his most fully realized creation, "Heroes and Villains," a Smile song that eventually showed up on the Beach Boys album Smiley Smile. (The song's co-writer, Van Dyke Parks, was in the audience but should have been onstage).
Wilson, like the other artists, was accompanied by a 10-piece band that provided sometimes overwhelming
yet eerily accurate re-creations of the helium harmonies and inventive arrangements Wilson created for the
Beach Boys. He displayed little emotion amid magnificent, hall-filling arrangements augmented by the Radio City Orchestra and Harlem Boys Choir. With his awkward hand movements and thousand-yard Teleprompter stare, the Beach Boys' mastermind resembled a middle-aged version of the countless frightened teenage boys comforted by his loners' anthems.
Brian Wilson tribute show
Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 08:40:54 -0500
Here's a detailed review from someone who was at the concert:
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 00:09:12 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [PSML] BW TRIBUTE CONCERT
Message:
Both Brian and I love this man. His performance blew us away. What an amazing voice and what a lovely man. Brian couldn't stop talking about the Surf's Up performance with Jimmy, David, and Vince. He is an
amazing talent. Melinda Wilson
By Richard Gehr 03/30/2001