Saw Mr. Beck Hansen last night, at the Red Hat ™ Amphitheater in loverly downtown Raleighville.

Because they got rid of the first three sections of seats in order to make a 'pit' area (so thousands of people could stand shoulder to shoulder in a 90-degree Raleigh July evening), I bought a seated ticket - right in back of the sound guy, as it turns out. At least I'd get the best possible sound!? I surely hope I didn't, because it mostly sounded like crap. The only songs that sounded good were the mellower things from his current album. Everything else - all the loud, rappy, sing-along songs - that was a mushy mess. So, though I couldn't really tell if they were any good, the band did seem to be having a good time. And from my vantage point, Beck himself was a very mobile and active indistinct black and white blob.

Beck is the bright-blue smudge on the far left. The big building in the middle is the county jail. Atmosphere.

The beers were $8, but they were 24oz, so not really expensive. The bros were there in force. I left my assigned seat early and wandered the place seeking better views - they were all better than sitting in back of the sound guy. The venue sits right next to - and because it's a bowl, right below - the train tracks, and trains always go by during shows. Last night, three Amtracks passed by. I wonder if the people on the train are able to hear the concerts.

Song selection was good; he easily filled the 90 minutes with his hits and the better of his non-hits. There are about a dozen songs I would've also liked to hear, but Raleigh's noise ordinances mean all shows there have to be done by 10:00 - there was only so much time.

A band called "Ghost of a Sabre-toothed Tiger" opened. They do the same kind of retro-psychedelic rock that Tame Impala does, so I dug them. And they actually sounded better than Beck did. They ended with a rockin version of Syd Barrett's "Long Gone", which was very cool. Turns out, though I didn't know it at the time, that their singer is Sean Lennon: son of John and Yoko. I reckon that gives them a better claim on the sound than the Aussies in Tame Impala. And that's probably the closest I'll ever get to a Beatle.