Beck at Forest Hills Stadium, Queens

Beck with Matt Shultz

Beck Hansen, better known as the singularly-named Beck, obtained his first guitar at 16 and initially performed on the streets and in city buses, coffeehouses, and clubs in his native Los Angeles, California. He was also in a band called Youthless that hosted Dadaist-inspired freeform events in coffee shops. He moved to New York City in 1989 and became involved in the anti-folk movement at Sidewalk. Returning to Los Angeles in 1991, he resumed performing in art house clubs and coffeehouses and recorded demos in his living room. The hip-hop leaning "Loser" was a one-off experiment, and it became a worldwide hit in 1994. Beck went on to selling multi-platinum albums and winning seven Grammy Awards. Beck plans to release his 14th studio album, Hyperspace, sometime later this year.

Beck's co-headlining concert with Cage the Elephant at Forest Hills Stadium tonight was like a mini-rockfest thanks to rocking pre-sunset performances by Sunflower Bean and Spoon. After sunset, Beck surprisingly started his set with his signature song, "Loser." Where would he go from there? Beck and his band (guitarists Jason Falkner and Marc Walloch, keyboardist Roger Manning, multi-instrumentalist Cal Campbell, bassist Dwayne Moore, and drummer Chris Coleman) romped through radio hits and deep cuts from seven of his albums, "Saw Lightning" from his forthcoming album, plus four cover songs for fun. Drawing from diverse influences, including Americana, hip hop, funk, rhythm and blues, and pop, Beck's bouncy alternative pop was indie to the max, but spit-shined and slick all around. Early in the set, Beck announced his link to Queens by sharing that his grandfather used to work at a gas station in the borough. High spirited and energetic to the end, Beck seemed to command attention even when one of his musicians was playing a solo. An encore of "Where It's At" led to a guest appearance by Britt Daniel of Spoon on Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" and Matt Shultz of Cage the Elephant on a cover of Cage the Elephant's "Night Running." Beck's albums are eclectic, but his live performance brought the cohesion that turned all his songs into signature tunes.

Setlist:

1. Loser
2. Up All Night
3. Girl
4. Qué onda güero
5. Mixed Bizness
6. Debra
7. Wow
8. Saw Lightning
9. Dreams
10. Devils Haircut
11. Go It Alone
12. Lost Cause
13. Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime (The Korgis cover)
14. The New Pollution
15. Dear Life
16. E-Pro

Encore:

1. Where It's At
2. Good Times (Chic cover)
3. One Foot in the Grave
4. Pump It Up (Elvis Costello cover, with Britt Daniel)
5. Night Running (Cage the Elephant cover, with Matt Shultz)
6. Where It's At (reprise)