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.
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'Like so many of you
I've got my doubts about how much to contribute
to the already rich among us...'
Robert Wyatt, Gloria Gloom
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