Brian Wilson went out with fans swinging to his endless stream of classic Beach Boys hits on July 26, 2022 at the Pine Knob Music Theatre outside of Detroit — in what proved to be his final concert appearance.
Unfortunately, Wilson — who passed away Wednesday at the age of 82 — did not go out on a high note.
After he returned to touring in 1999 following nearly 25 years largely off the road, Wilson found a way to perform stellar shows without having to hit that standard himself. Assembling large bands filled with killer players (many multi-instrumentalists), Wilson and company were able to carefully capture the nuances of his studio creations, including the layers of vocal harmonies and even the most eccentric instrumentation.
In addition to the hits-filled shows the ensembled played ambitious pieces such as Pet Sounds and SMiLE in their entireties.
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“We’re able to really cover whatever Brian put on those records, and maybe even more,” the late Jeffrey Foskett, who was in Wilson’s band from 1999-2013 and was also on the Beach Boys’ 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour during 2012, told us in 2019. “The musicians were so great…We doubled almost every voice, and it was a much more full vocal sound in Brian’s band than it was in (the Beach Boys).”
Al Jardine, who joined Wilson’s band after the 50th anniversary tour and was still with him in 2022, explained that year that, “It’s authentic Beach Boys music. It’s great to be able to express that music, still…(Wilson) doesn’t give you as much as an entertainer because he’s really introverted, and he’s really a studio genius, a songwriting genius, arranger. He’s got a great voice, and he’s gonna give it to you when he’s able to. He’s still there; he’s just reticent.”
At that final show, however — the closing night of a summer jaunt with Chicago — there was no way to ignore the fact that time, and in Wilson’s case a legendarily hard life of substance abuse and emotional challenges, catches up to all of us.
Wilson, who turned 80 just five weeks before the show, was simply in the worst shape we had seen him since the comeback. While youthful images of him flashed on the video screen behind the 12-member band, the contemporary Wilson struggled on and off the stage with a walker.
Throughout the nearly 90-minute performance he sat rigid and expressionless at his white piano, barely acknowledging his band members or the audience — whose reception for the 19 Beach Boys favorites and a cover of the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” a Wilson favorite, was nevertheless exuberant.
He sang on only a few of the songs, getting a standing ovation for a tentative rendering of “God Only Knows” that felt like a communal recognition of what a feat it was for him to get through the song.
The slack was, as usual, taken up by Wilson’s band, which was not as sharp as we’d come to expect. But there were highlights — particularly Chaplin’s hot guitar solos during “Wild Honey,” “Long Promised Road” and “Sail On, Sailor” and the angelic vocals of Matt Jardine (Al’s son) on “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Wouldn’t it Be Nice.”
The troupe, as usual, captured the sonic details of “Heroes and Villains” and “Good Vibrations,” while the triplet of “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Fun, Fun, Fun” wrapped the show, and Wilson’s concert career, on an ebullient note that was tinged with sadness as he pushed off the stage.
The following day Wilson cancelled all of his remaining concert dates, citing “unforeseen health reasons.” And his daughter Carnie Wilson said during on the BeachBoys Talk podcast in January of 2023 that her father was “probably not going to tour anymore, which is heartbreaking.”
Shortly before that final show and about a month into the tour, Chicago’s Robert Lamm told us that, “This is kind of like…it could be a goodbye, Brian’s not singing very much, and he’s awfully immobile now. So to see him in his condition is not fun, but he’s been gradually coming around and we’re able to have short conversations before he goes on, and that’s a treat.” And despite the obvious issues, Lamm felt the package was certainly entertaining the audience.
“The band sounds great, and it’s really a treat to hear them sing,” Lamm said. “The audience loves Brian. They love the idea of Brian. He is such a wonderful songwriter, composer of such beautiful songs. You can feel how much they love it.”
Not long after the tour Al Jardine noted that “there are some offers for next summer (2023)” but acknowledged that he was not oblivious to Wilson’s decline. “He’s an enigma is what he is; when he’s on, boy is he ever on. When the On button goes on, man, watch out. And there’s still a lot of that On button there — it’s just not on quite as much as it used to be.”
During February of 2024, the month after his wife Melinda Ledbetter passed way, it was announced that Wilson had dementia, and three months later he entered into a conservatorship. Beach Boys co-founder and cousin Mike Love, who co-wrote many of the band’s biggest hits with Wilson, said in May that, “He’s in bad shape. He’s immobile. But we did sing together — that was fun.”
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Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
