Beck kicks off Austin fest with small downtown show
AUSTIN — Under menacing storm clouds, the multifaceted, genre-busting entertainer Beck hopped out onto the patio stage at Stubb's BBQ in downtown Thursday night and got the crowd jumping with Devil's Haircut.
Two songs later, the capacity crowd of about 2,000 enthusiasts roared with delight and sang along to Loser, Beck's anthem song that ushered him onto the world stage. "I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?"
The high-energy, sold-out show seemed an appropriate way to kick off the 13th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival, which runs for two weekends starting Friday. More than 130 bands are to perform across eight stages during the six-day music marathon, including headliners Eminem, Pearl Jam, Outkast, Foster the People and Lorde.
The festival began in 2002, inspired by the famed public television music program Austin City Limits. Last year, thanks to sold-out shows, organizers added an extra weekend. Many of the headlining acts, such as Beck, perform both weekends.
But an offshoot sport at the festival is discovering which bands — both big and obscure — might be playing the myriad small music clubs around Austin.
Katie Lindsay, 31, flew in from Chicago for the first weekend of ACL Fest. The festival, is fun for soaking up sun and catching up with friends, she said, but the true music is in the clubs.
"Less people, smaller venue, better music experience," Lindsay said from inside Stubb's to see Beck. "Right here is where you really get the music."
On Thursday, Lindsay and hundreds of other fans crowded in as Beck, backed by a six-piece band, went through a catalog of newer tunes, such as Blue Moon, released earlier this year, and popular older ones. Lightning streaked in the distance across a clouded sky as Beck performed the popular and melancholy Lost Cause. Then, he switched to the infectiously upbeat — though lyrically somber — Girl, which got most of the crowd dancing again.
Heavy guitar riffs during E-Pro reminded listeners that Beck is rooted as deeply in straight-away rock as he is in electronica, folk, funk, hip-hop and country. At about an hour-and-a-half into the show, Beck sealed off the stage in yellow police tape. The stage darkened and the band left.
When he returned, Beck, dressed in a polka-dot button-down shirt, black jacket and a black wide-rimmed hat, commented on the Texas heat. "I feel like Blanche DuBois," he said, referencing the fictional character in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. He then launched into a slow, sultry rendition of Debra.
The show's highlight was undoubtedly its last song — a 30-minute version of Where It's At ("I got two turntables and a microphone"), throughout which Beck introduced members of his band, rattled off nonsensical prose and lit into a stirring harmonica solo.
By the end, the crowd was bouncing up and down, hands waving over their heads, and Beck and band mates were laughing and bowing in unison. It didn't seem like a show belonging to a 44-year-old rocker who has released 12 studio albums and been playing for two decades, but someone much younger doing it for the first time.