Beck, Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Wittier, warmer, and this time on crowd-pleasing form
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two things inevitably spring to mind when confronted with Beck Hanson's new live show, in which a marionette show mimicking the band's live antics is projected on to the back of the stage.
The first is Dr Teeth, the leader of the Electric Mayhem, The Muppet Show's in-house rock band, the second is Gorillaz, whose Demon Days has been described as an album Beck should have made if he wasn't otherwise engaged.
That Hanson has invented a puppet alter ego shouldn't surprise anyone who has followed the 36-year-old's career. From the bluesy "hick-hop" of 1996's Odelay to the typically diverse sound of his forthcoming album, The Information, Beck has proved himself pop's ultimate magpie.
The Information has been described by Hanson himself as Sea Change conceived as a hip-hop album. And on songs such as "Motorcade" and the Massive Attack-flavoured "Dark Star", there's a sense of Beck confronting contemporary issues, such as Iraq. Not that you'd get any sense of new-found gravitas in this show: Beck is in a crowd-pleasingly puckish mood.
This is not the jetlagged Oscar the Grouch who told one heckling fan to "shut the fuck up" at his last London show and refused to play any old songs. "Loser" and "Devil's Haircut" get an early airings, and the four Information tracks are dispensed with early in the set.
The best of the new songs, "Cell Phone's Dead", is full of the usual Tropicalia flourishes but has a stonking beat that sounds like it's been nicked from Sheffield techno pioneers LFO. The "hip-hop" promise for The Information is also delivered with "1,000 BPM", which is saved for the raucous encore, the rappers all dressed in bear suits. "Nausea" manages an improbable mixture of Madchester baggy and US alt rock, while "No Complaints" sounds like a Psychic TV remix of Space Oddity-era Bowie.
Maybe it's because he was so tetchy last time he was in London. Maybe it's because he's tired of the postmodern detachment. But this was a warmer Beck than we've come to expect. Whether it's the cute pre-encore puppet film shot on Shepherd's Bush Green or Beck playing his guitar with his puppet perched on the end, this is a man who wants to entertain and engage. I think Dr Teeth would approve.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments