Brian Wilson

I went to see Brian Wilson at the Royal Festival Hall last night, and a splendid show it was too. The first set was one for the fans, with a mixture of lesser hits and album tracks including Sail On Sailor (which he didn't sing that well, although Ricky Fataar was the lead vocalist on the original which may explain it). The second set was a new piece along the lines of Smile called That Lucky Old Sun, which had some wonderful moments and which featured the Stockholm strings and horns augmenting the 10 piece Wondermints who are his usual backing group these days. Then it was into the encores; first Johnny B Goode followed by early Beach Boys hits played with the energy of the Ramones, with Brian standing up and playing bass, and finally a jaw dropping version of She's Leaving Home.

At 65 his voice isn't what it used to be, but he sang lead convincingly on almost all the songs in a 2 hour set and only faltered rarely (sadly, one of the occasions where he fell short was God Only Knows, which he introduced as his greatest achievement as a songwriter). The Wondermints vocals sound more like the Beach Boys than the Beach Boys (Mike who????) and the sight of the Stockholm strings and horns dancing in unison to Surfin' USA is one that will live with me forever. This was the last show of his London residency, but if this show is performed anywhere else I recommend it.

A couple of postscripts: one of the Wondermints said that Brian had written 3 new songs during their time in London - another new album may be in the pipeline. The 35minute Lucky Old Sun sequence aside (which was specially comissioned by the Royal Festival Hall), they played 20 or so classics and I could list as many more again that they didn't play. No Surf's Up, 'Til I Die, Little Deuce Coupe, Break Away ... Brian Wilson has relegated more classic songs to b sides or album tracks than most songwriters have had hits.