To traverse the 250-foot mountain that is Nob Hill to reach The Masonic is an act of blind faith. But trust in Beck, and he will deliver.
On the sixth stop of his Ride Lonesome Tour, Beck took the stage dressed in a red blazer and a tie that hung loose around his neck but tucked neatly into his white slacks. The set started off mellow, with the screen behind him playing a looping video of ocean waves as he serenaded a predominantly Gen X audience with the second single from his new album “In The Night.” The opening songs highlighted the sharp acoustic chime of new steel strings and created a blanket of sound that floats above the pit.
After each song, the lights went out, plunging the band — and the audience — into complete darkness. This began an enduring battle with technology. While most of the issues manifested as faulty lighting, there were moments during songs such as “Bleed” when Beck visibly tore out his earpiece during the harmonies. “I think our board blew up,” the singer joked.
Despite this, The Masonic provided excellent acoustics to showcase Beck’s vocals, which were remarkably faithful to their studio counterparts. At times, his eyes became heavy-lidded as he stared out at nothing in particular, just taking in the sound. His backing band, he gushed, is composed of “ridiculous musicians,” including guitarist Smokey Hormel, drummer Joey Waronker and bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen. The Bay Area crowd was particularly thrilled to see guitarist Jason Falkner and keyboardist Roger Manning, who are members of Beck’s longtime touring band and former members of the San Francisco-based rock band Jellyfish.
In the final third of the show, the crowd finally rose to their feet for “Devils Haircut.” Old-school grunge fans rocked their heads, hippies swayed wildly and a few younger fans raised their arms in the air, pointing toward Beck — perhaps trying to communicate something along the lines of “you’re the man.” Every now and then, a couple of pieces of pink confetti drifted from the ceiling in what one might assume to be a residual effect of the lingering technical difficulties. Either that or the heavy stomping and clapping of the enthusiastic audience rocked a few bits out of the rafters.
The setlist naturally focused on songs from the tour’s namesake album, though 2005’s Guero followed closely behind with four rock-heavy tracks to Ride Lonesome’s five. Most of these came near the back end of the show when Beck played “Girl,” “Qué Onda Güero” and “E-Pro” back to back. “E-Pro” in particular got the crowd going; Falkner’s electric guitar solo ripped through the room, and the “na-na-nas” of the chorus became louder and louder as the audience joined in.
However, nothing tops what happened minutes later, when the switch to a distortion pedal signaled the big one: “Loser.” The massive ’90s hit from Beck’s debut album Mellow Gold ensured that not a single seat remained filled. The 56-year-old rock star sauntered around the stage like he owned it, flaunting a well-worn swagger as he sang the nonsensical lyrics that started it all.
After “Where It’s At” faded out, the distortion died, the clapping quieted and the rainbow of stage lights dimmed. The band left the stage, but the audience didn’t give in — it wanted an encore. After a minute or two, Beck reappeared alone on stage. He dreamily recalled a time before his career when he learned a song in a New York City bar, assuming a famous musician had written it, only to find it was by a friend of a friend. Beck ended the show with “True Love Will Find You in the End,” a song from that very friend, Daniel Johnston, a soft and saccharine acoustic number that makes descending Nob Hill seem a little less daunting.