Callaghanmichael Us Feb 19, 2022

By Ben Ratliff, NY Times

“Pet Sounds” is an excellent record, no doubt. But it had a crucial I factor. Brian Wilson wrote the album’s music, in 1965 and 1966, after hearing the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” LP. He had a lot of self-importance to spread around. He was facing down old problems of self-image and a domineering father, trying to pull ahead in the race against the Beatles, wanting to win the sectarian war of ego within his own band.

“Pet Sounds,” released on Capitol in 1966, was almost entirely his baby, and in Mr. Wilson’s current tour — which stopped at the Beacon Theater on Tuesday — he performs the entire thing in sequence, backed by a 10-piece band. (It’s not the first time: he toured “Pet Sounds” once previously, in 2002.) All the tour merchandise puts his own name in the album cover’s friendly, rounded type, against its Kelly green background, instead of “The Beach Boys.”

Some of the songs from “Pet Sounds” — for argument’s sake let’s single out “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” and “You Still Believe in Me” — remain close to perfect. But the first half of Mr. Wilson’s show included some older songs, like “I Get Around,” that suggested some of the Beach Boys’ earlier work might be even closer to perfection.

We’ve been trained to understand “Pet Sounds” and the Beach Boys hits that came before it so differently. We respect harmonic complexity and that “Pet Sounds” addresses premature middle-aged dread as opposed to teenage fun. And, at least until a few years ago, we had perhaps an even greater respect for the album format in and of itself, so “Pet Sounds” tends to be lazily recognized as perfect in its album-ness. Beneath the very, very good music on Tuesday lay something pretty bombastic: a birthday bash for a monument.

The celebration got rolling after the show’s first half, which featured some minor and major Wilson, not just “I Get Around” and “In My Room” but “Add Some Music to Your Day” and “The Little Girl I Once Knew.” Performing “Pet Sounds,” the backup band replicated the Phil Spector-gone-Baroque arrangements of the album. The basis was bulk: sometimes four guitars at once (one played by the Beach Boy Al Jardine), two keyboards, seven singers, drums and percussion.

On top of that various musicians doubled on saxophones, flutes, French horn, trumpet, vibraphone, and bass harmonica. (The bicycle-horn sound on “You Still Believe in Me” was done with an electronic keyboard.)

In the dreamlike 40 minutes of “Pet Sounds,” Mr. Wilson showed no charisma; sitting behind his keyboard and reading lyrics from a screen, he seemed as authentically uncomfortable as ever. He sang well, but his voice has changed of course: the flowing lines of “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” came out in a clipped staccato, and he couldn’t quite get his voice around its high pitches.

In a few places he revealed postscript thoughts. Before starting “God Only Knows,” he mentioned that he considered it his greatest achievement as a songwriter. (When it finished, the crowd acted accordingly, standing up and roaring for a full minute.)

Callaghanmichael Us Feb 14, 2022

Anne and Kevin Callaghan attended.