He might be 23 years into his solo career but it’s the Beach Boys stuff that we really remember Brian Wilson for. For instance, who can recall the great man’s solo efforts Sweet Insanity or Orange Crate Art? Nope, didn’t think so.
Right off the bat Wilson struggled to live up to the Beach Boy’s legacy. In what must have been galling for the band’s undisputed genius, his eponymous 1988 solo debut was overshadowed by his former band’s godawful Kokomo single.
When he started touring in the Noughties, it was Wilson’s live performances of the legendary album Pet Sounds, recorded with the Beach Boys in 1966, which garnered all the critical praise. His solo album Gettin’ In Over My Head? Hmmm, not so much.
Still, Wilson’s ongoing relationship with London’s Royal Festival Hall has yielded some of his most interesting solo work so far. OK, so he was still trading on the Beach Boy’s name when he debuted a finished version of SMiLE, the “lost” album he and the Beach Boys had given up on in 1967, here in 2004. But three years later he was back to perform That Lucky Old Sun, a stunning concept album commissioned by the Southbank Centre, which paid tribute to the So-Cal sound.
Now, 69-year-old Wilson returns to Royal Festival Hall to perform his latest critically acclaimed album, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, a collection of covers of American composer George Gershwin in its entirety. There’ll also be some Beach Boy classics, natch.
Sep 16-18. Doors at 7pm. £35-£55
Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
Tube: Waterloo
