When Beck released his landmark album Sea Change, it lived up to the name in the way that we were introduced to a new side of the artist: the acoustic singer-songwriter version. He returned to that side again with the release of the Grammy-winning Morning Phase and has done it one more time with this year's Ride Lonesome. As you'd expect, his current tour focuses a lot on the softer side of his catalogue and now that he's got three records that all meet the mood, it's a new kind of experience to see him bring these songs together for a night of mellow, longing tunes. After opening with a string section at his side, things went a bit awry when an audience member needed serious medical attention which was directly followed by an emergency smoke alarm that sent the show into a break for nearly twenty minutes. While there was a brief moment of concern as to whether we'd actually get to resume, things eventually picked back up again when Beck came back to the stage and declared "take two!" Given the nature of the tracks, he made the evening as much of an intimate experience as possible and made his band get as close as possible, forming a tight-knit circle around him to deliver a lot of the tracks. Golden-hued acoustic guitar riffs filled the room throughout the night, each one ringing strong and clear against the majestic backdrop of the venue and at times stars appeared behind the band, giving an almost campfire-like vibe to the night. For his classic hit "New Pollution," he styled it as a bossanova track, giving it new energy of suave and debonair grooves that made you sway from side to side and think of the song in a whole new light. "Gamma Ray" from the underrated Modern Guilt brought things up a notch and kicked in more of the electric feels for the night with a bit of a post-modern visual display backing it up and the title-track from the album double-downed on the aesthetics. At one point he asked if anyone in the crowd had a request and after being bombarded with demands, he gave us a stunning solo rendition of "Tropicalia" that made for one of the best moments of the entire set (it didn't hurt that it was also the song I shouted as my own request). "Lost Cause" was another highlight of the night and led right into the big build-up to close the show. Bringing the band band to the center once again, they formed around him almost like a '60s girls group with Beck in the middle and everyone spread in a curved formation to his side (in a Charlie's Angels-esque set up) they ripped into "Devil's Haircut" and the room started to dive deeper into the groove before joining him in the ragged screams to bring the house down. Jamming out some bluesy, rustic acoustic riffs, "Loser" took the set to the next level and the crowd was amped up, ready to sing along to one of the greatest hits of the '90s that still feels like a triumphant, generational anthem. For "E-Pro," the audience belted out the "na na na nas" with extreme passion before "Where It's At" really brought the house down, the ultimate clap your hands and shout song that lives up to its chorus with flying colors. Throughout the night a groups of guys next to me were begging for "Debra" and when he returned for a solo encore set and started to strum out the funky tune, I thought they might lose their minds with excitement and it wasn't long before everyone was hitting those falsetto notes with raging desires. It was a brilliant and euphoric moment that solidified a night that, despite its missteps, still resulted in another excellent show from an artist that has consistently been playing the hits for decades. Friday nights don't get much better than that.
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