Brian Wilson on Tour

1.) Although it was released in 2003, this documentary was filmed in 1999 and 2000, on the very first leg of Brian Wilson's very first solo tour.

2.) The editing has been done at least partly to cut out Joe Thomas and Steve Dahl, both of whom accompanied and (kind of) played with Brian on the first leg of the tour. They both left after BW's trip to Japan.

3.) The best stuff was yet to come. Brian followed this up with the Pet Sounds tour, a summer series of shows with Paul Simon, more Pet Sounds shows in England, and now the SMiLE tour. This DVD is about him coming into his own as a concert performer.

4.) The man isn't exactly magnetic on stage. Sometimes he's dull to watch, esp. in this first tour when he kept his hands on the keyboard. So some creative editing can be excused. Take a look at the Pet Sounds Live DVD to see much more straightforward footage.

5.) This is obviously not the highest budget production. It's mainly filmed on digital video. It gives us a close look at Brian making his music. That's its charm.

If folks stop wanting this DVD to be something it isn't, and accept it for what it is, they'll find a wonderful portrait of a frazzled, eccentric, but still very alive and musical man.


Brian Wilson on Tour DVD   February 4, 2004
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

This particular DVD has a very real magic about it in there is more focus on Brian as a Solo Singer.What a great effort with many of his trademark songs and almost true to the original.I would say 'dont be without this one'.


Good, But Brian's Live Album Is Much Better   January 27, 2004
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

I had extremely high hopes when I heard about this dvd. I was expecting to be sitting at home on the couch watching Brian Wilson perform almost 30 of his greatest songs live in concert. When I did finish watching it, however, I was kind of dissapointed.

My major gripe is that it's not what it what I thought it was. There are only a handful of complete live performances. The rest of the songs are either from rehearsals (and those are just more snippets) or a capella performances by Brian with his friends and with Ronnie Spector that are so pointless, they don't even merit credit on the box. The interviews are tame and never really catch fire (who'd want to see Brian teaching Neil Young the organ part on "Good Vibrations" ?). However, it's not all bad. The live performances that are here - "Fun, Fun, Fun", "California Girls", "Do It Again", "God Only Knows", "Darlin", "Add Some Music To Your Day", etc - are electrifying. But if you want to see Brian work his magic with a live crowd, get "Brian Wilson Live At The Roxy Theater", with 2 discs of Brian dong what he does best.

I really think that this dvd could've been better. Hopefully Brian will release a complete live concert on dvd in the near future featuring hits, rare tunes and solo numbers interspliced with some chatter here and there. "Brian Wilson On Tour" is not that.


Good, But Brian's Live Album Is Much Better   December 8, 2003
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I admittedly had very high hopes when I purchased this dvd at a store in New Jersey. I sat through the whole thing and ended up kind of unhappy. I know I'm probably not going to get a lot of "helpful" votes for this review, but this is solely my opinion, and I'm sure a few people will agree with me.

First up, I was expecting a full - blown concert dvd, like the superior "The Beach Boys : Good Timin' - Live At Knebowrth", which featured a low - profile Brian at his worst, but he and the rest of the band gave a pitch - perfect performance. Instead, this is a documentary featuring less than a handful of complete live performances and even the rehearsal footage of some songs are butchered to mere snippets. I was also looking forward to hear Brian perform "Vegetables" in concert. I thought thsi song was so complex and produced nobody could pull it off in concert, and I really looking forward to hearing how Brian did it. Imagine my frustation when it was just shown as a brief a capella performance in a Vegas hotel lobby. I was also mad that my favorite song that Brian sang with the Beach Boys, "Don't Worry Baby", is performed as a joke in brain's dressing room by Ronnie Spector. And the new song on the dvd, "Saturday Morning In The City" is just Brian at the piano singing a 30 - secodn recognition of the song. How's that for your money ? If they really wanted to make a documentary of an artist on tour with some rehearsals and interviews thrown in, they should have done one in vein of the two Elvis documentaries ( "That's The Way It Is" and "Elvis On Tour" ), both of which featured some intervieews and rehearsal footage but mainly focused on Elvis's stage performances.

Still, the complete performances that are featured actually make up for all the dvd's many flaws, particuarly "Fun Fun Fun", "Barbara Ann", his Carl Wilson tribute "Lay Down Burden" and "God Only Knows" ( also dedicated to Carl ). However, if you want to hear a great Brian Wilson live performance, try the 2001 release "Live At The Roxy", which is a two - disc set featuring 30 excellent live tracks ( mostly rare Beach Boys tunes that were never performed in concert before ) plus an exclusive interview with Brian.

I don't think this was a terribly bad dvd. It has some truly astonishing live performances and some very funny offstage moments ( including Brian dancing to "Surfin' Usa" ). But this dvd should have been a complete concert rather than a documentary.