jblum's Journal

Okay, got a spare moment to type this up now.

I'd found online that there was going to be a fan gathering the day after the show in the Domain, with assorted special guests. I assumed it'd be a couple of the band members turning up -- after the Smile shows, a couple of them went to the bar and hung out with the fans. This time the fans were taking over the top floor of a bar in The Rocks. Kate was too knackered to go, so I went in myself, and met a whole bunch of people who I remembered from the show the night before, and indeed from the Smile show about three years back.

Then one of the organizers announced the arrival of the first of their special guests: "the CEO of falsetto", longtime lead guitarist and musical director Jeffrey Foskett. Which was already as cool as I'd possibly hoped -- I was looking to see if I could pick his brains about the opening riff to the live version of "Marcella".

But while we were still applauding him, the organizer went on... and with him, the reason why we're all here, Mr. Brian Wilson!

Utter chaos.

Yep, Brian himself had turned up at a fan event. This. Never. Happens. I talked with a couple of the old-timers, and the last time he'd done something like this was in... 1990. Eighteen years ago. And back then it would have been Heavily Medicated Thorazine Zombie Brian, too. Before then... well, they'd heard of one other event in 1988, and that's it for my entire lifetime. So I feel, well, just boggled.

How did this happen? ( Read more... )

Current Music: The Wondermints, "Ride"