(reviewed by Andrew McQuillan)
I was lucky to see this show considering it was sold out until another 200 tickets were released, days before the show. Sending a tip on the phone to my friend's brother the morning I read about the extra tickets in the paper, he obtained 3 tickets of the 200 for me, himself, and his brother. Cafe Tacuba is a Mexican band who opened. I don't usually talk much about opening bands. They were decent I suppose but I don't remember too much about them. There was a bit of brass though.
Beck's show was a feast on the senses. The stage was colourful as hell. Beck opened with a tribute to Busta Rhymes and launched into Sexx Laws. Novakane and Mixed Bizness followed as well as a short version of Loser. Hollywood Freaks was a pleasant surprise considering it's my favourite song off Midnite Vultures and Beck hadn't played for several shows if his setlists are correct. Before the show centerpiece, Debra, was the rocking Odelay tune, Minus and then the last MV single, Nicotine and Gravy.
On Debra, Beck dragged the song way longer than on the album version and talked to the audience about what food they like (based on the lyric, 'gonna take you for a real good meal') and other things. A bed was dropped down from the roof and Beck posed in the sheets. Tropicalia was neat, it was the only song I really knew from Mutations at the time, although I'm still getting used that album.
The acoustic was broken out and Beck played stuff from Mutations that I didn't know at the time like Nobody's Fault But My Own (which has a memorable melody) and a few others. The acoustic was put away and the wonderous Jackass was played. You figure this is something he would play during the acoustic set, seeing as it's a generally acoustic song but at least he's playing it, period. New Pollution followed and then Beck left the stage, leaving his DJ, DJ Swamp to work turntable magic, playing among other 'tunes', Smoke on the Water.
Two more songs were played, the song that got me into Beck, Where It's At, and the rockin' Devil's Haircut. As the last song ended, Beck and crew decided to make a mess of things and don hockey equipment, which was quite entertaining, much like the show itself, which took a toll on my back like most concerts do when standing for 3 and a half hours.