Beck @ The Echoplex, 11/25/07

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