By DCist Contributor Mehan Jayasuriya
Much like the similarly canonized Robert Johnson, Brian Wilson is an American icon for whom mythology has contributed as much to his legend of being a “musical genius” as his accomplishments have. The five years spent in a bedroom, the lost (and eventually found) masterpiece Smile, the strange, drug-induced happenings at an L.A. mansion in the 1960s and a long history of mental illness add up to something that threatens to overshadow even Wilson’s widely-regarded stature as the greatest American pop composer of the 20th century. Considering that numerous books have been devoted to the subject of this legend alone, we’ll skip ahead in the story, assuming that you’re at least somewhat familiar with Wilson’s trials and talents.
After years spent outside of the public eye and away from the stage, Wilson has returned in grand form. The past few years have found him embarking upon a worldwide victory lap. Following a series of sold-out Pet Sounds performances at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2002 and his completed Smile, released to critical acclaim in 2004, Wilson has again taken to touring, treating audiences in Europe and the United States to full performances of his most celebrated works. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of what many hail as the finest pop album ever created, new CD, DVD and vinyl versions of the classic Pet Sounds were issued (adding to what seems an endless collection of reissues) to accompany a Pet Sounds tour with long-estranged Beach Boy Al Jardine. Saturday night’s performance at the Warner Theater marked the final date on the tour and allegedly, the final performance of the album in its entirety by Wilson.
