The Thebarton Theatre was buzzing before the show, with the mix of older music fans and quite a few musos downing a quick beer before heading in to witness the return of Jeff Beck.
Bob came on stage first, playing a mix of acoustic blues and Indian inspired tunes, his clean and controlled voice reminiscent of Robben Ford. As he changed guitars he talked about his love of southern blues and Indian music, and the similarities in some of the rhythm and – œin between’ sounds musicians of each genre achieve through bends or the use of slide. The highlight of his set came as he looped a percussive backing track giving the train rhythm of southern blues. He then looped his voice imitating a tabla player and proceeded to sing blues lyrics interspersed with Indian inspired wailing. His solos skillfully mixed blues and Indian sounding slide.
After a half hour break, the crowd tricked back in and took their seats waiting to see the man. The stage was fairly simple: drums, a bass stack, keyboard, and Jeff’s Fender amp and two Marshal Stacks. Jeff came on wearing leather pants, a white shirt, black vest and white scarf, with his band and picked up his signature model cream Strat. After nodding to his cheering fans they launched into the high energy Beck’s Bolero and then The Pump.
It’s not that often you get to see one of the original rock greats on guitar; Jeff’s last tour of Australia was in 1977. Jeff Beck was a young gun guitarist along with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page in the thriving British blues/ rock scene of the 60s. His first claim to fame was replacing Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds, when Clapton left to join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Jimmy Page was also a member. It was during Jeff’s time in the Yardbirds that they recorded most of their hits, even though his time with them lasted only 18 months. He left and formed The Jeff Beck Group, with Rod Stewart on vocals. He recorded two landmark jazz-fusion albums during the seventies, Blow By Blow and Wired which were two of the most top-selling guitar instrumental albums of all time. In and out of retirement, he recorded two Grammy winning albums Flash and Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop with Terry Bozzio and Tony Hymas.
Instrumental music of this nature has the potential to turn into lengthy, undirected jams, but he kept the songs short and didn’t blaze away for the sake of it. On the contrary, Jeff showed a mastery of restraint and force, knowing exactly when to unleash distorted fury and when to play delicately. His band was simply set up and was perfectly balanced. They didn’t so much back him, as all jam together. Vinnie Colaiuta was a powerful drummer, and Jeff stepped aside at times to let Keyboarder David Sancious, and bassist Tal Wilkenfeld solo. 22-year-old Sydney born Tal was especially impressive on bass, pumping out funky jazz grooves, and also showing the delicate touch that Jeff does so well. Angel (footsteps) featured Jeff playing slide with his right hand above the neck of the guitar, producing a delicate and beautiful sound which drew the crowd in. Brush With The Blues was a perfect example of Jeff’s style. Delicately finger picking, using the whammy bar and volume control to add nuance, he told stories through his guitar. The song steadily built, with him all over the guitar, finger tapping, using the whammy and volume control to shape the notes as he played them, and producing his android like partial harmonics.
He finished a song and stopped to tune by ear using harmonics. “That’s old school” one punter affectionately stated. This was typical of Jeff. Not relying on pedals and effects as much as his hands to achieve his distinctive tone.
He performed a spine-tingling cover of The Beatles Day In The Life which earned him a standing ovation. After they finished the song he introduced the band, speaking for the first time to the audience. He spent more time looking at his band than the audience, but he didn’t come across as arrogant, more a humble musician having a good time.
His first encore had an Indian sounding intro, achieved through careful use of the whammy and volume control, and went into driving rock. The second encore was almost entirety harmonics, played subtly and with amazing feel, to which one guy remarked “this is music”. He was spot on. What looked like the beginning of a third encore turned out to be a delay in turning on the houselights, and so the show ended a little awkwardly.
Jeff Beck finger picked the whole time, having given up using a pick long ago (he once said – œpicks are for fairies’) He achieved his amazing variety of sounds through a minimum of effects. It’s no wonder Clapton said of him – œWith Jeff, it’s all in his hands’.
Jeff Beck is one of the elite, the sixties rock players like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix, that have become legends.
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