Beck @ the Hammerstein Night 2

On Friday night Beck concluded this two-night stand at the Hammerstein Ballroom and his third New York appearance last week. It has been almost two years since Beck has played a proper New York show. Although Beck’s show at the Hiro Ballroom is the spring was very fun it was barely an hour long and most fan were unable to get tickets. The show in the spring also lacked all the thrills and theatric that these past three shows had. Shortly into the show beck announced that he had family in the house and that they were going to ply a longer set than they normally do.
The 2nd night at the Hammertein saw Beck treat his fans to the best of his their New York appearances. The energy in the room was buzzing the first notes of "Loser", which Beck opened the show with. Then came new favorites "Black Tambourine" and followed by "Girl". Theatrics have always been a big part of Beck’s live performance and this tour was full of them. There was of course Beck’s "Hype Man" Brian. Brian spent most of his time dancing and playing random instruments. "Two Turntables and a Microphone" saw Brian bring out bigger and bigger boombox until eventually an oversized version was lowered from the ceiling. But my favorite part of this Beck tour had to be the dinner table scene. During this part of the show Beck’s band all sit down at a dinner table. Beck then would play a few songs alone. The best of which had to the acoustic "Debra" which Beck made references to R Kelly’s song "Trapped in a Closet". Then during the last two songs the band would begin to play the dinner table. They would tap different objects on the table or run their fingers around the glass to add the rhythm section of these songs. The songs played during this time were "Golden Age" and "Clap Your Hands". This was probably my favorite part of the show. I have never scene anything like this before except at a performance of "Stomp". If this wasn’t enough of a show Beck then during "Sex Laws" began a fake banjo duel with Brian. Both were trading fake licks until they reveal to the audience that they are not in fact playing the banjos. If playing an extended set wasn’t enough of a treat Beck also preformed the Rolling Stones’ song "No Expectation". Which have heard him do before but never seen live. This is one of my favorite Stones’ songs so it was a big treat for me. Overall these three shows were great and I am glad I went to all three had something great about them. The first show at Across the Narrows Beck played two songs from "Mutations" and "Everyboy's gotta learn Sometime". The first night at the Hammerstein, Beck played "Pay no Mind" and covered the Flaming Lips’ song "Do You realize". And the third night had the extended set with a run full of people that were all partying down.




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