BITE ME! Beck Live

Radio 4 and Beck
@ The Echo

So the red gig phone rings and after picking up I find out that every Silverlake hipster will be donning their best Goodwill threads after hearing on the grapevine that local superhero Beck was gonna do a not-so-secret show tonight.

The line to get in is damn long, but eventually access is gained and expectations rise. Soon enough, the man himself and his cohorts amble onstage and proceed to kick out the jams. I don’t know the name of any of the songs he and his bombastic band played as they were all spankin’ new. But it’s not about the titles, as the rhythms are stuck in my head.

In the next forty-ish minutes Beck and co put on a SHOW! This isn’t the solo maudlin acoustic Beck of late…nope…this is the full on party mode Odelay style Beck. The new shit is awesome - it quakes booty and shakes floors. The sound is great tonight, and during the spectacle we are treated to old school hip hop, beat boxing, calypso, disco grooves, Mexican rumbas, rock, pop, soul, robot dancing, funk, carnival bongos, and more. It wasn’t long before the suits in the audience gelled with the indie kids and asses were being grabbed, heads were bopping and, frankly, if this wasn’t turning you on then your ‘on’ button must have dropped off.

A couple of songs in and a guy dressed like Top Gun came onstage and proceeded to do some frantic arm waving body pop style dancing, as Beck took to and burned up the wheels of steel. The dancer was cool, but since he never left the stage until the end of the show his shtick started to wear thin. No worries though, as Beck had a lot of friends in the club tonight and after givin’ a shout out to the Cap ‘n’ Cork crew (booze shop within spittin’ distance of my digs) and giving some local love to the room he then left the stage to rapturous applause.

Then the night switched from the unofficial to the official headliner, Radio 4. I admit that after Beck’s set I expected most of the room to clear but, thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and the guys from NY took to the boards in support of their new album Stealing of a Nation.

From the beginning, singer/ bassist Anthony Roman's guitar sounded huge and rumbling as he strummed at its strings with a pogoing fury, which the rhythm guitarist's jerky, punky style complemented perfectly. However, the Oscar has to go to percussionist PJ who, whether banging bongos or shaking maracas, was like something possessed. You couldn’t help but become transfixed with the manic rhythms he produced.

Opening with "Party Crashers" and going slightly sloppily into "Calling All Enthusiasts" the band bashed through a set that was just right in terms of length and pace. Radio 4 slowed things down a little for the reggae/ska tinged "Nation," which sounded like The Clash spinning in a tumble dryer with Joe Jackson. The biggest surprise of the gig had to be just how great "Absolute Affirmation" sounded. It was so great that it was buzzing around my head all the next day. Why, oh why is this not a huge hit? I think it’s their finest moment (if not on record it certainly is tonight). I’d go so far as to say I enjoyed it even more than "Dance to The Underground," which is surely destined to be a modern classic of the genre and got everyone in the room to do their best cool dance.

All in all, I’d have to say that both sets were great and it was a perfect way to spend a freakin’ sweet Friday night. -Glenn