BRIAN STILL MAKES WAVES; Ex-Beach Boy is man of few words.. but songwriting genius is loud and clear.Byline: BILLY SLOANBRIAN WILSON Glasgow Royal Concert Hall The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a music auditorium in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Constructed in the late 80s, the building was officially opened in October 1990, after what had been a controversial construction programme, beset with technical and financial problems. , September 1 Watching Brian Wilson perform there were moments when the experience became less of pop concert and more a case study in the vagaries of human behaviour. If ever the phrase 'tortured genius' applied it's perfectly suited to the man who created the peerless 1966 classic Pet Sounds. To hear the ex-Beach Boy dust off timeless pop gems such as a sublime In My Room or stunning Sail On Sailor was a rare privilege. But inevitably, you wonder what emotions take hold of the 67-year-old Wilson when faced with an audience. For the duration of the gig, he sat - robot like - behind a piano he never played, reading lyrics on autocue Autocue Noun Trademark an electronic television prompting device displaying a speaker's script, unseen by the audience Noun 1. . Brian waved his arms "conducting" his 10-piece band. Brian scratched his ear. Brian stared into space amid some delicious music crescendo. Only his occasional smiles suggested he was enjoying the show every bit as much as we were. One positively bizarre moment best summed up how the axis of Wilson's world perhaps spins on a different curve to the rest of the planet. He ordered the crowd to join him in a sing-a-long of children's nursery rhyme nursery rhyme Verse customarily told or sung to small children. Though the oral tradition of nursery rhymes is ancient, the largest number date from the 16th, 17th, and (most frequently) 18th centuries. Row Row Row Your Boat, only to forget the song's key and opening lyric. But you could forgive him anything when he peeled back the music layers of a back catalogue back catalogue Noun a musician's previous recordings, as opposed to their current recordings best filed under the category breathtaking. It would be ridiculous to expect Wilson's voice to retain the same resonance as the boy-genius who crafted Good Vibrations or Barbara Ann. Like a Burt Bacharach This biographical article or section needs additional references for verification. Please help [ to improve this article] by adding additional sources. Unverifiable material about living persons must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. or Moby, he overcame any vocal limitations by handing the baton to his splendid music ensemble whose eight-part harmonies revitalised classic hits Do It Again, Don't Worry Baby and Help Me Rhonda. It would be easy for Wilson to merely rely on past glories.More recent compositions such as Your Imagination and the pairing of Midnight's Another Day and Going Home - from 2008 album, That Lucky Old Sun - indicated creative juices are still in full flow. If there was one moment which summed up how his songwriting has defined the craft it was his introduction which said: "I guarantee you'll give me a standing ovation after hearing this." The waves of applause which followed God Only Knows were scant reward for the musical riches proffered. I don't profess to know what makes Brian Wilson tick.But just to be in the company of true genius - with all his idiosyncrasies - was an honour. CAPTION(S): GOOD VIBRATIONS& Brian wowed the crowd with old favourites and new tracks |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion