June 2006, Georgia Theatre, Athens, Ga.
I was in my 20s when Mellow Gold came out, and it was decreed by the older generation that Beck was the speaker for my generation based solely on the song “Loser,” a song I liked at first and now hate almost as much as I hate “Margaritaville”. With “Loser” and the movie Slacker, there was a sense the Gen X 20-somethings of the time were a cast of aimless, shiftless do-nothing entities. It’s not true, but I’ve at times said the same thing about the upcoming generation — it’s an endless cycle that people in their 40s think people in their 20s aren’t doing enough.
Oh, and get off my lawn.
Of course Beck shook off this Slacker king title by continuing to produce weird and inventive music which bordered the boundaries of several genres. Odelay, with the hits “Where It’s At,” “Devils Haircut” and “The New Pollution,” sent Beck into a huge realm of popularity, but Midnite Vultures is really where it’s at. With influences from Grandmaster Flash, Velvet Underground, Prince and David Bowie, the album is about as much fun as your ears can have.
Beck is a huge talent who can play in venues 10 times the size of the Georgia Theatre, but that’s the cool thing about Athens, huge bands play tiny venues because of what the city has achieved musically. I remember a conversation with the Theatre’s former owner when I asked about the Beck show. I think he said he might have lost money on the show, but who cares because Beck played the Georgia Theatre.
There were two shows (actually three, but I’ll get to that) and I went to the first one. It was a sold-out crowd of happy, happy people and Beck and his large band of musicians (and puppets) obliged with a show of non-stop gems.
The Information, Beck’s 10th album, was released a few months before the show, while 2005’s Guero was continuing to have songs played in popular rotation. With a wealth of songs to choose from, Beck roamed through 23 songs with a patient pace, playing old favorites (the opener “Devils Haircut,” “Hotwax,” “Minus”) as well as newer hits he fashioned with the Dust Brothers (“Hell Yes” and “Black Tambourine”). And in true odd Beck style, the screen behind the band was showing the band — in puppet form — playing songs as the band was playing them. The real Beck, wearing a wide hat, black vest and white shirt, was mirrored by the puppet Beck. Rock-star puppets are a total Beck thing.
The show ended in a flourish — “Sexx Laws,” “Where It’s At,” “Loser,” “E-Pro” — with Loser not sounding as bad, even though I got the sense Beck isn’t so keen on playing it anymore. As the band walked off stage the crowd longed for an encore that didn’t come.
Why?
Because the band ducked out the back, went across the street, and did a 50-minute encore at the Georgia Bar. Stepping up to the mic and announcing they were the “new house band,” Beck played “Billie Jean,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” rambled into some Justin Timberlake, then added “Debra” and “Nausea” for good measure. It was, as you learn after living in Athens for a little while, an only-in-Athens moment.
