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Beck brings magic to the Wiltern
Venue/Date:
The Wiltern (Los Angeles, CA)
Concert Date: June 21st, 2006
Reviewer: admin
Venue Parking
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Venue Security
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Opening Band
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Opening Song
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Set List
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Band Connection
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Band Energy/Intensity/Showmanship
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ConcertGoer Energy/Intensity
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Sound Quality
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Set and Lighting Design (SLD)
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The Finish/Encore
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8.84
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Mischief in his ways
Performing in L.A., Beck wryly salts reality by hanging out with a bunch
of fakes.
By Richard Cromelin, Times Staff Writer
Beck played with a string section Tuesday at the Wiltern LG — but not the
kind you might think. On his current tour, the mischievous musician and
his band are joined on stage by a group of alter egos in the form of
marionettes, each precisely costumed, detailed and deployed to correspond
to one of the live players.
By planting a video camera right in front of their dollhouse of a stage,
the production made them larger than life at the Wiltern — it was the
puppets, not the people, that were projected on the large video screen
throughout the show, moving mouths, arms and legs in coordination with the
real musicians.
One thing this showed is that Beck knows how to keep things interesting,
bringing something new and entertaining to a tour that's essentially an
in-betweener — his new album isn't out until fall, and most of this show's
tricks, such as the scene in which the band members sit down and have
dinner on stage, are holdovers from his most recent tours.
The puppetry (created by L.A.-based Puppetown Productions, best-known for
the Comedy Central show "Crank Yankers") also evoked Beck's early days in
Los Angeles clubs, when he'd spike his sets with offbeat, performance-art
elements.
This was more sophisticated, of course, and it was strange to periodically
catch yourself watching the puppets on the screen and taking a liking to
them as if they were actually the performers. If there was some higher
commentary intended, it might have involved the ease with which image and
reality can be blurred.
Or it might have been just for fun. It certainly stayed central to the
concert (the first of two sold-out nights at the Wiltern), with new twists
constantly popping up. The miniature stage at one point had its own little
interior video screen, and then there was the Puppet Cam, attached to one
of the little guys' heads and projecting his viewpoint as he roamed the
stage.
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