 |
Gig Review by Jeff Glorfeld
TheAge.com.au
Electric, eclectic Beck in Stratosphere
January 28, 2009
JEFF BECK
The Palais Theatre, Melbourne, January 26
ALONG with his gunslinging reputation as one of the world's most innovative electric guitarists, British rock legend Jeff Beck is also known as a builder of custom hot-rod cars. His show at the Palais Theatre roared and purred and generally ran like a well-tuned, high-performance road machine on a steamy Australia Day evening in St Kilda.
Propelled by a rhythm section led by drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and bassist Tal Wilkenfeld — a 22-year-old wunderkind from Sydney; her solo during Stevie Wonder's Because We've Ended as Lovers, off 1974's Blow By Blow, was simply beautiful — Beck began the show with Bolero, which has been in his set since Truth, his 1968 solo debut. What followed was 90 minutes of alternating bone-jarring power in songs such as Blast and Pump and the fine delicacy of Nadia and Where Were You, in a performance remarkable for its nuance and structure.
Looking better in black leather trousers and trademark black shag haircut than a 64-year-old man has any right to, Beck and his ever-present Fender Stratocaster, Wilkenfeld's sinuous, sexy basslines and the fills and washes by super-session keyboardist David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Sting) provided all the required melody and drama, no vocals required; there was one vocal microphone on the stage, which Beck used concisely, at the end, when he introduced the band.
The show closely followed the set from recent CD Performing This Week … Live At Ronnie Scott's, and showed the range of Beck's eclectic fusion of styles, drawing on everything from hard rock, funk, jazz and electronica to Middle Eastern and rockabilly. One of the highlights in a show full of them was Beck's version of Lennon-McCartney's A Day in the Life.
Apart from Beck's astonishing finger-picking virtuosity and occasional stage direction, this wasn't a highly visual show, completely lacking in rock-star poses; just lots of grins and nods of respect as the players got on with the job of making great music together
