Beck & MGMT at The United Palace Theatre
TLC attended the opening night of Beck and MGMT‘s 3-night NYC residence in Harlem’s exquisite United Palace Theatre. Hipsters, frat boys and new fans alike flocked to unknown territory for the sold out event.
I previously saw Beck in 2006 in New Jersey for a very intimate show in promotion of The Information. That show included Spank Rock as the opener however, this time around Beck tapped mainstream “indie” heartthrobs MGMT to kick off the show. TLC also saw MGMT over the summer for the McCarren Park Pool gig that included the Ting Tings.
As we all know that show was quite the experience. Rain, thunder and lightning did not deter fans from waiting hours in line to catch the gig and when all was said and done I really felt like it wasn’t worth it all. I gave the boys the benefit of the doubt this time around but once again I was still left unsatisfied. Bottom line: as much as we like their record, unfortunately MGMT does not translate well live.
Beck on the other hand delivered as usual. Doing his best take on the modern Kurt Cobain grunge look, Beck kept it simplistic. No puppeteering this time around (although it was beyond amazing on the previous tour) and sadly no hype man. No matter what the man does its an act of musical and stage performance geniuosity however I wished he would have given us a more diverse selection of his catalog. A brief skim through Guero and Sea Change did not suffice for me. Although I enjoyed this concert, as a whole I walked away thinking “last tour was so much better.” PS: Thank you to Sharon for sending us the additional pics!
