I have mixed emotions about the postponement of Brian Wilson’s UK tour this September. As we had already secured tickets for some of the best seats in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, I was greatly looking forward to seeing the old boy for what would almost certainly be the last time ever. Now, it seems, the last time ever has been put back to the spring of 2016.
Here is the statement from Brian’s website:
“Due to the overwhelming success of Brian Wilson’s movie ‘Love and Mercy’ which has opened in the US to critical acclaim, Brian has had to postpone his current UK tour planned for September 2015 due to commitments in the US. He will be back in the UK and Europe in 2016 with a string of concerts to mark the 50th Anniversary of his seminal album ‘Pet Sounds, which will be his final European tour. Tickets holders are advised to get refunds for the 2015 shows from the point of purchase.
“Wilson himself added: “I’m sorry I won’t be able to make these shows this year, but I look forward to seeing all my fans in 2016 to help me celebrate 50 years of ‘Pet Sounds’. This will be my final European tour. I hope you all enjoy my movie when it opens in the UK on July 10th, I’ll see you all soon, Best Brian.”
Do I take this statement particularly seriously? Of course not. The real reason will be quite simple: poor ticket sales.
I have seen Brian and his stellar band on four separate occasions in Britain. Three times at the Bristol Colston Hall and once at the London Festival Hall. Each concert worked beautifully and there were a number of reasons why. The concerts were sell outs and they were relatively intimate. Quite why Brian’s management decided on an arena tour is beyond me.
Arenas have a place, although that place is not currently in Bristol. Just this week, I saw Take That who are on an arena tour. They carry it off effortlessly because they put on an arena size show, with dancers, special effects and all the rest of it. So can many other bands and artists. The touring Beach Boys show, featuring Mike Love, is right for an arena too because it’s a heritage show for the masses. Wilson and his band is for the Beach Boys anoraks who prefer and want to hear the slightly less well known stuff. I am more an All This Is That man than a Help Me Rhonda man.
And there is nothing worse than seeing a band in a largely empty hall. Back in the early 1970s, I went to see the embryonic ELO, featuring Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood at the aforementioned Colston Hall. Barely 400 people were there. It was embarrassing for both the audience and the band and quite possibly humiliating for them too. Their management had obviously not done their homework. Brian’s management must surely be guilty of the same thing.
When Brian Wilson was working on the ill-fated “Smile” project back in 1966, Mike Love, horrified by the new music Wilson was producing, said, “Don’t fuck with the formula”. That, I fear, is the advice that Brian Wilson’s management and promoters should have heeded before booking halls that would never be filled and anyway would not best promote his music.
Whilst I am very sad that my oldest son, who has been dreaming of seeing Brian in concert for years, has been denied his opportunity, I hope it will come again in 2016, at venues like the Bristol Colston Hall and the RFH. It would be awful if Brian played out his final farewell to row upon row of empty seats. He, above anyone else, deserves better than that.
