by Tony Stec
It’s funny to think that guitar heroes have their own guitar heroes. But for Jeff Beck, this was a throwback show; homage to some of his old favorites. For the days leading up to this concert, I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that he’s a legend and I needed to be there to witness it for myself.
Beck’s resume is arguably one of the most impressive in the business. Throughout his illustrious career, he seems to have glided effortlessly from genre to genre — Rock, Jazz, Pop, Virtuoso and many in between. This show was a tribute, of sorts, to Les Paul — one of every guitar hero’s heroes — and consisted mainly of songs from the Rockabilly era of the 40’s and 50’s. It’s not my favorite genre in the world but the band was absolutely great. And Beck got his; including some classic Chuck Berry-esque guitar solos, while he mainly stayed true to the three-to-four minute formats of the originals. Train Kept a Rollin’ was a definite highlight early on. Then, about three-quarters of the way in, Beck came out with his signature white Strat and dazzled the crowd with some virtuoso themed compositions. To this day, no one does the whammy bar quite like Jeff Beck.
I’m sure you can find critics out there who did not approve of the tribute format of the show. What we need to remember, though, is that all great musicians were influenced by those who came before them. This is what has always perpetuated music and kept things fresh. Overall, Beck put together a solid show that offered nostalgia and some incredible guitar licks worthy of inspiring the next guitar hero.
All I want to know is, When’s he coming back?
Tony Stec is a life-long music addict who takes in dozens of shows every year. He also wants to know when Willie Nelson is coming back.
Set List:
1. Baby Let’s Play House
2. Double Talking Baby
3. Cruising
4. Train Kept a Rollin’
5. Poor Boy Blues
6. Cry Me a River
7. My Baby Left Me/That’s Alright
8. How High the Moon
9. Sitting on Top of the World
10. Bye Bye Blues
11. The World is Waiting for the Sunrise
12. Vaya con Dios
13. Mockin’ Bird Hill
14. Tiger Rag
15. Peter Gunn
16. Rocking is Our Business
17. Apache
18. Sleep Walk
19. Please Mr. Jailer
20. Castin’ My Spell (On You)
21. The Girl Can’t Help It
22. Rock Around the Clock
Encore:
23. Remember (Walking in the Sand)
24. Hound Dog
25. Up Above My Head
26. Danny Boy
(Via Wired.com, video after the jump) This has been a long time coming. One of the most popular games in the past couple of years is moving from the gaming world to real life. At least, some iteration of it. Disney Star Guitarist takes the Guitar Hero model, then attaches a real guitar so you can not only play a game, but learn how to play guitar at the same time. Of course, this being a Disney product causes a few issues. For starters, the game will come with a cute blue 3/4 guitar with colored strings … but you can use your own guitar. As you’ll see in the video below, “High School Musical” is featured. So, you might not be shredding death metal anytime soon.
That said, if not Disney, there will be an explosion of this technology coming very soon. Drums, bass, fiddle, piano, keytar, triangle … everything. This could very well be the way people learn how to play instruments in the future. It’s also going to end up being a spectacular revenue stream for musicians. Who wouldn’t want to visually learn their favorite song for something like $20, in their own home, rather than pay someone for a private lesson?
