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Aretha Franklin @ Hollywood Bowl 6/27/09
Beck, looking oddly like David Spade, played a not-so-secret show last night at the Echoplex. (Or should I say Beck-o-plex?) The “only North American date of the tour” was to give his new band a chance to get their live feet wet before heading out for some bigger shows in South America.
A lucky crowd of about 700 people crammed into the club and were treated to a set
comprised of mostly greatest hits from all phases of Beck’s career. From the opening trifecta of “Devil’s Haircut”, “Nausea”, and “Loser” through the final encore, “Epro”, the crowd was going absolutely wild.
The new lineup included Jason Faulkner, and uber-producer Nigel Godrich on a myriad of instruments. Apparently, the band has only been rehearsing a few days, and the understandable lack of chemistry showed throughout. It wasn’t bad, but for the better part of the night, the band felt stiff. It wasn’t that they weren’t tight - they just seemed uptight.
As the night went on, the band did seem to find their groove, and crossed the finish line with some momentum. It would be interesting to see them again in a few weeks, after having had a chance to play with each other more. It would also be nice to hear them break out some new material.
setlist and more photos after the jump
The setlist:
Devils Haircut
Nausea
Loser
Motherfucker
Jackass
Think I’m In Love
New Pollution
Fuckin’ With My Head
Info
Paper Tiger
Soldier Jane
Where It’s At
Black Tambourine
Girl
Minus
Sunday Sun
Epro
Photos by Heath Biter for LAist
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I would give my left arm to see Jason Falkner perform with Beck. Yowza!
I love how the musician behind Beck is looking on so adoringly. Maybe not at Beck, but something is making him all warm and fuzzy.
It was fun to see, but Beck didn't seem that into it until close to the end. The drummer and bassist were working there butts off to raise the energy level. Maybe it sounded better closer to the stage, but from where I was standing Beck's vocals were being mixed terribly. A bunch of my least favorite Beck songs sounded much better than their original recordings: Sunday Sun, Girl, Think I'm in Love, Nausea. They closed with a few unrehearsed numbers that ended up bringing the band together. Funny that Nigel Godrich produced Mutations and nothing from that record got played. So a bit uneven, but great to see him in a club.
I was standing right in front of Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Beck's bassist, and could really feel the energy coming from both him and the drummer. Beck was pretty stiff, but he's always kinda stiff, he's just usually surrounded by puppets and props and his hypeman (the guitarist's brother, Ryan), and I really enjoyed the stripped-down feel of the performance. They performed a few songs they rarely play on tour, and the whole thing came together at the end for a truly mesmerizing encore. I was not disappointed.
and yes, lost feliz, I was right up against the stage and the sound was still terrible. shame on whoever delayed the show an hour for sound check and didn't even do it right.
I'm no soundie, but the mix did seem a little off.
Other than that, we had a great time. I appreciate these intimate shows that Beck gives his fans, even if they are a little loose. I wouldn't say he played just 'hits' at all. They played a bunch of stuff that never got radio play. It was a true "fan show".
By the way, it looks like you didn't stay for the encore. You missed out!
Oops. That's what happens when you write a review on two hours of drunken sleep. I was there 'til the end. They sorta half-winged "Lord Only Knows" and "Lost Cause", then were pretty much out of songs that this lineup knew. I appreciated the looseness that kicked in as the set went on. It was great to see him in a smaller club, but there were a lot of obstructed views, and no matter where I moved, the sound was pretty bad.