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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Beck strode confidently onto the hallowed stage at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theatre strumming his acoustic guitar and clad in a black tailored suit with open white dress shirt and sunglasses to ward off the last rays of a sunny July day on Wednesday night as the crowd roared. As he moved to center stage and took to the microphone to sing the tender “The Golden Age,” he joined not just his normal three-man band, but the full Berkeley Symphony to present a tour through his genre shape-shifting catalog of the last thirty years.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
For the next ninety minutes, the audience enjoyed an incredibly memorable performance that ranged from the reverb-filled and slowly strummed deeply heart-tugging of “Lost Cause” to the up on your toes with the hands in the air fun of “Where It’s At.” Throughout the night - whether with his voice or guitar (and occasionally, his feet) - Beck displayed the confidence and creativity that has ensured that his music never be filled into one specific box.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime” a song he wrote for the movie “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” was another perfect selection for the start of the concert’s focus on the softer side of the catalog. It was followed by Beck dropping his guitar to pace the stage more as a crooner with the symphony providing a cinema-worthy backing presence. A haunting version of “Lonesome Tears” from 2002’s “Sea Change” followed, with Beck’s acoustic guitar supplemented by soaring strings ably guided by conductor Ming Luke. 2013’s “Wave” – a song that featured strings on its original recorded version – completed the opening salvo of more tender songs.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
On a warm Berkeley night where shorts and short-sleeves provided enough coverage for most to stay warm throughout the whole concert, “Tropicalia” – the South American-themed upbeat song followed – brought a festive mood to the sold-out crowd and was then nicely coupled with 2014’s guitar strum-along “Blue Moon.” “Lost Cause” is a special, emotion-evoking song and was on full display up on the newly-terraced hill of the Greek as the sun set behind The Campanile with the slightly foggy San Francisco in the background. As yellow and red stage lights mimicked the setting sun, many couples held each other, sharing the moment or adding their whispers to one of the all-time great troubled relationship songs.
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| The Campanile @ Berkeley, CA (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Beck led the crowd quickly out of the deep end of the tear pool and onto the dance floor with a fun version of 1997 “The New Pollution” that saw him dance back and forth across the stage – occasionally playfully pulling his suit coat back and flashing his shoulder. The crooner style came back with “Missing” before Beck called out “all the goths here tonight” and dedicated “Tarantula” from the movie “Roma” to them. “I can’t see you, but I know you’re there,” he said. “The Goth never leaves once it enters someone’s soul.” With the symphony’s backing putting wings beneath the song, it took on a David Gilmour-era Pink Floyd vibe as Beck stood center stage, microphone in hand under deep blue lights.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The mournful Scott Walker “It’s Raining Today” followed with Beck remaining at center-stage. Looking down from above it felt as though we could have been teleported back to the song’s summer of 1969 origin – fifty-five years ago. Another “Sea Change” slow-era classic “Round the Bend” followed with Beck playing a tender acoustic guitar. “Paper Tiger” saw Beck singing at almost whisper-level while the orchestra was given the chance bring their sound forward – particularly, the impressive string session.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“We Live Again” was dedicated to French music and acting icon Françoise Hardy who passed a month earlier at 80. Beck cited the influence she had on his mother and many of her contemporary women in the early 60’s and introduced the song with the story of its role in the first time they met.
“You know that song of yours? That’s my song,” Hardy told him.
“I know…” replied Beck. Adding a self-admonishing “busted” to the story on Wednesday night.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
As purple lights bathed the stage and projected flowers twirled against the granite walls of the theatre, Beck delivered a tender version of the song while the orchestra backed him with a sweet, light, tone behind him. Another Scott Walker anthem followed with “Montague Terrace (In Blue)” – featuring a complex coupling of the heavy lyrics and playful string and percussion support as Beck leaned into lyrics such as “But we know. Don’t we?”
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The night returned to the direct Beck catalog with a dramatic strumming of his acoustic guitar and launch of “Morning” as the crowd sang along with his elevated energy injected into the song. After a lovely version of “Waking Light” served as the final crooner song of the evening, all the horses were let out of the barn for an incredible “Where It’s At” with Beck injecting the night into the song’s intro with “It looks a little like the Greek Theatre. San Francisco! Oakland! Berkeley! Get on your feet now!” The crowd leapt to its feet and began clapping along as Beck brought out his electric guitar and the symphony soared to the finish line of their time on stage to the loudest ovation of the night.
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
As the orchestra had hit their stoppage time and exited, the gigantic stage was left for Beck and his three-man backing band. Beck wandered the stage - searching for the proper spot to land and picking up the occasional stray instrument and implement to play with. He loved when he discovered a mallet left behind and attacked the nearby gong. “I could start a one-man drum circle back here. That would be very Berkeley of me. But shit, I forgot my hacky sack,” he said as the crowd laughed and applauded. “Look at this. Two harps” he relayed as he continued his wandering. “That’s a real rock star move. We can’t just have one harp! We must have two!”
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| Beck & the Berkeley Symphony @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Eventually, he landed on the conductor’s podium. “I suddenly feel so alone. But I like this podium thing. This is a move! How much do they cost at Costco?” He then delivered a stunning harmonica and audience repeat version of “One Foot in the Grave” before asking “Should we kick out some jams” and launching the band into a high energy, fast-paced “Devil’s Haircut” that saw him prowling the stage with his screaming electric guitar. He dropped to his knees to deliver a blistering guitar solo that channeled Prince and Eddie Van Halen at moments.
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| Beck @ the Greek Theatre (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A go-go style “Mixed Bizness” followed in full 60’s mode, before he acknowledged that his birthday had been two days earlier. As the crowd sang to him, Beck accompanied on slide guitar. Finally, the cascade through Beck’s three-decade music portfolio saw the night return to where his career all began with a rousing rendition of his initial 1994 breakthrough “Loser.” The night ended with a broad-smiling Beck and his core band taking a deeply deserved bow stage right.
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