Sandwiched between his Glastonbury triumph and his Live 8 appearance in Berlin, the former Beach Boy and pop genius came to Dublin for what surely must’ve been the most intimate show on his current tour.
Tonight’s affair was arguably better than either of those shows, with Wilson looking and sounding far less bewildered and more relaxed than he did at his Point show a few years back.
The set-list was markedly different too. Back then he performed Pet Sounds in its entirety; many in tonight’s audience seemed to expect the Smile album in full but what they got was even better – Brian Wilson Sings The Beach Boys, covering every era and style of their long and fruitful career.
Opening with the underrated Wild Honey-era single ‘Darlin’, Wilson and his impeccable 10-piece band, led by Wondermints keyboard player Darian Sahanaja, effortlessly sailed through rarely heard numbers such as ‘Breakaway’ interspersed with pre-Pet Sounds gems like ‘You’re So Good To Me’ and ‘When I Grow Up To Be A Man’ and early surf ‘n’car hits like ‘Surfin’ USA’ and ‘I Get Around’.
There was room for a handful from Pet Sounds including a lively 'Sloop John B' and ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice?’ and a spine tingling ‘God Only Knows’ while ‘Heroes and Villains’ satisfied Smile fans.
Audience participation reached a peak on the big hits ‘California Girls’, 'Barbara Anne’ and 'Help Me Rhonda’ while ‘Good Vibrations’ was truly majestic, the heavenly harmonies almost lifting the roof off before the gospel-like ‘Love And Mercy’ sent us into the warm night with grins as wide as the Pacific ocean.