Beck showcases true colors at Maverik Center concert
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Sept. 22.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
A concertgoer takes a smartphone video as Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
Beck performs at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018.
I am constantly amazed with Beck’s ability to master and fuse musical styles seemingly as numerous as the colors visible to the eye in the songs he creates.
This musical diversity was on display at Beck’s “Colors” tour stop Saturday night at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, featuring repertoire representing genres from rock to hip-hop and pretty much everything in between.
Beck kicked off the concert rocking out to a few older favorites including “Devils Haircut,” “Loser” and “The New Pollution.” And it wasn’t long before he tapped into some new tracks from his latest pop-rock album, like “I’m So Free” and the title track, “Colors.”
His acoustic performance of “Debra” led straight into a cover of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret,” which prompted an a capella chorus from the mostly full crowd. He then threw the cool, slow rhythms of “Earthquake Weather” into the set for the “diehards” in the audience.
Beck said at the concert he wanted to infuse some of the energy from the crowds at his shows into his new “Colors” album, and the resultant excitement and enthusiasm at the Maverik Center was contagious among the fans of all ages in attendance.
The show also included plenty of interesting colorful and geometric backgrounds to match the new album title and accompany the set.
After a shredding guitar solo from the lead guitarist on “Go It Alone” and a special performance of “Chemtrails,” which Beck said he hadn’t performed in a long time, the band moved temporarily to a spotlighted area on one side of the stage to take audience song requests and perform a softer, folk acoustic set of “Lost Cause,” “Say Goodbye” and “Blue Moon,” complete with banjo and mandolin.
The band then returned to its original position onstage to prove it can rock with the best of them on another “Colors” track, “Dreams,” which is just so darn catchy it had practically everyone dancing. The dance party continued with a lightning-fast rendition of “Girl” and the signature rap and hip-hop vibes of “Wow” that reminded me of all that I know and love about Beck.
Beck left the stage after upbeat renditions of “Up All Night” and “E-Pro,” concluding with an accelerating outro that ended in the frontman dropping his black, wide-brimmed hat on the shredding lead guitarist’s head. The band was only gone for a moment before returning onstage for an encore, beckoned by the Utah crowd’s wild applause.
“We’ve been on tour the last few weeks, and this is by far the best show thanks to you,” Beck said following the encore’s classic opener, “Where It’s At.” “I feel so comfortable with all of you. I feel like I just walked into a backyard with all of my friends. … We see a lot of places, a lot of different states, a lot of countries, and sometimes, you stumble into a place and it feels a little bit like home.”
Beck cleverly intermixed snippets of covers into his songs throughout the night, including a bit of Sergio Mendes’ Latin-infused “Mas Que Nada” at the end of “Earthquake Weather” and a line from The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” in the intro to “Where It’s At.”
The frontman then introduced his band, allowing each member in turn to jam onstage to an excerpt from a classic song and show off his or her musical talent.
Beck at times played a guitar or tambourine as he sang during the night, and at this point showcased his mad harmonica skills with “One Foot in the Grave.” He also invited a couple of members from opening band The Voidz back onstage for a cover of The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.”
The group then jumped back to a reprise of “Where It’s At” to finish the concert, cellphone lights jumping throughout the crowd at Beck’s command as he sang the last of the song and danced off the stage with the rest of the band.
All in all, the night was a feast for the ears, kept interesting by Beck’s excellent musicianship and variety in musical styles.
“I want to thank you all for coming out tonight, and it means a lot to be going around through all these cities and then come back somewhere we haven’t been in a while and a bunch of friends show up, so I really appreciate that,” Beck told the crowd. “I also want to thank you for indulging the wild, vacillating styles and sounds that you’ve let me explore and had patience with.”
Our pleasure.
Beck
Maverik Center
Sept. 22, 2018
Devils Haircut
Loser
The New Pollution
Mixed Bizness
I’m So Free
Debra
Raspberry Beret (Prince cover)
Earthquake Weather
Colors
Dear Life
Go It Alone
Chemtrails
Lost Cause
Say Goodbye
Blue Moon
Dreams
Girl
Wow
Up All Night
E-Pro
Encore
Where It’s At
One Foot in the Grave
Don’t You Want Me (The Human League cover)