Jeff Beck @ Manchester Apollo

I went to see Jeff Beck play on the 27th in Manchester. Here's a quick run down of the gig (possibly to be added to later)...

For starters, you should probably know two things; (a) Jeff Beck is my favourite guitarist, without doubt, and (b) he doesn't tour or gig in the UK very much at all. In fact, I believe that, Ronnie Scott's aside, his last set of gigs here in his own name were the Royal Festival Hall concerts in 2002, which I also saw. He has toured a little in recent years, but usually opening for acts like Eric Clapton. He's got a much stronger following in Japan and the US, so tours there more frequently.

The band consisted of JB on guitar, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, Jason Rebello on keys, and Tal Wilkenfeld on bass. They've worked together for a couple of years now, and make a much smaller and tighter group than the RFH shows, where JB had Jennifer Batten on guitar, Terry Bozio on drums and a host of guest musicians (for a career retrospective special). As a result, this gig was imho much better. The band were really able to feed off each other and could converse very intuitively and easily.

Both this gig and the RFH shows featured top players (Bozio is one of the world's top drummers, perhaps the top drummer, and Batten has a long career of high profile and demanding work), but the difference of having more shared playing experience and a smaller group of musicians meant that this gig was outstanding compared to the RFH. Just goes to show, it's not just about talent but also about what you do with it that counts.

The support act were pretty dire - a jazzy and early rockabilly(ish) group with a hot Cliff Gallup-style guitarist (mebbe why they got the gig), but a singer who was more a blues-rock shouter than a jazzer. The crowd loved her, but I thought her tone thin and her intonation patchy, to say the least. She also had little dynamic and emotional range. Think someone trying to be Amy Winehouse but with a Spice Girls voice, and you're getting close.

But I wasn't there for the support act, and as soon as JB took to the stage (dressed all in white, with signature white strat), my interest was piqued. I wasn't disappointed, he was on fine form. The man is master of control and tonal variation, and watching him is a guitar lesson in and of itself. But this time, I spent more time paying attention to the other band members than I did at the RFH shows. It reinforced a lot of ideas I have about group music making. Vinnie is currently my favourite drummer; he kept the groove tight throughout, and really pushed the movement of music through subtle dynamic variation and riding players if they seemed to be lagging at all. He really held it together, imo. More so than at the RFH, the other musicians were given more space to solo, each one demonstrating a competency for solo work and for collaborating with JB on melodic development. Having four strong players interact like this really is a wonderful thing to witness. Rebello in particular seemed to be able to get inside Jeff's mind and could launch a solo run that extended from Jeff's playing (like they were one instrument).

Also, Jeff seemed to be enjoying this gig a lot more. I've seen a lot of concert footage of him with the old band, and don't want to criticise them, but he seemed more relaxed with these players, and I'm sure the obvious fun he was having affected the music tangibly.It also bodes well for future work by JB and co.

The only downside was the set list which consisted of much of the same material as he has been playing live over the past ten years, at least. With players of his age, this is common; for Jeff, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, Where Were You (the first encore tune, in it's standard place), The Pump, Cause We've Ended As Lovers and Day In The Life all got an airing. As did key pieces from his more recent albums (Nadia (which Vinnie absolutely killed it on), Earthquake, Even Odds, THX 138, Brush With The Blues, and Suspensions all got played). I'd have like to hear him do some tunes off his last album, Jeff, but he hasn't (to the best of my knowledge) played any of these live ever. I'd have opted for Plan B and Pay Me No Mind, but basically wanted to hear any of those tunes. As the album came out a few years ago, he has had plenty of time to incorporate a few. Can't help wondering why he hasn't done so. Also, I've heard big rumours of there being a new album in the works, so some snippets of new material would have been awesome.

It is a bit of a weak complaint, I suppose; like I said, lots of performers play sets you can pretty much guess in advance of attending and, having worked on national tours myself, I know that set lists rarely change from night to night. But, with players of this caliber, you can't help feeling that there is some elusive magic that could be obtained if they risked it a little more and varied their set list more often. It's sad to say that, in one way, this gig was a little, well, predictable. But it was. And if there's one word which could describe Jeff's playing and his career, it is unpredictable, so in this context the rigidity of tune choice seemed particularly incongruous. That said, it was still the best gig I've seen so far, so I'd give it 97% overall. Anyone who plays guitar, or who wants to see top quality players interact superbly, should book themselves a ticket to one of his gigs straight away.