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Live at Pacific Amphitheatre
August 8th, 2025 Review by Jimmy Alvarez
Mouthwash, jukebox, gasoline – check, check and check! Oh wait? A meeting at the OC oasis: that would have been what you heard as fans came in droves to the Pacific Amphitheatre on a beautiful Friday night.
It was one of the first shows at Pac Amp for the OC Fair’s annual summer concert series. On this night, the guest of honor was Beck!
The crowd was as eclectic as I have seen at any show, all ages was definitely the theme because all generations were properly represented. They were all there to see and hear the sonic experience of Beck along with a full orchestra.
The atmosphere was nothing less than electricity squared, divided by excitement. I am sure that’s a mathematical formula somewhere. Despite my Beck-esque characterization and verbal sketch of the human experience, let’s just say everyone was amped, life was going to change, you could feel it!
For this one in particular, we got to see the lighter side of the music industry as Beck was in a very good mood. It was the closing night of the tour. The opener offered up entertainment that was perfect for a mid-summer night.
Before the sun dipped into the Pacific, out came a woman in a beautiful green sequin gown, and said hello to everyone. The crowd wasn’t quite sure what she was doing as she had no instruments, no backing band, nada – just her and that beautiful dress. Her name is Molly Lewis and she was not much for words, she just said, “I am going to entertain you by whistling.”
That caught the near-capacity crowd by surprise as she started to whistle a song. At first everyone was baffled, they thought it was going to evolve into something else, but no she whistled out songs. Some the crowd didn’t know, some they did. Like “The Crying Game,” “Oceanic Feeling,” and “The Swan.”
It’s hard to believe in the home of alt rock and the third wave ska launching pad, whistling captivated us the way she did, but she did, and it worked. Hats off to her for the entertainment.
Interestingly enough, a concertgoer next to me said, “Well, I’ve seen Jackson Browne many times, and he had a mime as an opener, Beck apparently has a whistler – this was much-much better!”
As she left the stage, the crew got the stage ready for an epic night. Before we knew it, about 50 members of the Pacific Symphony took the stage along with a few members of Beck’s band. Opening with “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sunshine,” the orchestra brought Pac Amp to life with the booming sounds, and beautiful string section: and out came Beck with butane in his veins.
Holding his guitar and wearing his traditional suit and spiffy dance shoes, he ripped off a few lesser-known songs of his, but with the orchestra it gave them a different feel and texture, “Lonesome Tears,” “Wave,” “Tropicalia,” “Blue Moon,” and “Lost Cause” all sounded grander.
Being the showman he is, highlighted how great the sougs sounded and gave praise to members of the orchestra.
He then said, “Now, we’re gonna play something you be more familiar with, and said “this off Guero… and if you pronounce it Gwero, you probably are a Guero (everyone laughed) as he launched into “The New Pollution.””
And off he went from side-to-side of the stage, clapping his hands as he demonstrated his Gwero dance.
The sonic vision that is Beck was just sent into another dimension with the orchestra.
Blasting off with “Tarantula,” “It’s Raining Today” and “Paper Tiger” accentuated the performance to an out-of-this-world experience. That’s not an exaggeration – ask the Jackson Browne fan sitting next to me is my witness.
The setlist consisted of 19 songs that ended with his classic off “Odelay,” he delivered an electro-funk slide into “Where It’s At.” That sent everyone into their dancing shoes and took the atmosphere to another plane.
The night wasn’t quite over as he returned for an encore with his band. He led off with “Debra,” and then a hearty rendition of “Devil’s Haircut,” before he segued into “Mixed Bizness,” “One Foot in the Grave,” and the epic closer – “Loser.”
It was definitely a night to be out under the stars, and Beck just proved to us he can make us all feel as if we were in the stars, at least for a couple of hours.
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Photos by Green-Eyed Blonde Photography
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