Pitchfork: Brian Wilson to Headline Festival Six Times

Brian Wilson to Headline Festival Six Times
After 40 years, surviving Beatles finally made briefly jealous

Brian Wilson will be performing classic Beach Boys tunes and the entirely of his SMiLE album, as he headlines six nights of a London summer festival named after one of the songs from the mythic non-album, "Heroes & Villains". XFM reports that the festival, which will be occupying the Royal Festival Hall in London's South Bank Centre for 11 nights between July 24th and August 7th, also boasts Spiritualized, Pere Ubu, Air, and Badly Drawn Boy as part of its lineup.

The South Bank Centre is at the epicenter of the London fine arts world, housing the three theaters of the Royal National Theatre complex and the bfi National Film Theatre as well as the Royal Festival Hall and others. It's a hallmark of ultra-modernist architecture, and, by all accounts, looks pretty much like a parking garage. Wilson's first four shows there were announced in this space just last week without mention of the festival; the newly announced dates are on July 30th and 31st. Wilson has also added an August festival date in Benicassim, Spain to his broad European summer lineup.

Heroes & Villains Festival:
07-24 Brian Wilson
07-25 Brian Wilson
07-27 Brian Wilson
07-28 Brian Wilson
07-30 Brian Wilson
07-31 Brian Wilson
08-01 Spiritualized (w/Pere Ubu, David Viner)
08-03 Air
08-04 Lee Hazlewood & Morcheeba
08-06 Badly Drawn Boy
08-07 Badly Drawn Boy

Brian Wilson solo dates:
07-13 The Hague, Netherlands - Congresscentre
07-16 St. Austell, England - Eden Project
07-17 Oxford, England - Apollo Theatre
07-19 Portsmouth, England - Guildhall
07-20 Ipswitch, England - Regent Theatre
07-22 Manchester, England - Apollo Theatre
07-24 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
07-25 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
07-27 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
07-28 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
07-30 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
07-31 London, England - Royal Festival Hall
08-02 Festen, Belgium - Lorkerse
08-03 Bonn, Germany - Museumsmeile
08-06 Oslo, Norway - The Concert House
08-07 Stockholm, Sweden - The Cirkus
08-08 Benicassim, Spain - Festival Internacional

Wilson debuted SMiLE at the Royal Festival Hall on February 20th, and as previously reported, has since been in Los Angeles' Sunset Studio, working on a new version of the record, which is due out September 28th on Nonesuch. Wilson is also preparing to release his first solo album in umpteen years, Gettin' in Over My Head, on June 22nd via Rhino Records. The album, which is in the early running for "Ugliest Album Cover Ever" (though Deerhoof's Milk Man is a hotshot contender), has Wilson collaborating with a variety of rock royalty, including Elton John, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, and brother Carl Wilson. Wilson wrote or co-wrote all the songs on Gettin' in Over My Head, and produced the album as well. Tracklist:

01 How Could We Still Be Dancin' [ft. Elton John]
02 Soul Searchin' [ft. Carl Wilson]
03 You've Touched Me
04 Gettin' in Over My Head
05 City Blues [ft. Eric Clapton]
06 Desert Drive
07 A Friend Like You [ft. Paul McCartney]
08 Make a Wish
09 Rainbow Eyes
10 Saturday Morning in the City
11 Fairy Tale
12 Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel
13 The Waltz