JEFF BECK at Massey Hall, Tuesday, October 18. Rating: NNN
There aren’t many non-classical guitar players who can hold my attention for more than a song or two without being accompanied by a vocalist, but Jeff Beck is one of the rarities.
His playing is tasteful, evocative and is, in many ways, more about what he can coax out of the instrument than in showing off his own prowess. As he proved at Massey Hall, he doesn’t need to be flashy to hold an audience in the palm of his hand.
Dressed in a black waistcoat and white pleated trousers, Beck infused songs like the traditional Corpus Christie Carol with the same beauty and longing that Jeff Buckley conjured on Grace. Late in the show, he sizzled on Sly and the Family Stone’s Higher. But while Beck makes all the right moves as a guitar player, some of his decisions as a bandleader left a lot to be desired.
The biggest issue was with the decision to have keyboard player Jason Rebello flesh out the spare arrangements – Beck on guitar, Rhonda Smith on bass and Narada Michael Walden on drums – with orchestral synth sounds. Sometimes New Age-y, sometimes akin to what you’d hear during an 80s action flick car chase, the synths were obtrusive, unlike Rebello’s electric piano playing which was a far more natural fit.
Another inescapable problem is that Beck would probably fare better with a singer.
Yes, Beck performs primarily instrumental songs – mostly covers of chestnuts like A Day In The Life, Over The Rainbow and Little Wing – but at various points throughout the show, he turned to his band for vocal accompaniment. Those results were ok, but not great. Worse was choosing to perform Les Paul and Mary Ford’s How High The Moon? along with a recording of the original vocal track.
Considering the amount of money fans were shelling out at the merch booth – where t-shirts, posters, key chains and scarves were just the tip of the money-making iceberg – surely Beck could’ve foot the bill for a part-time singer.
Shortfalls and all, Beck owns the stage. Rarely speaking into the microphone which was set up a good distance away from centre stage, he primarily communicated through mimes and gestures, eliciting laughs from the crowd. Rarer still was when he removed his aviator shades, which he did mostly when looking at Smith playing bass. A hint more showy than her boss, Smith pretty much gave a master class in the lower register. She deserved all the attention she received.
