As long as he doesn't play that one about the wind chimes ... Photograph: Lon Horwedel/AP
Brian Wilson is reportedly so upset about fans criticising a recent gig, he has offered to reimburse them their expensive ticket fees out of his own pocket. Great news for disgruntled concertgoers, but could the ex-Beach Boy be setting a dangerous precedent?
Wilson's resurrection as a live artist is one of the most heartwarming stories in pop history. After suffering a nervous breakdown while on a plane in 1964 and vowing never to perform live again, the creative force behind the Beach Boys appeared to have conquered his mental illness, drug addiction and religious cultism when he made a surprise return to the fray, nine years ago.
With the help of a band of young virtuosos, Wilson proved nearly 40 years on that his lost Smile album, Mrs O'Leary's Cow and all, was worthy of the insane-genius mythology surrounding it, and was much more than "a whole album of Brian's madness", as his cousin Mike Love said before it was binned in 1967. Yet watching Wilson's Glastonbury performance a few years back, it became clear - to me, anyway - that the band was carrying him and his 'Mozart of pop' compositions.
So what happened when Brian played a show with just a six-piece band? He disappointed, especially as fans shelled out hundreds of dollars for tickets - even if it was for a lung cancer charity. Other moans included the short duration - though 75 minutes doesn't seem too bad - and the lack of Beach Boys classics in the set, as well as the usual gripe about poor visibility from some seats.
His wife and manager Melinda apparently answered several fans on Brian's website (the thread has now vanished), promising a refund, and placating them with a free Coney Island show.
Too bad that Wilson's typical pre-gig publicity (but notably not for this particular date) states: "Brian and his formidable 10-piece band will be presenting a number of his classic compositions as well as a collection of his greatest hits that will please everyone in the room."
Many stars would have just ignored or laughed off the naysayers, grumbled in private perhaps, or resorted to denial, as Keith Richards did when faced with a negative Swedish review.
Had Babyshambles, Lily Allen or Amy Winehouse offered to pay fans they'd repeatedly let down by no-shows or all-too-brief performances, they'd be bankrupt. Rather, their unpredictability seems to encourage fandom rather than deter it.
I've witnessed some pretty dire shows from Carbon/Silicon, Van Morrison, Hawkwind and especially Bob Geldof, and had I not been on a press freebie I might have been tempted to ask for my money back - doubtless without any success. Gig-going is, and always has been, a risky business, particularly when it comes to watching those in their twilight years or notoriously unstable pop stars.
Fair enough if a venue or festival organisation is at fault, but should performers be prepared to carry the can for an off-night, a slimmed-down band, or for not including enough crowd-pleasers in the set?
Have any artists been so disappointing that they should have dug deep and personally paid you, the long-suffering punter, back for a shoddy show?
