Last night saw Beck take over Hammerstein Ballroom, the first of his back-to-back New York shows, with tonight’s show going on right now over at Central Park.
Things kicked off with an opening set from The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger, the band led by Sean Lennon (John’s son). I saw them open up for The Flaming Lips last year, but they sounded even better this time around. Heavy on the psych elements, with plenty of vocals moments that served as reminders that this is indeed John’s son.
Beck started things off with an acoustic set composed of songs from the recently released Morning Phase, along with songs off Sea Change, its companion album of sorts. It made sense that Beck’s live band consisted of the band that made both of those albums with him (Jason Falkner, Smokey Hormel, Joey Waronker, Justin Meldal-Johnsen and Roger Joseph Manning Jr). They were also joined by Gus Seyffert.
Beck told the crowd to bare with him with the mellow start, promising that things would get a little rowdier as the night went on. After the acoustic set there was a brief intermission that was broken up by the gloriously familiar riff of “Devil’s Haircut.” From there it was an open invitation for all of Beck’s genre explorations, from the rollin’ “Black Tambourine” to the distorted “Hell Yes” and of course, “Loser” which was played as unceremoniously as possible. He worked in some tricks every now and then, such as when he went from “I Think I’m In Love” straight into a take on Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.”
The most noteworthy aspect of the show was how much damn fun Beck and his band were having on stage. They would constantly bump into each other during their riffage, even taking it so far as to knock each other down on the floor during the finishing touches of “E-Pro”, which saw Beck come back out to string a band of caution tape across the stage. He even apologized to anyone who would be at the Central Park show, as there was quite a bit of weed in the air and he joked that it may have had an effect.
The encore featured “Sexx Laws” and a super extended jam-version of “Where It’s At” that featured a bit of “One Foot In The Grave.” The bands antics continued on, bringing in Sean Lennon on the action. It was amazing to see these group of guys having so much fun while rocking out, making it hard to believe that just a few hours ago they were serenading us with mellow acoustic tracks. Just shows you that Beck is a jack of all trades. With him, anything and everything is welcome and possible.
Find the setlist below, along with some more photos.
Setlist:
Acoustic:
1. The Golden Age
2. Blackbird Chain
3. Lost Cause
4. Say Goodbye
5. Country Down
6. Heart is a Drum
7. Wave
8. Waking Light
9. Blue Moon
Electric:
10. Devil’s Haircut
11. Black Tambourine
12. Soul of a Man
13. The New Pollution
14. Loser
15. Hell Yes
16. Get Real Paid
17. Modern Guilt
18. I Think I’m In Love (Into “I Feel Love” (Donna Summer Cover))
19. Girl
20. E-Pro
Encore:
21. Sexx Laws
22. Where It’s At (With “One Foot in the Grave” Teaser”)
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