Outside Lands Music Festival begins today in Golden Gate Park, but that didn’t stop LMB fave Beck from throwing a pre-party last night at Bimbo’s 365 as a bit of a warmup. It was the toughest ticket in town for about 36 hours, but now that the show has come and gone we’ve got some tweets, photos and the setlist from the show. The reviews were mixed, though — some of my friends were having a blast and loving the flubs that were ever-present at the show, but some thought that Beck seemed too drunk or too stoned to really pull it together enough on stage to deliver a standout performance.
Read on for Jackson’s thoughts from the show and photos….
Beck @ Bimbo’s 365, SF 8/9/12
by Jackson Haddad
Beck was at sea for most of his set last night at Bimbo’s 365 in San Francisco. Not only did he play a large selection of songs from his 2002 release Sea Change, he appeared as though he was lost amidst a vast sea of blue smoke as the audience bathed the stage during what seemed like a set-long smoke session. More than once Beck commented on how smokey the room was, and how “the billowing wafting clouds of magic smoke” had made him forget his own lyrics.
To say Beck was sloppy last night is an understatement. Almost every song he played had problems and half the songs in his set were aborted due to forgetting lyrics. Some of the aborted songs, however, were started up again once he was able to remember.
The set was comprised of songs from Sea Change, Guero, and Odelay. After Beck opened up with raw versions of “Black Tambourine” and “Novacaine,” he started forgetting lyrics to his songs. “Sissyneck” was the first victim in a list that included “Lost Cause,” “Hotwax,” “Jack-Ass,” “Sunday Sun,” and “Round The Bend.”
It wasn’t all bad and Beck did deliver a few nice surprises. He covered Bob Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat,” and played a rousing version of “Loser” for the encore. When the band was tight they sounded great. It was too bad the second hand smoke had such an effect on the musicians although, to be fair, they were subjected to an unrelenting barrage from an audience full of Bay Area pot heads.
Photos © Brigid Horgan / Live Music Blog
http://t.co/TysFdpvv Stoked for Beck tonight! @livemusicblog @RaeRaeSay #OutsideLands
— Sophie Cheston (@SophCheston) August 10, 2012
@sfoutsidelands @livemusicblog #beck http://t.co/F8ASMhuw
— Johnny Fiasco (@werkinonit) August 10, 2012
Black Tambourine #beck @livemusicblog http://t.co/BOa2SVs1
— Johnny Fiasco (@werkinonit) August 10, 2012
"Don t blame us if we're playing this a little slow." #beck @livemusicblog
— Johnny Fiasco (@werkinonit) August 10, 2012
"I think all the weed is killing the lyrics here. But that's out of my control. But that's the way we like it." #beck @livemusicblog
— Johnny Fiasco (@werkinonit) August 10, 2012
In the land of chimpanzees I was a monkey. #beck @livemusicblog http://t.co/ex2TS6Sm
— Johnny Fiasco (@werkinonit) August 10, 2012
