BeckThe UK's penchant for bands that sound like Howling Bells' first album has found new life in Dark Horses, a band whose moody spaghetti western songs were well-received. Despite having a mix that was a bit too vocal and drum heavy, there were many positives and a cool indie vibe.
It's difficult to justify in a few hundred words how good Beck was on the night. People definitely got what they came for with a set that went for two-and-a-quarter-hours and spanned all his songs in between and including 1994's Mellow Gold and 2008's Modern Guilt. The audience greeted Mr Hansen warmly as he wandered on stage alone, accompanied with only his Danelectro Silvertone and playing a few choice slide licks. Moments later, these evolved into the first few chords of Loser, which in turn lead to the curtains being drawn back, the (original) full band (which included Joey Waronker on drums, now also of Ultraista) against a backdrop of snowflake neon lights and everyone off stage screaming like maniacs.
One forgets just how many great tracks Beck has written in the past 15 or so years and each song (or ad-lib moment in between, such as his recollection of his 1998 New Year's Bondi show – apparently it was a dive) was a constant reminder of that and also how effortlessly he is able to traverse the musical genre landscape – as easy as us mere mortals make cheese on toast. Devils Haircut, Girl, Modern Guilt, Que Onda Guero all got a run, as did a four-song set straight out of Sea Change that saw tracks like The Golden Age, Paper Tiger and Lost Cause played in subdued succession, but in a completely engaging manner, which would have left a number of the recently heartbroken with a lump in their throat.
All in all, a ridiculously good set, a great audience and amazing surrounds made it one of the best shows of the year.
