California, baby - it’s a state of mind. Like many others this weekend, Brian Wilson may have thought he was in Dublin, but there’s no doubting where he and his players took us at dusk on Saturday.

This was the stuff of long, sultry summer nights - singing close-knit harmonies under a full moon, hearing the waves lap gently on the beach behind you. Sounds and sights a million minds from Co Laois, it must be said.

But do not underestimate the power of pop to evoke blissful places.

In My Room

and

Then I Kissed Her

(recently deceased co-songwriter Ellie Greenwich was surely looking on from above) were just two lessons from Wilson’s masterclass in perfect sounds.

You may know these songs as well as the toes on your feet but as thousands of spectators at Electric Picnic rocked back and forth with smiles as wide as the Pacific Ocean on their faces, they were beyond magic.

JC