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Sam and I went to go see Beck and company at Climate Pledge Arena Tuesday night. Beck is calling this tour the “Summer Odyssey” tour and it’s almost like a mini music festival. Four bands playing a show, while not unheard of, is not all that common. There are a lot of logistical issues to deal with when you have that many bands playing one after the other. The Seattle show was the first stop on the tour and it’s being billed as Beck and Phoenix with Jenny Lewis and Sir Chloe. What does that mean? Well, I guess it’s supposed to be Beck and Phoenix co-headlining the tour but Beck is the clear draw for most people.
None of these artists could fill Climate Pledge by themselves and it turns out they couldn’t with their combined pull either. I’d say the show was 95% sold but that also includes the fact that they also curtained the upper decks. It actually makes sense and is one thing I like about the way they built the new Climate Pledge Arena. They can simply drop curtains on the upper deck and leave those seats empty without it feeling like a 1/2 sold show. It effectively gives the arena a more cozy feel.
First up was Sir Chloe. I’d never listened to them prior to buying tickets to the concert but I put together a playlist and spent some time getting to know them in the week leading up to the show and they’re actually pretty good. From a rock music perspective they are probably the most straightforward guitar driven rock band of the four. I felt bad for them though. As the opening band, and having an early start (part of the whole four band thing), they really didn’t have a chance. Sam and I pay good money to see a show and we intend to get our money’s worth and attend the whole show but a lot of people aren’t like us. They time it to show up for the main act and that’s it. Especially with the early time slot (5:45pm) the arena was almost empty when Sir Chloe played. I suppose they knew it would be going into it but if I were them I’d still feel bummed. Maybe they feel that just getting some name recognition by being on the tour will help them in the long run. It worked on me. I would have never listened to them if it weren’t for the fact that they were going to play the event.
Next was Jenny Lewis. I’ve at least heard of Jenny Lewis and knew a couple of songs but again really wasn’t familiar with her music. She initially was the lead singer for Rilo Kiley in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and was in a couple of other bands prior to going it alone as a solo artist. I’d classify her musical style as indie rock but she’s got some alt-country thrown in. The arena was probably 50% when she took the stage and it was obvious that she is fairly well known. The audience seemed quite a bit more into her music than the few people who were there for Sir Chloe’s set.
Phoenix is more of a known quantity. The thing with Phoenix is that (in my humble opinion) every song is basically the same formula and sometimes it’s hard for me to tell one song for the other. I guess that can be both bad and good. On the good side if you like songs like 1901 or Lisztomania then you’ll probably like all their music. If you don’t like those songs then nothing else in their musical inventory is likely to win you over. Their music is pure pop and even if you’ve never heard of them you’ve probably listened to them. I’d hazard a guess that they’re playing on your local grocery store’s sound system right now and you don’t even realize you’re humming along to the tune. Without ever consciously sitting down to listen to their music I realized that I knew almost every song they played in their set. Luckily I find I like them even though the music is pretty disposable fluff. It is interesting that the band is from France and you might think they would sing in French but (I don’t recall if the lead singer said this during the concert or if I read it somewhere earlier) they feel rock is an English language phenomenon and rock should be sung in English. It’s an interesting thought and they’re probably right.
The sound at Climate Pledge is excellent and the first three bands played their songs pretty much as they recorded them. I assume most people want to hear the songs that way but Sam and I agree that we like to hear different versions and alternate takes on music. If bands are going to play their music exactly like they recorded it in the studio that takes some of the fun out of it for us. Maybe that’s why Sam and I like jam bands, you never experience the same music twice.
Beck is another story. I was curious to see how Beck would play his music in a live setting. Much of his music includes samples and loops that have always seemed to me like it would be difficult to recreate outside a studio. Also, how to categorize Beck’s music? I guess you’d call it Alternative, but Alternative what? Rock, sure, but there are so many sub-genres and Beck is the great musical chameleon. On the one hand he does a cover of Neil Young’s “Old Man” that straight up sounds like Neil Young is singing but the vast majority of Beck’s music is totally off the wall. There are times when you wonder if it’s even him singing. I’ve jokingly called Beck the biggest one hit wonder artist of all time. I rarely like every song on any of his albums but there are almost always two or three songs on every album that are true earworm songs that you listen too and they’re stuck in your head forever. You put enough of those songs together over time and you end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I read one comment about him that I think sums up his music pretty well, “He has dozens of absolute (sic) fantastic songs which hit all genres like buckshot (often in the same song).” Another website says, “Beck is the ultimate anything-goes artist — at this point, it’s a cliche to describe him as “unpredictable.”….His next project could be a rap opera or a black metal concept LP — neither would be surprising.”
So, how did he do? Pretty well, I’d say. He pretty much stuck to hits and furthermore played mostly upbeat dance tunes as opposed to some of his slower music. He played guitar about half the time and even though there were some samples and loops where they were needed, for the most part he and the backing band pretty much played the songs without a lot of effects. It was a refreshing take on his music and I enjoyed the change from the studio versions.
The concert started at 5:45pm and didn’t get done until 11pm so it was a full evening of music. Sam and I agreed it was a great concert from start to finish. Lots of fun.
