The music of Brian Wilson, the genius songwriter, producer and musician behind The Beach Boys, has meant a lot to me over the years so, when I heard that the band were playing their only UK show this year in our local area, I had to get along. It felt even more special with Brian sadly passing away recently.
He hadn’t played with the band for many years, apart from a wonderful series of 50th anniversary reunion shows, but of course his spirit was always there thanks to the incredible music that he created.
The show was part of the Heritage Live series at Englefield House. I’ve been to a few events there in the past (including a brilliant Hozier gig in 2023) and they are always excellent. Well organised in a wonderful location with a fun friendly atmosphere and impressive light and sound. So, along with my trusty friend and mega photographer, Andrew Merritt, off we went to join a huge crowd for what turned out to be an amazing day packed with classic hits!
First up was Buddy Holly and the Cricketers, obviously a tribute, but an excellent one with some members from the renowned ‘Buddy’ stage show. Looking and sounding just like the originals they were an ideal start to the afternoon with all those timeless classics like ‘That’ll Be The Day,’ ‘Oh Boy!’ and one of my all time faves, ‘True Love Ways’.
Then we had Lulu. Oh my goodness! What energy and what stage presence. It’s no wonder that she’s been a star for so long. It was a fun and entertaining performance with a selection of songs spanning Lulu’s impressive career with fascinating stories of her life in between. Amongst those songs was a wonderful duet with David Bowie on video for the classic ‘Man Who Sold the World’, the Take That hit ‘Relight My Fire’ that Lulu guested on and, of course, a rousing version of her classic hit ‘Shout’.
Next up was David Essex, an artist that I’ve always wanted to see, but for some reason, never managed to…until now! Those early films he starred in ‘That’ll Be The Day’ (it’s that title again!) and ‘Stardust’ were my faves at the time and I loved those early singles ‘Rock On’, ‘Stardust’ and ‘Hold Me Close’. It was a pleasure to hear all of those and so much more in a set that certainly had the crowd singing along. It was such a pleasure to finally get the chance to see this legendary talent live.
After those high quality supporting artists we then came to the headliner! One of the most successful and popular bands of all time, The Beach Boys. Although the Wilson brothers are sadly no longer with us, their cousin and co founder of the band, Mike Love, led long term member Bruce Johnston (he joined in 1965) and an impressive band of musicians through an incredible set packed with hit after hit! Mike has always been a key member of the group and he’s a captivating front person, who wrote so many of the lyrics. You could see the enthusiasm and love he has for the music. It really was a wonderful, joyous occasion which had the audience singing and dancing along from the beginning. I was certainly doing that with a huge smile on my face throughout. I must admit though there was a tear in my eye when Mike Love introduced a special tribute to Brian Wilson. I’d seen Brian’s solo shows on many occasions including on the ‘Pet Sounds’ and ‘Smile’ tours and, as this was the first UK Beach Boys show since Brian sadly passed away in June, it felt very moving. Emotional, joyous, entertaining, fun (fun,fun) – the set had everything. There were so many great songs that it’s hard to highlight just a few but some of my all time faves which stood out tonight were ‘God Only Knows’, ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, ‘ Good Vibrations’ & ‘California Girls’ – some of the greatest songs in music history!
The show ended with the classic early hit, ‘Fun,Fun,Fun’ and it certainly was that and a perfect end to a perfect day. Well done to the Heritage Live and Englefield House teams for another excellent day to end their excellent series of live shows. If you’ve never been to one of the events there, you really should get along, so keep an eye out next year! We will certainly be doing that and, if you can’t wait until then, Heritage Live have events further afield coming up in the next few months. More info on those at https://www.heritagelive.net
Here’s a playlist featuring some of my favourite songs performed on the day. Have a listen at https://bit.ly/Englefield-20July2025
