[ATTENDED: July 28, 2014] Beck
As I mentioned, I was pretty psyched to get tickets for Beck. Although for some reason he’s not an artist I ever considered seeing before. Recently I went through his back catalog which reignited my interest in him and I realized just how many great songs he had. I figured it would be a fun show (although it never occurred to me just how dancey the show would be!)
But then I heard that his recent shows were spending a lot of time with his songs from morning Phase. I really like Morning Phase, but it’s not an album I’d want to see performed live. My friend Cindy saw him in NYC a few months back and said that the first half of the show was all Morning Phase stuff. And I thought that might not have been the most fun show in the world. So in the days before the show I was a little less than super psyched. But, as with Band of Horses, I was blown away by what a great and fun and rocking show he put on.
Unlike at the NYC show, he did not spend the first half of the show in Morning Phase. In fact, he launched right in with a loud, rollicking version of “Devil’s Haircut” and I was in motion for the next 45 minutes.
So he came out in a suit, with a polka dotted shirt, and a little porkpie hat. And speaking of little, Sarah and I couldn’t get over how tiny he looked up there–must have been the suit.
I was most impressed by the size of his band–he had seven guys up on stage with him, and they seemed to have instruments all over the place. Keyboard and computer racks littered the stage (and seemed mobile). And everybody (except Beck) stood behind a bank of machines at one point or another. Most of the time I had no idea who was making what noise. It was wild. As with Band of Horses, our view was partially blocked by speakers, so we couldn’t really see the drummer and only half of the full-time keyboardist. But all eyes were really on Beck and bassist (and big time sideman) Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Also on stage (I assume, based on his NYC info) were guitarist Jason Falkner and Smokey Hormel (whom Beck said has played with Johnny Cash and Tom Waits as well as with people as old as Moses), drummer Joey Waronker, and the keyboardists Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Gus Seyffert.
After “Devil’s Haircut” (we were on our feet and dancing from the get-go), Beck played a near greatest hits from throughout his career. He started with songs from Guero (Sarah’s favorite) and Odelay (everyone’s favorite). And I enjoyed the way he touched on an album and then moved on but then went back to the album. So the album list went: Odelay, Guero, Odelay, Modern Guilt, The Information, Modern Guilt and so on, touching an album and then returning for another song. And then to my surprise, he launched into “Loser.”
I assumed that he wouldn’t play “Loser,” (I know I could have checked the set lists to see if he did, but i didn’t), it seems like such a long time ago when he was sort of a one hit wonder. But he played it, and it rocked and the crowd enjoyed singing along. I was even happier that he played “Beercan” from that album as well. And I was laughing when they got to the noisy feedback section of the song which they played and everyone in the band covered his ears during the noise.
All of the songs sounded somewhat different–a live setting allowed them to be looser and more wild. But “Hell Yes” was the one song that sounded completely different. It was far less processed/computer sounding and was more like a typical dance song. It sounded really good, just incredibly different. Then he jumped back to Odelay for “Sissyneck.” About mid way through the song, he stopped it entirely and said he didn’t need anyone to play with him–just the drums. And he started singing along. Then he had Justin add a bassline. Which was the bass from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Of course, Beck asked us to sing along, but he started singing “Like a Virgin.” Then the band launched into a great version of Billie Jean (with guitarist Jason singing the chorus). He also did a short cover of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” at the end of “I Think I”m in Love”).
After the wildness of “Billie Jean,” he told us he was going to bring it down for a bit, and that’s when he launched into some of the songs from Morning Phase. It was a nice breather, and the music sounded truly amazing. The noisy stuff was so noisy and chaotic and loud (and wonderful) that when he pulled it all back to just him and a keyboard for “Blue Moon” or just him on the acoustic guitar for “Lost Cause” (which sounded fantastic) it was amazing how clear the music could be. “Wave” also sounded fantastic, although as I expected, I wouldn’t have wanted to see a whole show of it. And then “Waking Light” really brought us out of the downer that “Wave” is (you really notice that there are no beats in it after the heavy dance of the other songs) and it sounded more beautiful than on the record.
Then it was time to dance again. He rocked us some more with a great version of “Girl” (we are still trying to figure out of the chorus is “sun-eyed” or “summer” or what). And then he wrapped up the set with a batshit wild version of “E-Pro.” At the end of the song, all of the guys just started crashing into each other and falling on the floor, cables all twisted up, feedback squalling. Eventually someone was dragged off the stage by the legs and Beck brought out a Police Line tape across the stage.
For the encore, he went back to Midnight Vultures, playing “Sexx Laws” and a very long, somewhat improved version of “Debra” (I was really impressed that he could hit those high notes).
The show ended with a great version of “Where It’s At” (inclusion the computerized vocals from his little robot friend Short Circuit). He introduced the band, and Smokey launched into the riff from The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You” which seemed perfectly apt with the show. Before returning to “Where It’s At” he busted out a harmonica and did a jam from “One Foot in the Grave” (talk about going back to the beginning) before ending the show.
What a great show it was, the sound was great, Beck never stopped moving, and neither did the audience. Joey Waronker’s drums sounded massive (his set must have been huge) and they had such tight control over every sound that came out. The biggest surprise for me was that every one was plugged in–no wireless gear at all. So that Beck got his guitar caught on an amp at one point (and just dropped it on the ground for the roadie to pick up–speaking of roadies, at the end of the show Juston threw has bass in the air and his roadie caught it–not an easy feat). Beck also seemed to being playing with the microphone cord a lot too. When the guys crashed into each other during “E-Pro” the cable tangling was crazy. Maybe that’s just an old school way of doing things.
For both bands there were screens on the side of the stage where the camera crew projected close-ups of whatever. So you could see Beck’s fancy footwork, or Joey’s drums. Perhaps the weirdest thing was that whenever they showed the drum set there was a relatively creepy guy sitting right behind it, face at drum level and he never made an expression and barely even moved his eyes. If the music was different it would have made for a really scary scene. There were also videos projected on the screen, but I was amused at how generic and simple they were–swirling shapes and floating colors–very low tech for such a high tech guy. But they were good because they weren’t distracting from the real show, which was the guys.
I complained yesterday about the parking, but in fairness, we got out of there much faster than say Garden State Arts Center of eesh, the Meadowlands. Perhaps the most interesting thing outside was that before Beck went on there was lighting all over Philadelphia–it was very cool to be standing across the water and seeing the sky light up and lightning forks crash down. It must have rained during the set, but not too hard. Then at the end as we were waiting to leave, the lighting got brighter and bigger. And just before we got on the Ben Franklin bridge the skies opened up for one of the most torrential downpours I ave ever driven in. Given the crappy state of 95 around Philly it’s amazing we didn’t crash into something–zero visibility, bad roads and crazy drivers at midnight were not conducive to a chill ride home. But we made it back safely (at 1:30 in the morning, gah) and have a great story to tell.
You can see some clips from the show here at XPN.
Setlist
- Devil’s Haircut
- Black Tambourine
- The New Pollution
- Gamma Ray
- I Think I’m in Love / I Feel Love
- Soul of a Man
- Loser
- Beercan
- Hell Yes
- Sissyneck / Billie Jean
- Blue Moon
- Lost Cause
- Wave
- Waking Light
- Girl
- E-Pro
- Encore:
- Sexx Laws
- Debra
- Where It’s At > One Foot In The Grave > Where It’s At
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