 |
| Photo: Shervin Lainez/Courtesy Nasty Little Man PR |
On Aug. 9, the co-headliners arrived at Pacific Amphitheatre minus any opening acts and delivered a spectacular show. “Odyssey” refers to their infectious new collaborative single.
Following his last album Hyperspace in 2019, Beck has put out various singles, including “Thinking About You” and the Neil Young cover “Old Man,” in addition to guest appearances on two Gorillaz tunes, Paul McCartney’s “Find My Way” and others by Jawny, Joy Downer and Natalie Bergman.
Meanwhile, French quartet Phoenix re-emerged in 2022 with the highly engaging album Alpha Zulu – its first in five years and among the best in the band’s 20+ year catalog. “Tonight,” featuring Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, topped Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart. The band also recruited Clairo for a new version of “After Midnight.”
Armed with an electric guitar, Beck emerged from atop the square stage platform – and a bright projected image that looked like Downtown Tokyo - to launch the spirited 75-minute, 18-song set in Costa Mesa with a bluesy “Devil’s Haircut.”
Beck’s tight band consisted of what many longtime fans consider his classic touring/recording lineup: guitarist Jason Falkner, keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and drummer Joey Waronker (the first three also handled backing harmonies), plus another musician. Before doing “The Golden Age” and “Lost Cause” - a gorgeous double shot off Sea Change – Beck remarked that all the guys hadn’t been together in a decade and since they all contributed to the 2002 album, “nobody plays it better than they do.”
It’s common for Beck to make astute observances about wherever he’s performing. When this writer covered the artist’s Hollywood Bowl gig in 2018, he talked about the surrounding area and being a proud Angelino. Here at the Orange County Fairgrounds, Beck made a running joke about llamas grazing on the back grassy berm before the show and how great it was to tour all around their SoCal home.
Early set standout “The New Pollution” saw Beck busting the first of many moves and he was all over the stage amid the boppy “Girl.” A trance-inducing “Wow” contained some trippy visuals as the singer hilariously ad-libbed about the Ferris wheel and “taking my llama down the 5 freeway.”
Big early hit “Loser” was preceded by Beck’s brief slide guitar intro; the crowd sang along loudly. They enthusiastically danced around to the effusive “Dreams,” a punchy, horn-laden “Sexx Laws” and the searing “E-Pro,” appropriately paired with images of burning televisions.
Phoenix joined Beck and his band for some fun electro-pop during “Odyssey.” There was a strong sense of camaraderie between the two acts. Finally, “Where It’s At” ended the evening on a high note.
Earlier, the Versailles natives did an enthralling 70-minute, 16-song set that made impressive use of projections (at times making Phoenix appear to be playing in various European landmarks) inside a square box around the stage.
They leaned heavily on the stellar Grammy-winning, U.S. gold-certified 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Those selections, particularly buoyant alt-rock radio hits “Lisztomania” and “1901,” were highlights. Others included the tribal title track to Alpha Zulu and the bass-heavy groove of “Tonight,” when frontman Thomas Mars genuinely interacted with his bandmates.
“It took us 20 years to get this right (live),” Mars admitted, before the band headed all the way back to the 2000 debut album United for a fascinating medley: the breezy dance-pop of “If I Feel Better” and rocking “Funky Squaredance Pt. 3.” Mars added some dramatic heft by kneeling on the platform while reciting the lyrics. Phoenix ended the performance with an instrumental take on “Identical” as Mars went into the crowd to shake fans’ hands.
REMAINING ‘SUMMER ODYSSEY’ TOUR DATES:
Aug 18 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP ~#
Aug 20 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion ~#
Aug 21 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion ~#
Aug 22 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ~#
Aug 31 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion #
Sept 02 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre ~#
Sept 03 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage ~#
Sept 05 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway ~#
Sept 08 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann ~#
Sept 09 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden ~
Sept 10 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion ~#
+ Japanese Breakfast
~ Weyes Blood
# Sir Chloe
REMAINING PACIFIC AMPHITHEATRE SUMMER SEASON POP/ROCK CONCERTS:
Aug 20 Chicago
Sept 2 Common Kings
No comments:
Post a Comment