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Big Block sounds way more nimble than a slab of ’80s blues-based hard rock has any right to. Nitin Sawhney’s Nadia, with its drum & bass backbone, is even more jubilant than on 2001’s You Had It Coming. The muscular Stratus is all groove and Beck’s impossibly fast, fiery outbursts. The familiar rendition of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s You Know You Know allows the musicians on stage to get a little darker - and Smith and Nilles to pull focus with individual solos. Star Cycle - alternating between power chords, the sing-song melodies Joe Satriani’s built a career on, and all-out shredding - has only grown in bombast through four decades of live performance since first appearing on There And Back. Together they support Beck through 80 minutes of frequently complex and intricate music, including originals and well-worn cover versions cherry-picked from throughout his career. But the clearest sign that he’s still enjoying this, just three weeks shy of his 78th birthday, are the spontaneous smiles he shares with his band.Īnchored by bass player Rhonda Smith (whose CV includes Prince and Beyoncé), it also features cellist Vanessa Freebairn-Smith (who’s worked with everyone from Paul McCartney to Jay-Z), drummer Anika Nilles (clearly as comfortable laying down jazzy rhythms as electronica-influenced beats), and keyboard player Robert Adam Stevenson. But, for the most part, the focus is very much on the music, playfully performed with enthusiasm and the occasional ’60s rock star flair.īeck may raise his right arm, index finger pointing upwards, at the end of a song punctuate his more complex, high-speed flourishes with a subtle, low-impact fist pump or put both hands on his hips after hitting a particularly beefy chord. He shares his appreciation of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds before sensitively reinterpreting that album’s Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder).
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A typically low-key entrance (a wave and a look around before the sunglasses go on) is followed by a rapid succession of instrumentals in various styles and tempos (often within the same song), interspersed with an occasional soft-spoken “thank you”. There’s just one hand that floats up and down the fretboard, while the other plucks the strings, manipulates the whammy bar, and twists the volume knob, all at once.Īnd so it is at Royal Albert Hall tonight. There’s no hunched-over focus, no over the top arm flailing, no twisted facial expressions. Beck - like Brian May, David Gilmour, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen - is one of those rare guitarists who doesn’t just have an instantly recognisable sound, he has the ability to make the seemingly impossible look effortless.