It’s now over 30-years since the alt-pop chameleon gatecrashed the mainstream with his worldwide smash slacker anthem “Loser”, the starting pistol on a rule-breaking shapeshifting career.
Beck performs with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Edwin Outwater at the Royal Albert Hall (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)
On a sublime night in the grand old hall, there was a full metamorphosis into baroque pop maestro. It saw the erstwhile prince of ironic detached cool predominantly embroider his vulnerable side: half of the 24 song “deep dive” set was made up of 2002’s beautifully barren acoustic balladeer break-up album Sea Change and its spiritual heir Morning Phase, his 2014 Grammy winning album that so vexed Kanye West into an award ceremony stage invasion protest.
The upbeat makeovers of 1996’s “The New Pollution” and particularly 1998’s Brazilian flavoured “Tropicalia” came over like Quincy Jones’ 1962 track “Soul Bossa Nova” that was famously used by the Austin Powers franchise.
Beck performs with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Edwin Outwater at the Royal Albert Hall on April 19, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)
But even in refined circumstances, still improbably boyish at 54 in a dark suit and a mass of waspy blonde hair, Beck remained a charm. He revealed he was a “secret goth” prior to a cover of This Mortal Coil’s “Tarantula”; before the French camber pop of “We Live Again” he told us Francois Hardy once pulled him up for ripping her off (”yeah, busted”).
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After a closing sweep of stream-of-consciousness funky hip hop 1996 hit “Where It’s At”, the orchestra exited. “What shall we do now we got rid of all the deadweight?” he quipped. The answer was to flick a switch and revert to full song-and-dance showman mode, playing a joy-filled four song encore with his four-piece band.
With Beck liberated, wandering the depth of the empty stage in his shimmying, wise-cracking element, mock-playing instruments left behind by the orchestra, he stormed through “Devil’s Haircut” and led a unifying, closing hands-in-the-air singalong of ”Loser.” It was typical multitudinal Beck; even when delivering a supremely beautiful night, he can never be merely one thing for too long.
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