Beck And Stewart Together Again

Beck already had the crowd in the palm of his hand even before Stewart, who worked with the guitarist in The Jeff Beck Group and briefly in the early ’80s, showed up, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Beck pulled a rainbow of sounds and effects from the guitar – most without going near the foot pedals of the guitar switches on the floor, during the hour-and-45-minute set, which consisted far and away of instrumentals. Some were elegant ballads on the utter purity of tone Beck can produce, others rock, blues, funk, progressive rock and jazz-inflected numbers.

Then he sent an already agog crowd into apoplexy when near the end he peeled off the instantly recognizable first few notes of Curtis Mayfield’s 1960 spiritual “People Get Ready.”

And I’m sure the audience knew what to expect next because the rumor Stewart would join Beck onstage was buzzing around the industry like crazy yesterday.

A bold of electric anticipation shot through the SRO crowd. Sure enough, out from the wings stepped Rod Stewart, his onetime band mate, who strolled to the mike for an intensely beautiful reading of the song that was a pop hit for him and Beck in 1983.

In fact 1983 was the last time Beck and Stewart shared a stage together. A colossal blowout on stage put the kibosh on any further collaboration. Until last night that is. Stewart also performed a second number with Beck, “I Ain’t Superstitious,” a song recorded by the Jeff Beck Group.

In case you’re planning on heading over to the El Rey to try to score a seat for a repeat performance, think again. It’s a safe bet last night’s guest appearance by Stewart was a one shot deal.

But, that being said, I have it on good authority that there will be a couple of other special guests taking the stage tonight.

Read the Los Angeles Times complete review of Beck’s show here.