Anybody else notice Beck is looking a little like fictional fiction writer JT Leroy these days?
Whoever showed up to play Memorial Stadium tonight played an uneven set. We'll assume it was our boy Beck Hanson, but lord only knows what those freaky Scientologists blah blah blah level-nine Thetans yadda yadda... (Let's all agree that Scientology is a big, fat practical joke and move on, mkay?)
Beck/Leroy blazed from "Loser" to "E-Pro" in an hour and a half, miring halfway in the less-good songs from Modern Guilt, highlighting right before that with a front-of-the-stage jam session between himself and his four bandmates, wearing clunky headset mikes and rocking a hand-held 808, drum pad, sequencer, and percussion. He would've done well to keep the offbeatness going. But Beck has songs to spare and a knack for deconstructing them in interesting ways; "Nicotine and Gravy" was reworked as a krautrocking dance number, "Mixed Bizness" was injected with schmaltzy, showtunesy soul, and his cover of Dylan's "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was proper beatnik whiteguy jive.
And it wasn't simply the fact that the songs from Modern Guilt were slower, because he played an acoustic on "Lost Cause" and "Golden Age," a pair of weepers from Sea Change, and they were sad and beautiful. It's just that a lot of Modern Guilt is not that interesting. Thank goodness "Devil's Haircut" was a crushing rocked-out bruiser, and pre-encore "Where It's At" will make people clap their hands regardless of what they're holding or how long they've been standing. Whatever else he might or might not be, Beck is a gutsy showman, smart enough to inject a juicy twist to keep his audience guessing. That counts for a lot.
Beck/Leroy blazed from "Loser" to "E-Pro" in an hour and a half, miring halfway in the less-good songs from Modern Guilt, highlighting right before that with a front-of-the-stage jam session between himself and his four bandmates, wearing clunky headset mikes and rocking a hand-held 808, drum pad, sequencer, and percussion. He would've done well to keep the offbeatness going. But Beck has songs to spare and a knack for deconstructing them in interesting ways; "Nicotine and Gravy" was reworked as a krautrocking dance number, "Mixed Bizness" was injected with schmaltzy, showtunesy soul, and his cover of Dylan's "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was proper beatnik whiteguy jive.
And it wasn't simply the fact that the songs from Modern Guilt were slower, because he played an acoustic on "Lost Cause" and "Golden Age," a pair of weepers from Sea Change, and they were sad and beautiful. It's just that a lot of Modern Guilt is not that interesting. Thank goodness "Devil's Haircut" was a crushing rocked-out bruiser, and pre-encore "Where It's At" will make people clap their hands regardless of what they're holding or how long they've been standing. Whatever else he might or might not be, Beck is a gutsy showman, smart enough to inject a juicy twist to keep his audience guessing. That counts for a lot.
Wonder if some kind of alien force keeps Beck on edge? They guy is always coming up with things we've never hard or seen...his favorite shape??? Crop circles, of course!