Uncanny

FINANCIAL TIMES "Brian Wilson didn’t look comfortable in the first half of his show, which was devoted to his new album, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin . The ex-Beach Boy, 69, sat at a keyboard he didn’t touch, surrounded by his nine-strong touring band and a string quintet. The songs were by George Gershwin, but they had been remodelled in Wilson’s image."

HEARLD SCOTLAND "Jack Webster is wrong to describe Brian Wilson’s recent concert as “a shocker” (Letters, September 15). He clearly did not read the concert publicity with care for, if he had, he would have known that 'Brian Wilson Reimagines Gerswhin' is the title of Wilson’s new album. Wilson delivered, performing each of the album’s 14 tracks in the first part of the concert."

THE ARTS DESK "Summertime and the living is easy. Gershwin wrote it but it could almost be written by that apostle of California sun, Brian Wilson, who sung it with his band last night. Wilson wouldn’t have come up with a line like 'your daddy’s rich, and your mama’s good-looking' - a bit too knowing. Wilson’s music was focused on surf, girls and cars, but had elements in common with Gershwin – working with brothers and burning out early, among other things."

The guy in the yellow shirt standing next to Brian Wilson appears to be Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees.

EXPRESS & STAR "Brian Wilson, the legendary composer and performer who started his career in the Beach Boys, dazzled a packed house at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall with an array of American songbook classics and tunes from his extensive back catalogue. The music legend, wearing a trademark Hawaiian shirt, put on a set lasting more than two-and-a-half hours, with his backing band showing a typical display of stacked harmonies and orchestral sound."

STAR TRIBUNE "Rock documentary tells the story of anonymous studio musicians who played on 1960s hits by everyone from the Beach Boys to the Righteous Brothers."

HERALD SCOTLAND "Congratulations to Alison Kerr for her most perceptive review of the Brian Wilson performance at the Royal Concert Hall ('Brian Wilson reimagines Gershwin', The Herald, September 13). As she makes very plain, the show was a shocker."

GUARDIAN "Since he returned from breakdown-induced wilderness, with rapturously received performances of the Beach Boys's 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds, a mini-industry has sprung up around Brian Wilson. There have been endless tours, poorly received solo albums and now, with Wilson no longer writing songs, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, an album remodeling George Gershwin classics in the style of the Beach Boys."

DENVER POST "Any question about whether pop music had an appropriate place in how Denver would mark the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks was answered long before the Beach Boys took the stage for Sunday's 'Colorado Remembers 9/11' concert at Civic Center."

KKCO "Over on the front range, Governor Hickenlooper along with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock commemorated 9/11 with more than 35,000 Coloradans. The massive crowd showed their patriotism alongside The Beach Boys who performed during the event at the Civic Center Park."

TNT MAGAZINE "He might be 23 years into his solo career but it’s the Beach Boys stuff that we really remember Brian Wilson for. For instance, who can recall the great man’s solo efforts Sweet Insanity or Orange Crate Art? Nope, didn’t think so."

GOLDENPLEC "Brian Wilson’s farewell tour of sorts stopped in at the fantastic surrounds of the Grand Canal Theatre Dublin on Wednesday night. In a show of two halves, Wilson and a large ensemble of backing musicians firstly performed his George Gershwin covers record – Brian Wilson Re-imagines George Gershwin in its entirety before emerging after the interval to blast through Wilson’s own extremely formidable songbook."

HERALD SCOTLAND "Well, Ira Gershwin’s lyrics may have emerged unscathed– but poor old George would have been hard-pushed to recognise his own greatest hits at Sunday night’s concert when Brian Wilson’s ten-man band brought his reworkings of the Gershwin songbook to Glasgow."

SCOTSMAN "The question is: does Gershwin need re-imagining, even if it is by a musician who could be argued to be his peer in popular songwriting? Brian Wilson's answer is to cover Gershwin's best loved songs in his musical image and smother them in his trademark dreamy cascade of tenor harmonies and easy listening arrangements, were implemented with precision by his supremely talented nine-piece band, plus string quintet."

MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY "Beach Boy Al Jardine was on hand to watch the [Fleet] Foxes, whose tight harmonies have often been compared to the Beach Boys."