The word “legend” gets bandied around far too easily these days with some receiving such an accolade for nothing more than prancing around on Tic Toc. Such is the sign of the times.
As one of the few musicians who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, once as a member of the Yardbirds and once as a solo artist as well as being a Grammy and Ivor Novello award winner, guitarist Jeff Beck deserves such praise having influenced just about every guitarist over the last half century or so. The spread of his influence across music cannot be overstated.
His work with British Blues icons, The Yardbirds, who also at one time featured Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page in their ranks, set the ball rolling for a remarkable career that has never looked back.
Tonight, was a rare chance to see Jeff Beck on his return to the region for the first time in 18 years and only his second in over 40 years so this was not to be missed.
With a set of two distinct halves, Beck, looking far younger than his 77 years would suggest, dazzled The Sage with a dextrous display of virtuosity which straddled musical genres from Rock, Blues, Fusion and Soul leaving the admiring crowd aghast. Beck had clearly lost none of his chops.
Aided and abetted by a stunning band including drummer Anika Nilles and bassist Rhonda Smith, Beck delivered a master class in guitar with “Star Cycle”, “Nadia”, “The Rumble” and “Brush The Blues” covering a lot of ground.
The “will he/won’t he” questions flying around the city days before the show which resulted in hundreds of people outside of the stage door along with police and TV crews was answered as Johnny Depp, fresh from his recent court victory, stepped out onto the stage for a warm embrace from Beck, before strapping on his guitar and singing “Heddy Lamar”.
While some of Beck’s longstanding fans looked on rather bemused at the high jacking of the attention by the Hollywood legend, the rest of the crowd embraced the moment with unbridled joy and that appreciation seeped up onto the stage with both Beck and Depp visibly moved by the atmosphere.
Depp may not have the voice to carry off a cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic “What’s Going On” but he used what he had effectively particularly on a ferocious cover of Killing Joke’s “The Death and Resurrection Show” which brought an element of Industrial Post Punk to an already diverse musical buffet.
A beautiful instrumental, “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” and “Corpus Christi Carol”, with Beck alone with only cellist Vanessa Freebairn Smith showed his ability to craft a haunting melody before “A Day In The Life” saw Depp return for the show’s climax.
Whether it was the stunning performance by one of the world’s greatest ever guitarists or a cameo appearance by a Hollywood superstar, tonight was the night that many in attendance will say “I was there”.
Review + Photos by Mick Burgess
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