Quiet Color

photos and post by marc evan

Beck with MGMT? Wow. When this tour was announced it seemed an ideal combination. A lineup hearkening back to the dream-team of Beck and The Flaming Lips. Missing that classic tour (wherein the Flaming Lips not only played a full set but also served as Beck’s backing band) is one of my few regrets in life. Rumors had been swirling. Would Beck ditch his talented back up players this go around and use MGMT throughout the whole show? I heard contradicting theories right up until the show started.

VOLCANO BY BECK:

MGMT performed a very solid opening set Wednesday night. I have heard many mixed reviews of the band’s live performances, but I thought they were great. Like my first experience with MGMT (at the McCarren Pool earlier this summer), they quickly had the audience under their sway: dancing and bopping to their modern electronic dance pop. MGMT are singing the new anthems of a generation. They opened with Time to Pretend and Weekend Wars, the first two tracks from Oracular Spectacular. They eventually made their way through all the hits from their album, sounding great, but with little fanfare. The boys, in typical fashion, barely spoke in between tunes and rarely moved about the stage. I don’t need a whole lot of stage presence, but I do expect for each and every song to be performed live. I was disappointed to see the boys singing along, karaoke style, to a pre-recording of their hit song, Kids.

THE YOUTH BY MGMT:

During the intermission our crew loaded up on more beers in the remarkably ornate lobby of the United Palace Theater. Walking into this building is truly something special. The amphitheater is incredibly and elaborately detailed. Our biggest question of the evening: how do they possibly change the light bulbs in this place?

The anticipation for Beck was high. I am willing to go great lengths to see Beck Hansen perform his diverse catalog. In the early 90’s he was a pioneer, heralding a genre of music called “alternative.” With each album he has continued to reinvent himself, switching from alt-country/rap to rock, somber songs of heartbreak, and then electro pop. With his latest album Beck has once again evolved. After 2005’s Guero, the infectiously catchy collaboration with the Dust Brothers, and 2006’s album, The Information, Beck has come back yet again with a new twist. His newest album, Modern Guilt, was produced by Danger Mouse (the uber-hot producer of instant hits from both Gnarls Barkley and Gorillaz). Modern Guilt is an evolution of Beck’s talents. It combines the folky and somber elements of an album like Sea Change with the addictive pop hooks of albums like Guero and Midnight Vultures.

YOUTHLESS BY BECK:

When I first saw Beck on his Guero tour, I drove a borrowed truck 5 hours through a torrential storm that had flooded the highways. The reward was seeing one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life. Wednesday’s performance at the United Palace Theater also involved an excursion. This trek involved getting our asses from a bar in the East Village all the way up to 175th street and Broadway, in Washington Heights (not so easy a feat for someone who half-believes Manhattan ends at 14th street). We arrived ready to sing along and dance to each one of Beck’s hits. And on that front he definitely delivered. Beck (with a backing band that wasn’t MGMT) opened his set on guitar playing “Loser,” the 1994 single that started it all. He then continued to bounce back and forth throughout his catalog playing many crowd pleasing hits. Beck didn’t say much throughout the performance. In fact, the only notable time he spoke was towards the end of “Mixed Bizness.” He sternly looked into the crowd and asked “Would it be appropriate for me to ask you a question?” He then continued, breaking back into song, howling, “would it be appropriate to ask you to take it a little bit hiiiiiigher?” It was a rare but welcome moment of crowd interaction. He then continued with the awesomely funky “Nicotine & Gravy,” before playing one of my favorite rap-fusions, “Que Onda Guero.”

Beck is known for breaking his sets up into sections. Back in 2006, when I first saw him, he orchestrated one of the most unique concert experiences ever. While Beck played an acoustic set, his band mates took a break and ate dinner. As they sat around a table on the stage and dined, each member slowly began to use items from the table to rejoin Beck, making noises, beats, and percussion. It was so different and so unique that words are hard to describe the spectacle of it. I expected something equally innovative for Wednesday night’s show. As the band left their instruments and reconvened at the front of the stage wearing headphones and holding electronic sampling devices, Beck rapped his way through “Hell Yes,” “Clap Hands,” and “Black Tambourine.” Each band member created beats on their respective devices. It was interesting, but couldn’t possibly live up to the the innovation of the prior display. Luckily he followed this with a handful of the eagerly awaited new tracks.

Beck eventually pulled out his acoustic guitar to play two of my favorite songs in his completely eclectic oeuvre: “Golden Age” and “Lost Cause.” He finished his mini acoustic set with a cover of Hank Williams’ “Lonesome Whistle.” The set then ended with a pumped up “Where It’s At,” while a really cool light show (with video) acted as giant backdrop to the stage. After some clapping and stomping (in which you could feel the balcony shake), the band returned to play “Gamma Rays,” Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat,” and “E-Pro.” As the house lights came on, we joined the flood of people marching out the doors. It may not have lived up to my high expectations due to lack of innovation and some audio problems (including Beck’s vocals occasionally being drowned out by the backing vox) but overall I had seen a very fun show with some extremely fun friends. Like good little lemmings we filed down into the subway with the masses, returning to the East Village for what would continue to be a wild evening.