BECK // O2 ACADEMY, EDINBURGH
Beck returns to Scotland for the first time in 16 years to play an eclectic set laced with his greatest hits.
★★★★☆ (4/5)
BECK // O2 ACADEMY EDINBURGH - 14.06.2022
PHOTOCREDIT: CALUM BUCHAN PHOTOGRAPHY
During his near 30-year career, Beck has established himself as the Swiss Army knife of popular music. His discography is both prolific and eclectic, having appeased to the hip-hop kids as much as the alternative rockers in the late 90s, when genre divisions were more defined. Despite the continuing presence of his recorded output (having won multiple Grammys in the last five years for his albums ‘Morning Phase’, ‘Colors’ and ‘Hyperspace’), Beck has been notably absent from Scottish soil for 16 years. His show at Edinburgh’s O2 Academy marks his first Scottish show since opening for Radiohead at Meadowbank Stadium in 2006 and the anticipation has been building.
With a back catalogue as large and varied as Beck’s, structuring a well-balanced live set is no easy task, but the real triumph of the night is how well the set flows. Kicking off the night with party stompers from albums such as ‘Midnite Vultures’ and ‘Colors’, Beck wisely truncates many of the songs and runs them in to each other, creating something of a greatest hits mash-up. The music never stops and the enthusiasm is always high. Classics from ‘Odelay’ such as ‘Devil’s Haircut’ and ‘The New Pollution’ appease to the old-school college radio fans whilst ‘Up All Night’ and ‘Valley of the Pagans’ (Beck’s collaboration with Gorillaz) bring things up to date for the younger fans in the noticeably varied audience.
Since going through his pop-star phase, it only seems fitting that Beck makes use of vocal playback. He wisely stops short of relying too heavily on the vocal tracks as his live vocals cut through well. The combination of a live band and pre-recorded sampling only serves to enhance the show and allows for more (questionable) dance moves and frontman energy in lieu of his usual guitar playing duties. The first half of the show remains energetic before hel leaves the stage, only to promptly re-emerge donning a white suit and an acoustic guitar, poised to slow things down and offer renditions of some of the more chilled-out numbers from ‘Morning Phase’. The ambience continues with ethereal cuts ‘Missing’, ‘Earthquake Weather’ and ‘Chemtrails’. A few solo acoustic cuts including ‘Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime’ (a deep cut from the ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ soundtrack) and ‘Nitemare Hippy Girl’ also create some intimate moments without any accompaniment from the band.
Of course, the energy had to come back up at the end. Things got loud for the riffy ‘E-Pro’, the crowd got manic for the iconic ‘Loser’ and head-bopping pervaded the room for the nonchalant ‘Where It’s At’. The set was tight overall, as you’d expect from someone of Beck’s stature. What was more surprising was how varied nature of the set brought together a diverse audience. For an artist that has always developed his sound whilst avoiding the impermanence of the musical zeitgeist, this is a feat to be admired.
REVIEW BY // STRUAN NELSON
PHOTOS BY // CALUM BUCHAN
SETLIST:
O2 ACADEMY, EDINBURGH
INTRO/HYPERLIFE
MOVIE THEME
MIXED BIZNESS
DEVIL’S HAIRCUT
DREAMS
UP ALL NIGHT
COLORS - (TRANSITION)
DIAMOND BOLLOCKS
THE NEW POLLUTION
THE VALLEY OF THE PAGANS - (GORILLAZ COVER)
WIZARD
WOW
HOLLYWOOD FREAKS
HELL YES
QUE ONDA GUERO
NICOTINE & GRAVY
GIRL
HOTWAX
DEAR LIFE
CYCLE
MORNING
STRATOSPHERE
CHEMTRAILS
TURN AWAY
LOST CAUSE
MISSING
EARTHQUAKE WEATHER
NIGHT RUNNING - (CAGE THE ELEPHANT COVER)
GO IT ALONE
E-PRO
ENCORE:
LOSER
HOLLOW LOG
NITEMARE HIPPY GIRL
EVERYBODY’S GOT TO LEARN SOMETIME - (THE KORGIS COVER)
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE
WHERE IT’S AT