Brian Wilson premieres That Lucky Old Sun at Royal Festival Hall

Brian Wilson - Royal Festival Hall, 10 September 2007

The opening night of the Royal Opera House's new season, or the world premiere of Brian Wilson's new work? It was a tough choice to make tonight, but I decided Iphigénie en Tauride's been around over 200 years, so it can probably wait till Thursday.

Brian Wilson is now 65, with a track record that leaves him nothing whatsoever to prove. His amiable but slightly befuddled stage presence recalls a bear that's mislaid its porridge. He is clearly reserved, but braves centre stage with only a keyboard to hide behind. It seems almost an achievement that he can even sing.

So the quality of his new work, That Lucky Old Sun, a sort of extended homage to his beloved California and his own past, delivered in an operatic sweep of Beach Boyish music and elegiac lyrics, comes as a relief. The songs that have been previewed, the standout Midnight's Another Day and Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl (audio links) are pretty representative. Interspersed with Wilson's pre-recorded narrative, and accompanied with a slide show that included touching images of the young Wilson brothers, it was a treat only slightly spoilt by a lousy sound balance. As I found out in the interval, many in the audience were huge Wilson fans visiting London from all over the world just for this, and I shouldn't think any were disappointed.

Wrapped around the 45 minutes of That Lucky Old Sun Wilson and his amazing band tossed off some back catalogue numbers, a mixture of the familiar and the less so. Considering how much older most of these songs are than me, I was surprised how many I knew every word of. The promised Sgt Pepper closer turned out to be She's Leaving Home, of which Wilson, as he revealed, had a privileged pre-release hearing in 1967 courtesy of Paul McCartney. By this time the audience were up on their feet and dancing, and Wilson's reserve finally melted into a warm and genuine smile.

The set list:

Girl Don't Tell Me
Dance Dance Dance
Salt Lake City
Catch A Wave
Then I Kissed Her
In My Room
Do You Wanna Dance?
When I Grow Up
She Knows Me Too Well
I'd Love Just Once
Do It Again
Please Let Me Wonder
California Girls
Sloop John B
Wouldn't It Be Nice
God Only Knows
Heroes & Villains
Good Vibrations
That Lucky Old Sun, including Forever You'll Be My Surfer Girl, Midnight's Another Day, and others
Johnny B. Goode
I Get Around
Help Me Rhonda
Barbara Ann
Surfin' USA
Fun Fun Fun
She's Leaving Home

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