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Theremins: Theremin heard as Lost Beach Boys album premieres in U.K. |
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  BEACH BOYS star Brian Wilson performed the band's 'lost' album 'SMILE' for the first time ever in LONDON at the London Royal Festival Hall on February 20, the first dates on a tour which will visit other cities throughout the UK this month.
The tour visits:
* London Royal Festival Hall (21-22, 24, 26-27)
* Bournemouth Pavilion (March 1)
* Bristol Colston Hall (2)
* Glasgow Clyde Auditorium (4)
* Newcastle City Hall (6)
* Liverpool Empire Theatre (7)
* Birmingham Symphony Hall (8)
Click here for ticket details & availability.
A black-clad Wilson led an 18-piece band in performances of several Beach Boys hits, followed by the complete "Smile" - concluding with its best-known track, the theremin classic, "Good Vibrations."
The gig itself was split into two sections. The first opened with a fifteen minute acoustic set, followed by a ‘Greatest Hits’ show. During this, Wilson, backed by an 18-piece band, performed a number of songs from ’Pet Sounds’, including ’God Only Knows’ and ’Wouldn’t It Be Nice’.
After a short interval Wilson then returned to the stage where ’Smile’ was played for the first time in full.
The concept album was originally intended for release in 1967, around the same time The Beatles put out 'Sgt Pepper'. However, Wilson had a breakdown and the album was never finished, giving it almost mythical status amongst fans.
Throughout the performance Wilson appeared in good form, leading the band through songs like ’Heroes And Villains’ and ’Vegetables’, that saw each member of the group playing multiple instruments in the same song, while making use of more unconventional items such as hammers and saws.
Fans were rapturous. The Guardian newspaper hailed the work's "groundbreaking complexity and sophistication," while The Daily Telegraph called it "a glorious, tangled symphony of celebration and sadness."
"Smile" was intended as a follow-up to The Beach Boys' groundbreaking 1966 album "Pet Sounds," and its lush orchestration took advantage of advances in recording technology.
The perfectionist Wilson worked for months to build the album's multilayered sound, but shelved it shortly before its scheduled release, explaining that the songs were "not commercial."
Over the years, "Smile" gained a reputation among fans as the band's lost masterpiece.
It may not deserve that status, Times of London critic Stephen Dalton wrote Saturday, but he nonetheless hailed "the grace and wisdom" Wilson displayed.
"Smile," he said, was "a 40-minute crazy-paving collage of song fragments and Looney Tunes jingles, all bookended by the lush glory of 'Heroes and Villains' and the rapturous warble of 'Good Vibrations' ... It was clearly adventurous for its era but it is not difficult to see why Wilson's label and fellow Beach Boys balked at releasing it."
Lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who worked on the 'Smile' songs with Wilson was also introduced on stage, and he got his own standing ovation.
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Posted on Wednesday, February 25 @ 23:52:05 GMT by Richard
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