Nobody Tells Me When To Get Down, Bud 3 May 2000

9:50 PM: Beck was good. It didn't leave me as impressed as the show from a few years ago. Not quite sure why. The sound was awful, of course. Too Much Bass. But as well, his James Brown imitation just sort of didn't work that well. Especially when the muddy mix and the TMB combine with that kind of stupid overloud shouting style to make it like listening to a BART train announcement; that's not fun or provocative, it's just annoying.

Having said that, when he did finally shut up and play his guitar, the musical numbers were great, "Milk & Honey" and "Nicotine and Gravy" from Midnite Vultures, the new CD, particularly. The standout of the whole show, though, was "Debra", the falsetto seduction song that's the last track on the CD. Everything about the show worked for those 15 minutes. Even his talking. "Do you like that chicken? I like that rotisserie chicken - with the juices drippin off the bone - maybe a little paprika on it..." And the colorful lights and the mirror ball and the giant bed dropping from the ceiling and, oh, all of it.

He took an acoustic break about halfway through, just Boy & Guitar. It seemed to confuse many people around me, so I guess that's some proof that the new CD worked at bringing him some new listeners, and that's good, right? Makes it hard to hear the songs, though. The teenage girl behind me tried her very, very best to shut up and listen, but after a few minutes - just about exactly the duration of a commercial break, I think - it became too much for her and this babble would burst out, like she'd been talking with her mouth closed all the time, and the words had piled up behind her lips.

Beck ended up doing a lot of songs from Mutations, too - most of the second half of the show was from that and Odelay. I didn't expect that. I like those songs. This band did okay versions of them. TMB. I just don't get that - I mean, the sound board people were standing maybe 10 feet away from me. Can't they hear it? Do they not care? What is the reason for letting it sound like it's coming from the bottom of a giant oil drum?

The show ended with a long, "art" breakdown: this annoying synth loop playing over & over, everyone acting all machine-like and possessed, Beck looking like a Borg and pulling a strip of crime scene tape across the front of the stage. I liked the conga player holding the little stuffed alien over all their heads, like an icon. The big tubes were a little disturbing.

I have to mention the opening band, too, Cafe Tecumba. Probably the best Mexican techno-soul-mariachi-bolero-salsa-punk-ska-reggae-thrash band I've ever seen. Or ever will.

Then home, and the amazing new episodes of Buffy and Angel. Sweeps much? I was glad they didn't kill off Faith, sad to see Oz go, thank god and it's about time that Willow & Tara came out, and hello, Buffy, roommate, usually within 10 feet, notice her at all these last few months? Self-involved prat. Riley is as much an anarchist as I am a plutocrat. Less. I should probably watch both episodes again without having been out all night first, though. It's all a wee bit blurry.

I am mostly talking about yesterday because Today has been a nothing day.

Willfully blind self-indulgent nebbish or amusingly quirky old coot? And how bout that local sports team? Discuss among yourselves.

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