Against a backline of Marshall stacks and two gargantuan drumkits, the considerable Festival Hall stage is set for Jeff Beck. His four-piece band file on and the living guitar legend enters stage right, already playing the familiar intro to 'Beck's Bolero'. Let's Rock.
The audience are here to pay homage, and all night the visuals flash with images of Beck the axe hero: the sharp-suited Yardbird, the jump-suited 70's Rock God and his more naff looking 80's incarnation. Today's Beck is instantly recognisable from the screens and he doesn't disappoint. Dressed in regulation black threads, his haircut frozen from 1974, he is the spitting image of Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel.
The first half of tonight's performance concentrates on the more instrumental side of his repertoire. Backed by a four-piece band, he chops, twiddles, whammies, duels and solos and solos and solos. Whenever a gap appears, Beck fills it with some sort of sonic embellishment. Technically faultless, this is music that defies the category of 'song', or even 'jam'. These are workouts. An exhibition of what sounds can be wrought from a Fender Stratocaster. The audience - mostly a hybrid of Barry Sheene and Rick Parfitt - whoop with delight whenever something unusual emanates from the fretboard. From the opener in, we are treated to excursions into rock, jazz and reggae, including a great cover of Nitin Sawhney's 'Nadia', complete with bongos. After each number, Beck nods and smiles bashfully, responding off-mike to the applause. This is a man who quite literally speaks with his hands.
The only letdown comes in the form of the guests. Friday and Saturday's audiences are treated to The White Stripes and John McLaughlin, but this Thursday night crowd are short changed with appearances from Jimmy Hall, Imogen Heap and Roger Waters. Star-studded it aint; and while Heap, dressed like a voodoo priestess, makes a good go of 'Rollin' 'n' Tumblin', Hall is a pub singer with little onstage charisma, and Waters plays 'What God Wants' from his solo LP 'Amused to Death' - never a good thing at the worst of times.
Hall has a decent stab at 'Heartful of Soul, I'm a Man', and 'Morning Dew', but when he bombasts all the grace and beauty from Curtis Mayfield's 'People Get Ready', we are descending into pub rock hell. Beck finally wrestles back control with an instrumental take on 'A Day In The Life' that has the audience again whooping at his nimble fingers, but it's too late. When everyone finally reconvenes for an encore of Beck's one big solo hit 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' it is pure pantomime and even Beck looks moderately embarrassed forced into centre stage.
Had he been alive today, you just couldn't imagine Jimi doing it.
