I don’t know who started that “Clapton is God” business. God is clearly Jeff Beck.
Beck’s band consisted of Narada Michael Walden on drums, Jason Rebello on keyboards, and phenomenal bass player Rhonda Smith—formerly with Prince. Later Beck was joined by a 22-piece orchestra–quite a shocker.
The only predictable thing about Beck is that he’ll always wear black and white, sneakers, and no sleeves; this time, with silver cuff bracelets. He doesn’t sing, he rarely talks, and I pity the camera operators trying to get a shot of his face—he’s always got his head tilted at an angle that hides it. Forget song titles—unless you’ve studied all his work, you’re not going to know what he’s playing unless it’s somebody else’s song. He says “Thank you,” waves goodbye, and that’s all you’re going to get out of him…besides the most out-of-this-world music since Jimi Hendrix.
Beck’s set was a real Chinese menu: one from each column. The set list would’ve seemed crazy coming from anyone else. (See below) From his new Emotion & Commotion CD, he delivered “Nessun Dorma,” the tenor aria from Turandot, perfectly suited to his operatic style. The Beatles’ groundbreaking “A Day in the Life” was a spectacular, unexpected treat—and when he banged that final chord, it was banged for all time.
I was so hypnotized during the rest of the set, I forgot to take notes. Beck put the whammy on us all, his finger tips on the very end of that bar, shimmying it fast as a hummingbird flies. It’s almost his seventh string. As for his band, Rhonda Smith was a monster: the huge, badass bottom she provided was the perfect foil for the master blaster’s soaring, stinging sound.
What can I say about Clapton? Nobody gets more out of an acoustic guitar, but his set list was lazy. I really don’t need to hear “Cocaine,” “Key to the Highway,” “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out,” or “I Shot The Sheriff” again, but I appreciated “I’ve Got A Rock n Roll Heart” unplugged.
He fronted a band of faultless stalwarts: Chris Stainton and Walt Richmond on keyboards, Willie Weeks on bass, and Steve Gadd on drums. But the backup singers—oh, dear! I don’t know who let Michelle John and Sharon White come up with their warbly nun’s choir-sound on the lines “but I did not shoot the deputy,” and “they say it was a capital offense,” but s/he should be shot. I couldn’t believe my ears– after doing a fine job everywhere else, suddenly the two of them went into their noses and heads to produce the most awful soprano sounds this side of Tiny Tim. Not rock & roll, not r&b. Every time they repeated the lines I cringed.
The Beck-Clapton set featured some wildly out-of-the-box duets, but no dueling guitars. The boys played nice, working with, not against each other, their contrasting styles complementing, not clashing. Clapton did all the singing, which I suppose was inevitable, since Beck seems to think he can’t sing, or at least doesn’t want to, but I’ve heard him and he’s good. Clapton used to have the same problem.
The most daring—and satisfying—collaborations of the night were “I Wanna Take You Higher” and “Moon River.” Wherever Sly is on this planet, he shoulda heard what they done to his song. He’d smile. But when they launched into the Mercer-Mancini chestnut, I thought, OMG they done lost their motherf***ing minds. I was wrong. Yeah, it was schmaltzy, but Beck’s playing was gorgeous.
“Crossroads” was the surefire crowd-pleasing encore, but I was still reeling from hearing them kick the Family Stone around the block and slide on down the Moon River.
Gripes? More Jeff Beck, please.
Set Lists:
Jeff Beck
01. Eternity’s Breath
02. Stratus
03. Led Boots
04. Corpus Christi Carol
05. Bass solo featuring Rhonda Smith
06. Hammerhead
07. Mna Na Heireann
08. Brush With The Blues
09. Big Block
10. A Day In The Life
11. Nessun Dorma
Eric Clapton
01. Driftin’ – acoustic
02. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out – acoustic
03. Running On Faith – acoustic
04. I’ve Got A Rock ‘N Roll Heart – acoustic
05. Tell The Truth
06. Key To The Highway
07. I Shot The Sheriff
09. Little Queen Of Spades
10. Cocaine
Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton
01. Shake Your Moneymaker
02. Moon River
03. You Need Love
04. Outside Woman Blues
05. Little Brown Bird
06. Wee Wee Baby
07. (I Want To Take You) Higher
08. Crossroads – encore
