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OK, guess I'd better blog about what it was like for the Chaos Band to back up Al Jardine from the Beach Boys...
We all had to get up VERY early Friday to get up to Sacramento in time for a rehearsal with AJ (as we like to call him) at 3 p.m., so we busted out in two cars at about 5 a.m. and got up there, tired but in reasonably good shape, at about 2 to set up a rehearsal in Paula Springer's living room (Paula is the person that set up the show in Cameron Park). Alan Boyd, who traveled separately, came shortly thereafter.
Of course, AJ never showed up -- he was running late coming from Big Sur -- but we had a productive rehearsal anyway. We had learned 20 new songs for the show and there were many rough spots, which we smoothed out, although by the end of it everyone was so tired that Kurt and John were falling asleep, Alan was having trouble hearing, and I nearly passed out (I was the only one standing the whole time).
Paula prepared a delicious dinner for us, then she had to hurry to meet AJ at his book signing at Borders in Folsom. Alan suggested we go along on the off chance AJ might want us to back him up, and I thought it was a good idea since we hadn't actually met the man yet. The rest of the band were tired but since we were staying right next to the Borders, we figured we should put in an appearance.
Good thing we did, because about fifteen minutes after meeting AJ (outside the Borders, briefly), during a fairly off-the-cuff instore appearance where it was just Al, an acoustic guitar and a funky mic stand (plus a packed room), AJ called Alan up to help sing harmonies and Alan called the rest of us up. There were no mics, but we projected pretty well on the harmonies for "Sloop John B" and got a big response from the crowd, followed by "California Saga/California". We made our way back to the audience then Al unexpectedly started doodling "Vegetables," so Alan and I made an about-face and did a pretty good job winging the harmonies to that until Al surprisingly started going into the SMILE version of the song and it fell apart.
But then Al called the whole band back up for "Help Me Rhonda," which went great (at one point he turned around and said "is that you singing that part?" -- referring to a shrill high harmony I deliberately took myself for the Beach Boys sound since I have the most obnoxious falsetto in the band -- and I go "yeah...is it too loud?" "Oh no!" Which was kinda cool), and then he launched into "California Girls" which nobody knew so we kind of winged it. It still went over great and a lot of people came up to ask about tomorrow's concert. Then he went off to sign books. Alan, Teresa and I hung out for awhile, talking to Al's wife and the event organizers, then T and I followed the others back to the hotel. Alan stayed and hung out with AJ after the Borders event for several hours.
The next day we got to Cameron Park about 10:45 to set up the stage and sound check and hopefully get some rehearsal time in with AJ. We were going to be playing the entire afternoon as part of a community picnic and we had 36 songs planned...Beach Boys covers, other summer-oriented covers, and then a set that showcased all our original material. It was pretty ambitious, but y'know, that's what Chaos does. We make work for ourselves because we feel like it and because we can.
AJ showed up about 11:30 and hung out until we had things sounded out about right, then he came up and started going through the songs with us. It was our first time getting to know him and although he was a really nice guy, it was awkward at first because we'd provided him a guitar and amp that wasn't what he was used to, and we'd also gone back to the original arrangements (or arrangements from the 1973 IN CONCERT album) rather than some of the more recent arrangements that he was used to. So he stopped us a lot to change things, which was cool but also a little stressful...it's hard enough to remember 4- and 5- part harmonies, let alone change them right before the show! We spent the most time on "Heroes and Villains" which we had sounding pretty good but which he thought we'd overelaborated on, but my favorite one was where he rearranged the harmonies on the second verse of "Help Me Rhonda," a vocal arrangement I'd never been happy with. Suddenly he dished out the parts and it was the Beach Boys! Pretty cool. Unfortunately, that was the only one of the things he changed that we DIDN'T pull off at the show...
After about two hours we had everything about where we wanted it, and so we scattered to change while the people filed in. It wasn't a big crowd, which disappointed the promoters but in my experience was about what I would have expected for this kind of event. The coolest thing for me was the presence of my brother, niece and nephew in the audience. My brother hadn't seen me play in years and came away pretty impressed.
At any rate, we kicked into our "Sounds of Summer" set, and about 45 minutes into it, Al came up onstage and joined us for five songs, and then stayed on to sing backup for "Good Vibrations." I had a keyboard take a dump right before the show which necessitated me playing Alan's keyboard for this one song, and I couldn't get to the patch change quick enough, so when it got to the breakdown with the organ, there was dead silence for about four bars. Al was very concerned! I whispered to him that we'd had a technical problem and it was an "on-the-fly" rearrangement of the song!
Anyway, as for how the show went with Al, I would say very well. There were a few glitches or places we could have done stuff better, but given the time, the complexity of the material and the last minute changes, I think the band did fantastic. Alan and I had gone out of our way to pick songs that weren't strictly the hits, including one song, "Honkin' Down the Highway" that Al hadn't done in 25 years, and we were pleased that he went along with that plan. AJ himself was apparently really happy. He told me we were "nearly perfect" and expressed his satisfaction to Alan in a phone call after the show. He was particularly happy to be up there with Teresa and Evie (who he knew by reputation), musing onstage about playing with Brian Wilson's daughters and how much he enjoyed singing with female voices.
He also gave us major props for our version of "River Song," saying he thought we actually did it better than the record. Alan also made me perform my song "Old Trails" for him at soundcheck -- a song partially inspired by Jardine's folky California history obsession -- and Al offered some genuinely nice comments about the tune, commenting specifically on the unexpected chord changes. I'd think after playing with Brian all those years, that stuff wouldn't surprise him!
I have to say that I found Al to be a very nice, laid-back guy. He was very gracious to me and to the entire band. It would have been better for him if we'd been able to do the show later in the day, because he was suffering from a bit of morning voice, and the sound guy (who otherwise did a great job) had him cranked up so much over the rest of us that we weren't able to blend with him as much as I would have liked.
After AJ left, we got into our second set, which was more "Chaos" oriented. That and the first set were recorded to CD by the soundguy, and upon listening later, I was really surprised at how good the board recordings were of the second set (the first set was OK but the lead vocals were too far forward for most songs). Board recordings are usually pretty harsh on bands because the mix is so dry and the vocals so far in front, but this sounded like "King Biscuit Flower Hour" for AMCB, as if we were doing a radio show. Some of it was so good that we're planning to excerpt them into a new demo to use for clubs, instead of using studio recordings. I've been frustrated that I haven't really been able to explain what's "special" about the Chaos Band, and hearing the band slay in a live setting probably would get that across. I was particularly impressed with Alan Boyd's vocal performance -- although he's well-known in Beach Boys circles, he's only played a few gigs and it's been difficult for him at times in rehearsals, but he really rose to the occasion and sang like a bird for the whole show.
After the show we were all pretty fried (and I got fairly drunk). T and I had arranged to take the long way back through the Sierras over the next couple of days to get some much needed rest, but unfortunately, a pillow got caught in the latch of the trunk of the rental car while on the way to Bodie ghost town and my brand new I-Book got dumped in the dirt road, unbeknownst to us until the end of the day, at which point I made a frantic, exhausted midnight drive 100 miles back to Bodie to look for it, but to no avail. Luckily, someone had found it and turned it in to the Bodie ranger, so we got it back (but only after another 200 mile round trip), but it pretty much killed the rest factor for the trip.
Anyway, the band is even more amped to play now, but we're looking forward to not rehearsing 3 times a week. Less rehearsing, more rock!
Here's the setlist for the entire show:
SET ONE -- SOUNDS OF SUMMER
(cover song: original artist in parentheses; lead vocal in brackets)
Summer [Adam/John] (War - first verse and chorus)
Keepin' The Summer Alive [Adam/Alan] (BBs)
Hot Fun In The Summertime [group] (Sly)
California Sun [Alan] (Rivieras)
Rockaway Beach [Adam] (Ramones)
Walkin' On Sunshine [Evie] (Katrina & The Waves)
Surf Wax America [Adam/John] (Weezer)
Wouldn't It Be Nice [Adam] (BBs -- we didn't pull this off nearly as well as we had at the Brennan's show for some reason)
Do It Again [Adam/Alan] (BBs)
Al came on at this point:
California Saga/California [Al]
Honkin' Down The Highway [Al -- the first performance of this song by him since 1977)
Sloop John B [Al]
Heroes and Villains [Al/Adam/Evie/Alan]
Help Me Rhonda [Al]
Good Vibrations [Adam/John]
CHAOS SET
River Song [Adam/Alan] (Dennis Wilson)
Tears of Joy [Adam]
Other Than Me [Adam]
Portland [Adam]
It Never Rains in Southern California [Adam] (Albert Hammond)
Free Man In Paris [Adam/Evie] (Joni Mitchell)
Folsom Prison Blues [Adam] (Johnny Cash)
Folsom Prison Blues - Instrumental [in which I went to pee]
Meanwhile [Alan]
You're the Beautiful [Alan]
Don't Look Back Don't Look Down [Evie]
Beautiful Lie [Evie]
Can't Let Go [Evie -- first time she's done this song with us]
Surfer Girl [group/John] (BBs)
In My Room [group/Teresa] (BBs)
Little Bird [Alan] (BBs)
Love x 10 [Adam]
My Kickass Life [Adam]
What the World Needs Now is a Good Deus Machina [Adam]
Then I'll Be Happy [Adam]
Heroes and Villains [Chaos arrangement - Alan/Evie/Adam lead vocal]
personnel:
Adam Marsland -- vocals/guitar/keyboards
Evie Sands -- vocals/guitar
John Perry -- vocals/keyboards
Teresa Cowles -- vocals/bass
Kurt Medlin -- drums
and special guest Chaos Alan Boyd -- vocals/keyboards/percussion
and Al Jardine -- vocals/guitar
Contributed by: Adam Marsland