The reason for going to Manchester was to see Jeff Beck in the Apollo Theater, a 2700 seat venue that has hosted all the greats over the ages.
My first experience of Jeff Beck’s music was when I started playing drums and the guys I was jamming with tried to get me to play Led Boots with them. It was then, and I would imagine still is now, impossible to get that beat going for me.
Still, while listening to it I discovered Jeff Beck the guitarist through the Wired and Blow By Blow albums.
I’ll borrow something from the High Fidelity movie and listed my Top 5 All Time Best British Guitarists here. 1/. Eric Clapton, 2/. Jimmy Page, 3/. Dave Gilmour, 4/. Jeff Beck, 5/. Rory Gallagher.
My Top 5 British Guitar Songs would always list Because We Ended As Lovers by Jeff Beck at the top.
Seeing Beck in a small venue like the Apollo is just too good a chance to turn up on and despite all the dramas involved with getting to and from Manchester the gig proves to be well worth it.
The Apollo itself is like nothing we have in New Zealand, it’s a purpose built live venue with great sound and an intimate atmosphere. I’m two rows from the back in the stalls which puts me about 100 yards from the front of the stage, and Beck is in fine form.
He plays through his catalog stating with Beck’s Bolero and includes all the stuff I remember from the Blow by Blow and Wired albums as well as some of the stuff from his Workshop album and the rockabilly album he did.
The strat is put through it’s paces and makes sounds that it was never designed to do, squawks and squeals, grunts and moans, explosions and crashes fill the room and I’m gob smacked by it all.
The only disappointment was that as I fired up my digital camera to take a photo a very heavy hand landed on my shoulder and the world’s largest Manchester hard man signals to me that this would be a very bad idea.
I found these which are watermarked but will have to do for now.
Jeff Beck
I have to leave before the encores but manage to stay long enough for A Day In The Life.
As I leave I promise myself to go back through Beck’s catalog and relearn the stuff I tried long long ago when I was too crap a guitarist to do much with.
Also – grab a copy of Beck Live @ Ronnie Scotts ( late 2008 ) off me .
I have it on i-tunes , basically the show you saw as part of his current tour .
Its wicked – as you said he makes noises a strat was never meant too – amazing
Awesome Wazza, will take you up on that. His takes on the older stuff are different (better) than I remember the recordings from the time to be.