Beck Revisits ‘Sea Change, ‘Morning Phase,’ As Orchestral Run Wraps

“I do have the best seat in the house,” said Beck on stage at Ravinia, turning to face his backing band for the evening. “You sound amazing. Thank you! Don’t they sound amazing?” asked Beck rhetorically of the Chicagoland audience on night six of his orchestral tour, referencing one of the world’s great orchestras in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “The orchestra is on the clock. And it’s like a very expensive parking meter. So, I don’t want to talk too much!”

Developing a catalog that’s been delightfully impossible to pigeonhole as he emerged from the 90s alternative scene, Beck remains wonderfully whimsical, consistently experimenting with new sounds over the course of 14 studio albums.

Over three decades, Beck’s moved nearly 20 million albums globally, tallying two platinum albums and six gold records along the way.

Beck’s father David Campbell, a composer and conductor, has long worked on dozens of films as well as with artists like Carole King and Jackson Browne, recently arranging strings on the latest Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds.

Campbell also worked on orchestral arrangements for Beck’s Sea Change (2002) and Morning Phase (2014) albums. Two of Beck’s more introspective studio efforts, the albums stand as companion pieces and lie at the heart of this summer’s orchestral run, one which wrapped up last week in San Francisco, making up the bulk of the setlist during the symphonic outing.

Beginning the show alongside CSO, Beck closed in a slightly more raucous fashion, joined only by his sizzling three piece band for a six song encore.

“Cycle” is a 39 second orchestral piece which opens the Morning Phase album sans vocals. Last month at Ravinia, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, alongside conductor Edwin Outwater, delivered it marvelously on a sweltering evening where the heat index pushed temperatures north of 100 degrees along the lakefront on Chicago’s North Shore, with Beck sauntering on stage moments later, guitar in hand.

“Thank you so much on this beautiful but very warm evening,” said Beck at the top of the show. “We brought some friends with us this evening,” he said following “The Golden Age.”

A Laurel Canyon vibe largely defined “Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime,” a 2004 deep cut from the soundtrack to the 2004 Michael Gondry-directed drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Organ opened the performance with cello soon cutting through a Beck vocal as the singer swayed, hands in pockets on stage, the epitome of cool despite the heat.

On acoustic guitar, Beck chipped in on “Lonesome Tears,” with trumpets and trombones resplendent early as electric bass set the beat. Strings brought a frenetic and sudden conclusion to the cut which put the full power of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra very much on display.

“I was gonna say maybe we could make the lights a little moodier for this one as we go a little deeper into Sea Change,” said Beck, setting up “Wave.”

Moody was the right word with strings striking that chord early. A Burt Bacharach-like shuffle would soon drive “Tropicalia.” Beck got the audience clapping along as pizzicato violin and saxophone rang out.

“I’m so tired of being alone,” sang Beck ironically at the top of “Blue Moon,” surrounded by a massive symphony which deftly delivered flute and keyboard late.

“Lost Cause” followed, standing as a highlight with jangly acoustic guitar sparkling under the stars on a magical evening, the perfect juxtaposition to the sweeping orchestral backing on the number.

Prancing and dancing from left to right, Beck looked back on 1996’s Odelay for the first time, conjuring up images of the video as he clapped along overhead throughout “The New Pollution.” Brass rang out during the first chorus as Beck and company picked up the pace following one of Sea Change’s more melancholy moments, striking a cinematic tone during an early instrumental section.

“There’s like 80 people up here!” joked Beck somewhat accurately. “It’s very expensive. I’m coming back next year as a DJ!” said the artist with a smile.

Continuing with the cinematic vibe, Beck waxed philosophical on avant-garde songwriter Scott Walker, allowing the orchestra to stretch out on baroque pop-influenced pieces like “It’s Raining Today” and “Montague Terrace (in Blue).”

“When I was a child and your favorite artist got an orchestra? That was like the end. Pompous,” joked Beck on stage. “So, thank you for condoning my pomposity,” he said dryly, setting up the first Walker cover.

Beck plucked away at electric guitar during “Paper Tiger” as bass gurgled underneath with percussion applying a mellow mood throughout as Beck laid down a late solo over the orchestral groove. “I hope everybody’s hair isn’t getting as big as mine,” he joked on the hot, humid Windy City evening. “I’ve had some very Chicago summer shows,” he continued, looking back. “I’m having a little PTSD to Lollapalooza ‘95.”

Bassist and guitarist Jason Falkner chipped in on backing vocals during “We Live Again” with Beck ceding centerstage to CSO for “Phase.”

Starting the song off a cappella, the familiar organ intro to “Where It’s At” soon rang out from the Ravinia stage. Back on electric guitar, Beck spun a whirling dervish in front of Outwater, spitting in rapid fire fashion later. Leaning back and to his right, with his guitar neck up, Beck stared down the conductor as the evening’s orchestral accompaniment drew to a close in spectacular fashion.

“Now that they’re gone, we can just relax,” said Beck with a smile, shouting out Chicagoland suburbs Schaumburg and Barrington during an elongated take on “Debra.”

Falkner and longtime drummer Joey Waronker percolated to Beck’s right as the singer raced left, dancing during a late instrumental portion of “Devil’s Haircut” following a scorching fuzzed out early guitar part. Gripping his mic stand with his right hand before shredding late, Beck messed with his tunings during a gloriously cacophonous outro that stood in stark contrast to the precise exactness of the recently departed full symphony orchestra.

Hopping up onto the now vacant conductor stand, Beck tore away at the harmonica, initiating a classic call and response session with the rapt audience. Taking a lap through the empty orchestra seats throughout “One Foot in the Grave,” Beck strummed a harp, struck chimes and pounded timpani as he explored the space, offering up a bluesy romp in the city which first electrified that artform.

While, per his own estimate, 80ish musicians graced the Ravinia stage moments before, Beck still needed a pre-recorded backing track (sitar) to fully flesh out “Loser” in the show’s final moments.

But it was a rare deep cut from his 1994 sophomore studio effort Stereopathetic Soulmanure that stood out on stage at Ravinia following the death of a rock icon.

“I wrote a song when I was about 20. And I was really inspired by a lot of the folk singers like Woody Guthrie,” Beck began on stage. “They’d write these songs about these mythic figures like Tom Joad or John Henry. But who are the mythic figures for me?” he explained. “Well, there was one. And, sadly, we lost him yesterday. His name is Ozzy Osbourne,” said Beck, setting up his take on “Ozzy,” reportedly performing the song for the first time since 1997. “There wasn’t much to that song… but everybody knows Ozzy.”