I need your loving like the sunshine

dear friends,

this past sunday, the monkey & I went to keyspan park in beauteous coney island to see beck. they have a two beer at a time MINIMUM inside the stadium so as you can imagine, while it didn't end in tears, the evening wrapped in a fuzzy love the world & you sorta way.

firstly, the polyphonic spree: nice racket, harps, robes look like charlie brown, the chorus doing some very boring & repetitive "dance moves"...

- interjection of conversational snippet -

d: the chorus only has one move. this one... (demonstrates up with people side to side arm raised sway)...bla-ah! you know why they only have that one move & variations thereof?

j: no. why?

d: 'cause they're all white.

j: ah...I hadn't noticed.

d: that's the FIRST thing I notice. if there were latinos in there, there might be at least some hip action or something.

- back to the listing -

...odd similarities to the secret machines in the build, build, build, big beat come in, vocal remains steady, more build (evidence of their shared history*, p'raps?), lots of songs about the sun, jesus poses.

I liked the spree but every song had a big, big climax. every song. after a bit, I started to get antsy. I blame my cynicism & the fact that I wasn't at the front of the stage basking in their love. the people that danced there, spinning in circles in the setting sun as bubbles flew past, were having the time of their life. & there ain't nothing wrong with that.

secondly, belle & sebastian: another thousand band members, tinkly & sweet, violins, good banter from all their singers, which must be some kinda band record...

long break wherein I went on a mission to find pizza. it was fraught with peril.

later, munching...

d: that stuart murdoch (clad in mets t-shirt!) is kinda foxy. I didn't picture him that way. I figured he'd be dorkier.

j: I think he's gay.

d: really?

j: they have a huge gay following.

d: yeah but that don't mean he is...besides, he can still be foxy.

j: true.

I did enjoy that judy & the dream of horses. but alas, no fox in the snow. sniff.

finally beck & his band of minions! at this point I was pretty toasted so any attempts to write down the set list or jot down notes about the show was thrown out into the briny atlantic breeze. there was some initial confusion as to where beck was onstage 'cause he was sporting a fedora that obscured his apple cheeked 12 year old face.

j: where's beck?

d: in the front, under that big hat!

j: oh yeah! who is the guy dancing?

d: where? (squinting) oh...who is that?

j: I thought it was beck, he dances just like him. do you think beck hired him to do the dance moves he normally does?!?

d: probably. wow. he's made it.

so yes, beck's green jump-suited dancing dark haired doppelganger, whom he later credited, during the I-totally-called-it-when-the-groove-slowed-down obligatory introduce the band jam, with "percussion & body movements", was going crazy with the kicking & the robot & what have you. later, whirlwind heat came out (also clad in green jumpsuits. has beck taken a page off of jack white's concert rule book? hmmm?) carrying boom boxes of ridiculous size during a pumped up where it's at?

me, I was freakin' ECSTATIC when anything off of midnight vultures was played & it was played plenty. I love that record. I never really bought the caucasian chalk critic assessment of it as a "minstrel" album. it was a bad ass party record. nothing crazy or revolutionary about the groove. I did a frantic but still sinuous in-my-chair dance as beck sang touching lyrics like "we like the girls with the cellophane chests" & "mixing business with heather/freaks flock together". too bad he didn't do beautiful way. sigh. sometimes, you can't have it all.

the highlight of the night for me was the beck solo acoustic set where it looked like the rest of his band was sitting down for cocktails at a table set up on the right of stage. normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to the props since beck had a gigantic red bed on stage during one tour which he barely used. but I'll get back to that... he did a beautiful lost cause and everybody's got to learn sometime. the latter which he dedicated to michel gondry.

people a row behind us:

guy: what did...who's that?

girl #1: the video director!

guy: who?

girl #2: yeah, she's really good.

girl #1: he! he's french!

guy: who?

girl #2: why is his name michelle? oh right, french. my bad! where's my beer?

girl #1: you know, he directed that cool video! & something else...that movie...whatsis

guy: video? movie? what?

d: (shrieking) ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND!

all of 'em: oh yeah. he's really good! thanks! oh my god, that's such a good movie!

when beck started into golden age the table of drinkers on stage revealed their purpose. they began to "play" their glasses; wetting their fingers around the rims or clinking the sides with their silverware so that eventually there was something like a moroccan sounding percussive orgy taking place & this foray into gorgeous sad bastard balladry was brought to an oddly joyful close. nice. (pronounced: na-ishhh)

eventually the party had to end & it did with shouts of "na na, na na na na, na na" from e-pro. we went home to our nest, buzzed & content. october is shaping up to be just as good as september. bring on the autumn leaves!

love, d

PS I have an extra ticket for the brakes show tonight at 8:30 at piano's free to whoever wants to come with...let me know!

* secret machines guitarist, ben curtis, used to play drums in spree leader, tim delaughter's mid-90's band, tripping daisy. they had a minor hit with the song I got a girl.