Fun, fun, fun with Brian Wilson at the Mann

Standing ovations peppered Brian Wilson's concert Monday night at the Mann Center - for spectacular renditions of Beach Boys classics like "Good Vibrations," "God Only Knows," a triumphant "Darlin,' " and "This Whole World," and new song "Runaway Dancer" - but one ovation said the most about this night and about Wilson and his music.

That was when the crowd, mostly age 50 and up, with a generous component of younger heads, rose as one to applaud "Surf's Up," from Wilson's storied Smile project. With shifting tonalities and rhythms, modern-music harmonies, and poetic text by Van Dyke Parks, it's one of Wilson's many works that bring pop right to the doorstep of art. He and his absolutely killer 10-piece band nailed an extremely difficult piece, and the place rose as one. They knew this deep track and hailed the performance.

Wilson sat behind a white grand piano and played emcee. Neither he nor many other people can sing as he did back in the '60s, and he generously gave the spotlight to others. He showcased longtime fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine, whose voice, unlike Wilson's, seemed unchanged as he sang "Then I Kissed Her," "Help Me, Rhonda," and "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)." Wilson also brought out longtime Beach Boy and Rolling Stones member Blondie Chaplin, whose singular voice falls somewhere between departed Beach Boy Carl Wilson's soulfulness and Warren Zevon. Chaplin did a lacerating "Sail on Sailor" and then led the band in a crazy, hard-rock version of "Wild Honey," a huge '70s international hit the crowd didn't know.

What a band. Matt Jardine, son of Al, has a beautiful falsetto that could make him a star on his own. He sang several tunes and doubled Brian Wilson in some of the more stratospheric parts, as in "Don't Worry Baby" and the plaintive ride-out to "Fun, Fun, Fun." These guys were not only good; they were also enjoying themselves.

"How many of you guys have seen my new movie?" Wilson asked, referring to the hit docudrama Love & Mercy. But actually it was a night of two bio-pics. Opener Rodriguez, made newly famous by the Oscar-winning docu Searching for Sugar Man, played to a surprisingly responsive crowd, which began clapping a few notes into the intro of songs. They really knew and liked his music, word by word. He regaled them with one-liners - "Hate is too powerful an emotion to waste on somebody you really don't like" - and well-received versions of "The Place Where You Live" and "You'd Like to Admit It." More standing O's.

Wilson's encore was a surfin'-era medley, complete with long-haired blonde surfer chick doing the Swim. "All Summer Long," "Barbara Ann," "Surfin' U.S.A." and others had them twisting in the aisles. He closed with his new classic, thanks to its namesake biopic, "Love & Mercy," heartfelt and well sung, which sent the happy crowd into a perfect summer evening.

215-854-4406@jtimpane