Community Service And I’m Still The Mack

Beck @ Prospect Park Bandshell 8/4/2013
Devil’s Haircut / Black Tambourine / Soul of a Man / One Foot in the Grave / Tainted Love – Modern Guilt / Think I’m In Love – I Feel Love / Gamma Ray / Loser / Hotwax / Que Onda Guero / Girl / Soldier Jane / Chemtrails / The Golden Age / Lost Cause / Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes / Just Noise / Heaven’s Ladder / 14 Rivers 14 Floods / Sissyneck – Billie Jean // E-Pro / Where It’s At

Beck’s approach to setlists over the past few years boils down to: “Here is a totally delightful overview of my incredible body of work without anything from my masterpiece, Midnite Vultures.” (Or Mutations, for that matter.) I don’t feel aggrieved about this because his show is very, very good and entertaining, but it’s just getting to a point where it’s very confusing and strange that Beck himself seems to have negative feelings about this period of his work even if many, many people believe that it’s actually his finest era. It’s not as if a cut from either of those records wouldn’t have fit in – the show basically moved between four basic modes – blues-based rock, blank-eyed psychedelia, sad folky stuff, and goofy funk. It’s very impressive how well the set flows between these vibes: The shifts never seem jarring, though I did notice how much the freeform, silly lyrics of his mid-90s period differs from the most blunt and plainspoken words of his more recent material.