PCC LIVE! Brian Wilson

Let's put it this way: I would walk over hot shards of glass to see a Brian Wilson concert for free. The guy's a living legend. He's crafted some of the most enduring pop songs in modern history, and designed a style of pop music along the way as well. Plus, he never performs live. Thus, when my co-editor, Brian, informed me that the production company where he interns needed an extra hand to help out as they taped an exclusive Brian Wilson concert video in St. Charles, IL, I leapt so high at the opportunity that my head got stuck in the ceiling tiles.

It was a hazy Saturday morning when we staggered from our dorm down to my auto, the chariot that would convey us straight to the heart of endless summer. (Now THAT'S some flowery english. Shows I've got a degree. Wanna hire me?) We needed to be there at 9 a.m., and St. Charles is an hour from Evanston, so we left at around 7:45 a.m. to get there on time. The first two hours of the day were the only ones in which we "production assistants" were actually needed; we ran some errands (including buying cold medicine for one of the producers) and wandered the building when not needed. I had noticed that rehearsals were scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., and became very excited when I could hear the keyboard player running the opening notes of "California Girls" from outside the theater. At around 11:15 or so, we had just finished moving some equipment, and I asked our "supervisor" what we would be doing next. He said, "Let's go watch the rehearsal."

YEAH!!!!

So for the most part, Brian and I spent the rest of the day (until about six p.m.) absorbing this amazing music. We just sat in the best seats in the theater, center on the floor about seven rows from the front, watching the band rehearse. Yep, that's right: perfect seats for what was virtually a private Brian Wilson concert. Although I got a bit sick of hearing the same seven songs over and over, the music was just so incredible, especially all the new songs.

We sit down, and no sooner do we sit down than we hear Joe Thomas (de facto band leader and co-producer of the "Imagination" album) call for "California Girls." Brian hasn't arrived yet, but on the stage are:

• the guy from SURVIVOR who wrote "Eye of the Tiger" (I found out later--I didn't recognize him)

• Timothy B. Schmidt (of the EAGLES)

• Bruce Johnston (of the BEACH BOYS)

• CHRISTOPHER CROSS!!! (paunchy, balding, but a good guitar player and did a passable job on the high notes)

These four, plus Joe Thomas, performed a very close approximation of the Beach Boys' harmonies throughout the set.

They launch into "California Girls," and we're just bobbin' our heads, gettin' into it. Then they do "In My Room," which I thought was an excellent pick. THEN they start "Don't Worry Baby" and Brian Wilson walks in just as they start, sits at the piano, and launches right into his lead vocal. It was really a tremendous moment; his voice is still incredible, and Brian and I were just on the floor in puddles, it was so beautiful. Basically, they rehearse each song twice. Also, they used the album vocal tracks for the new material, as the harmonies (all performed by Brian) are so complex that without them the songs would be far less beautiful.

Perhaps the finest musical moment of the day was hearing "She Says that She Needs Me," a ballad from Wilson's new album. It's AMAZING. I find it hard to put into words just how great this song is. The first time I heard it, my jaw just dropped at the harmonies, the power of the music, and even the great lyrics. It opens with a nice strings/winds intro bit, then goes into Brian solo singing:

She says that she needs me
and I guess I need her, too

Then an amazing soaring Brian Wilson vocal turn, as it builds toward a brief guitar solo and then...these VOICES (all Brian) just explode from the stage, like forty vocal tracks singing these different parts. Just fantastic. Again, it's really hard to describe, and no clear comparisons come to mind with other Brian Wilson songs, but it's classic Wilson and truly breathtaking.

After rehearsals, we tidy up the theater and eat lunch. As I grow more and more famous, I can now make the following name-dropping claim at swank dinner parties: I ate lunch in a high school cafeteria with Christopher Cross. To some, this may seem a small honor. To an obscure pop culture junkie like myself, it means the world. After lunch, we got to perform the coolest task of the day: armed with copies of the final set list, we got to run around the set and into the video truck, handing out the set list to everyone. Once the crowd had entered, and the show had begun, they basically told us to slip into the back of the theater and enjoy the show! We sat in the last row on the floor...great seats, and the crowd was really into it. They ran through each song two to three times, and closed with an acoustic version of "In My Room" which provided a great chance to hear the tight harmonies.

The only truly unsettling note of the day was Brian Wilson himself. I don't know much about his life and times...I know about the breakdown in the sixties, and I know that he pretty much vanished from pop music after that. But I always thought the guy was cognizant. Sadly, on this particular day, he wasn't. I don't know if he was just terrified to perform again after such a long absence from the stage. Maybe he really didn't want to do the concert. But the entire day, he said maybe ten words. He chatted with members of the band a bit, but other than that, he had nothing to say. He was not just silent...he was eerily silent. And this Joe Thomas character basically called all the shots on stage; the only musical comment from Brian came after a performance of "Your Imagination": "Can we do fewer things?" This bothered me, because it might call into question just how much this is Brian Wilson's album. I hear the music, and it's gotta be Brian's genius there, but he and Joe Thomas seem to have an odd creative relationship nonetheless. It also bothered me that he seemed to lip sync the new songs to the vocal track, and that he didn't really use the mike well on the Beach Boys songs, so that it was occasionally hard to hear him.

When Wilson behaved most jarringly was during the show itself, as the thrilled crowd poured so much affection onto him. He sat motionless, saying "thank you" and waving a bit, but not connecting with the crowd at all. At one point, there was a minute-long pin-drop-hearing silence in the theater as the band set up for a number, and a woman yelled out "Thank you for your music, Brian!" No reaction. At the end of the show, they had worked up this closing where Brian would leave the stage while the band played and closed the song without him. It had been worked out during rehearsals. Twice in a row they ran it, and both times Joe Thomas had to come to Brian and tell him to get up and leave, because he had forgotten. And both times, he turned expressionless on the piano seat, waved curtly, and left the stage like he'd rather be anywhere but there.

Other than Brian himself, the music was amazing, and it was super-cool to be so close to such a neat production. It'll be very interesting to see how they edit this package together. At any rate, standing so close to such a giant of the music industry was an unforgettable experience, even if he probably was unaware that I existed, or that anyone existed, for that matter. Brian Wilson live was a musically enriching experience, but the guy needs some help with his people skills.