Entries Tagged as 'beck'

Beck @ The Riv

September 22nd, 2005 · 5 Comments

beck_riviera.jpg
The Riviera Theater, Uptown, Chicago

Last night I was walking out of the office when Andrew called to ask what I was doing. He had an extra ticket to the sold out Beck show at the Riv and needed someone to go. I was all over it!

A few years ago in New York some friends and I made plans to go to this huge music fest, Field Day. We were going out to Long Island and camping and seeing a million acts like Radiohead and Beck and I can’t even remember now but there were a lot. Then it all went to hell. The concert promoters didn’t secure the land properly and there was some protest about endangered birds’ habitat being infringed on. Long story short, a lot of the bands were cut and the venue was changed to Giant’s stadium. And I got a refund. And I wasn’t going to get to see Beck. wah. Most of my friends were psyched to see Radiohead, but I wanted Beck and I wasn’t getting him. In the end he like cracked a rib right before show time and didn’t play so it was a good thing I got the refund.

Aaaanyway, so I was super psyched to finally see him. He played tons of song from all the albums, old and new. There were only about 3 all night that I didn’t know. The funny thing.. since I’ve been “buying” digital music for the past 5 years and I sit at work with a drive full of 5,000 songs on random and listen to them, I no longer know song names or what albums their from.. but I recognize the songs immediately. Luckily Andrew is a slow-comer to the digital revolution and was there to tell me the title of each song and which album it was from.

Beck, being Beck, can do just about anything and you’ll just look at the guy you’re standing next to and say “well, he IS Beck!” Example: The awesome lame dancer who was on stage wearing a sweatsuit and sweatbands and dancing like that dorky kid at the school dance. Example: During The Golden Age the whole band, except Beck, sat down at a dinner table on stage and ate dinner.. except this wasn’t any dinner. Soon the only instruments being played were dishes with silverware. .. plates, bowls, glasses of water. It turned from the slow mellow song into an upbeat jam and it was AWESOME.

My favorite song of the night was Mixed Bizness. I was also really impressed with a cover Beck did of the Flaming Lips song Do You Realize. Awesome. Andrew totally called the encore – E-Pro, although it was kind of disappointing that that was the only song in the encore.

One last thing. I was SO happy to see Beck wearing white/tan pants and a dark belt and not black pants with a white belt. I’m SO over that.

See also:
» Beck – Guero
» Satan Gave Me a Taco
» Field Day

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Satan Gave Me a Taco

March 22nd, 2004 · 9 Comments

Satan gave me a taco and it made me really sick. The chicken was all raw and the grease was mighty thick. The rice was all rancid and the beans were so hard. I was getting kinda dizzy eating all the lard. There was aphids on the lettuce and I ate every one and after I was done the salsa melted off my tongue. Pieces of tortilla got stuck in my throat and the stains on my clothes burned a hole through my coat.

My stomach was a’tremblin’ and I broke out in a rash. I was so dry and thirsty and I didn’t have no cash. So I went and found a hose, tore off all my clothes, turned on the water and it shot right up my nose. Some old lady came along and she thought I was a freak so she beat me with her handbag ’til I could hardly speak.

I was lying there naked, my body badly bruised in a pool of my own blood, unconscious and confused. Well the cops came and got me and threw me in their van and I woke up on the ceiling and I couldn’t find my hand.

They took me to the judge, his eyes a’glowin’ red. The courtroom was filled with witches and the dead. Well the sheriff was a hell-hound with fangs and claws. The prisoners were tied up and chained to the walls. The air was getting thick, the smoke was getting thicker. The judge read the verdict, said “Cut off his head!”

Well they placed me on the altar and they raised up the axe. My head was about to explode when I noticed the Marshall stacks. I noticed all the smoke machines, cameras, and the lights. Some guy with a microphone runnin’ around dancin’ in tights and I noticed the crew and the band playin’ down below and I realized I was in a rock video.

So I went and joined the band and I went out on tour and I smoked a lot of heroin and I passed out in manure. I made out with the groupies, started fires backstage, made a lot of money, and I gave it all away.

Well the band got killed so I started a solo career and I won all the awards and I drank all the beer and I opened up the taco stand just to smell the smell. Cookin’ with the devil fryin’ down in hell.

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The lyrics to Satan Gave Me a Taco by Beck have to be some of my favorite lyrics ever. EVER. I love it. I only know one other person who is into this song as much as me and we’ve had several conversations about it over the years and have sung it together on occasion. Every time I play it for anyone else they’re kind of like ‘uh.. yeh.. ” But I can’t get enough of it. Beck is genius.

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Modest Mouse

August 25th, 2003 · 18 Comments

Modest MouseIt’s all coming together. Finally.

Last week I asked Eric, who is usually pretty hip to the music scene, if he liked the band Modest Mouse and he said he’d never heard of them. I thought it was odd because I’ve heard their music and the buzz around the band a fair amount and I’m usually a few steps behind him and a couple other friends I know who are way into indie rock. I went to Michelle’s that night and was hanging out with Doug & Jenny and watching TV and this Nissan ad comes on. And in the background a Modest Mouse song is playing. AHA! Satisfied that I’d solved the mystery, I purchased the song Gravity Rides Everything from the iTunes Music Store and compulsively listened to it over and over (only about 40 times in 1 day).

Today, I was researching the band online and noticed they’re from the Seattle area. Now I’m thinking that I probably heard them a lot when I was out in Seattle and then came back here and heard them on the Nissan commercial and that’s how it all came about.

I never listen to the radio in New York. NEVER. Ok, except if there’s a blackout. While I was in Seattle I became interested in KEXP and started listening to it online here in New York. KEXP plays all kinds of bands and songs that should be, but never are, played on the radio. Bands like The Dandy Warhols, Interpol, Fountains of Wayne, Idlewild, The Chemicals, The Pixies, The Replacements, Travis, Moby, Radiohead, Beck, Bjork, Dashboard Confessional, and.. and.. Modest Mouse. So, you see.. it’s all coming together. And it all makes sense now.

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