Sorry for taking so long to write this review. But it was an important evening and there was so much to write about! And I apologise in advance for any typos that have crept in to this lengthy (for me, anyway) account.
Well, this was a big thing for me. I am, always have been, and always will be a massive Jeff Beck fan. To me he epitomises the electric guitar, and could get sounds out of the instrument that no other guitarist could touch. His use of dynamics, the volume control, the tremolo and his fingers on the frets, produced sounds that we will never hear again. And so, when I saw this concert advertised, I was determined to go along. It took three phones, two of us and quite a nervous wait in the queue to get tickets, which sold out almost immediately.
So, on the day three of us, Jackie, Jan (my carers) and I travelled down by train to London for the show at the Majestic Albert Hall. This was my first visit to the Royal Albert Hall since my accident. My last visit there was to see Clapton at his 70th birthday concert. And tonight, it was Eric Clapton and his band who opened and, to some extent, led the proceedings. The disabled access within the building is fantastic and we had seats quite high up looking directly down on the stage. Once we got ourselves and my wheelchair positioned, we had a pretty good view of the stage. People travelled from all of the world for this concert. I met a cool oldish guy in the bar who had travelled from New York. “Jeff Beck was The Man!” he proudly told me. Of course, I agreed.
The concert opened with a single spotlight on a white Fender Stratocaster standing proudly centre stage on a beautiful Indian carpet. Yes, this was one of Jeff Beck’s guitars. It was quite emotional looking down from our vantage point upstairs at the instrument. Above the guitar, a large screen showed images of Jeff Beck over the years, many displaying his beloved collection of classic cars.
Clapton opened the proceedings with his band and great performances of the Yardbirds classics “Shapes of Things” and “Heart Full of Soul”. Wonderful. Both favourite songs of mine and performed perfectly. Clapton took vocal duties on the former and his long-term collaborator and fellow guitarist Doyle Bramhall did a great job of singing the latter song.
The band was then joined by Derek Trucks on “Little Brown Bird”. Derek is an ace slide guitarist, to say the least Then Derek’s wife Susan Tedeshi did a great bluesy version of “Done Somebody Wrong” singing and playing lead guitar. I can see why my friend John is such a fan of the Tedeschi Trucks band. Susan continued to lead the band with the lovely song “The Sky Is Crying”.
Ronnie Wood then swaggered on stage; Clapton introducing him as “here comes the scallywag” which seemed quite appropriate. Ronnie was on stage for most of the evening. He proudly took the lead on bass guitar for “Beck’s Bolero” a favourite of mine from the Jeff Beck Group. Ronnie was, of course, a member of the band along with his old mate Rod Stewart, who would join in during the second half of the show. Ronnie reminded the audience that he often played bass guitar when he was in the Jeff Beck Group.
Next came a song unfamiliar to me: “Elegy For Dunkirk” with classical singer Olivia Safe on vocals and Robert Randolph on keyboards. The backing musicians changed from Clapton’s band to Jeff Beck’s band during the evening and sometimes involved a blend of both. All excellent musicians, particularly Beck’s female bass guitarist and female drummer and Chris Stainton on keyboards. Chris is a long-time member of Eric’s band. I remember seeing him for the first time back in 1972 when he performed as backing band to Joe Cocker who headlined the Lincoln Festival.
“Isolation” sees actor come rockstar Johnny Depp, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons (great hat and beard) take the stage. The next song is simply fantastic; a wonderful version of the Shangri-La’s “(Remember) Walkin’ In The Sand” led on sassy vocals by Imelda May, who looks (in a slinky red dress) fantastic and sounds tremendous. A highlight of the evening. Billy Gibbons remains on stage for the rest of the first half of the show, playing some great riffs. Johnny Depp looks so cool and is in his element playing along with his heroes. And this show must be so emotional for him, having toured with Jeff Beck only last year.
Then the mood changes substantially towards jazz and the elder statesman of the guitar, Jon McLaughlin who plays two instrumentals from the Wired period of Beck’s work. McLaughlin takes guitar playing to another level. He really is a master of his craft and looks a cool gentleman at 81 years young. Billy Gibbons continues to lead the band after McLaughlin departs, and the first half of the show concludes with a rocking version of “Train Kept A Rollin’” bringing back memories of the appearance of the Yardbirds in the 100 Club during the classic 60s film Blow Up, featuring Johnny Depp, Kirk Hammett, Ronny Wood, Billy Gibbons, Imelda May and the Jeff Beck Band. A great finish to the start of the proceedings.
During the Intermission there is a little time for some people watching and another double whiskey topped off with some lovely salted popcorn! The screen shows more video of Jeff Beck and many clips of fellow guitar heroes commenting upon his genius including fellow Yardbird Jimmy Page.
Soon we return to the music with Eric Clapton and his band. “I Put A Spell On You” features fantastic, soulful vocals by Joss Stone. ”‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” and the very cool looking Gary Clark, Jr. adds more bluesy guitar to the mix.
A song or two later Ronnie Wood’s old mate Rod Stewart takes to the stage, starting with “Infatuation” and then moving into two songs which he sang with the Jeff Beck Group: “Rock Me Baby” and “I Ain’t Superstitious ”. It’s great to see the two old mod rockers jamming together again. Brings back memories of The Faces.
The concert closes with the entire cast performing the Curtis Mayfield classic “People Get Ready”, followed by “Going Down” which ends the concert and brings back memories of the first time I saw Jeff Beck live at Grangemouth Festival in 1972; I feel sure Beck, Bogert and Appice played that song there.
As we left the Hall, the sound system played Jeff Beck’s sublime version of “Moon River” with Clapton on vocals. It took me back to the Clapton/Beck concert at the O2 Arena in London which I attended some years ago and during which they performed the song much to my surprise and delight. A fitting way to close the evening. After a short wait we caught a cab back to the hotel. The next day we caught the train back up north, memories of a great night still ringing through my head.
It really couldn’t have been much better and was a fitting tribute to a true guitar warrior and legend. Yes, I would have liked to have heard “Morning Dew”, “Hi Ho Silver Lining” (but then Jeff never really liked the song) and it would have been great if Jimmy Page had appeared. But none of that mattered. I will remember this concert for the rest of my life.
Thanks to Jan for taking the photos and to Wikimedia Commons for the picture of the Royal Albert Hall.
Setlist: Blue Rainbow; Shapes Of Things; Heart Full Of Soul; Wee Wee Baby; Little Brown Bird; Done Somebody Wrong; The Sky Is Crying; Beck’s Bolero; Elegy For Dunkirk; Isolation; Walkin’ In The Sand; Goodbye Porkpie Hat; You Know You Know; Stratus; Rough Boy; Rice Pudding; Train Kept A Rollin’
– Intermission –
Freeway Jam; I Put A Spell On You; ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers; Let Me Love You; Infatuation; Rock My Plimsoul (Rock Me Baby); I Ain’t Superstitious; People Get Ready; Going Down
This picture of Jeff Beck is from the Sage Gateshead which is the last time I saw the great man in concert. RIP Jeff Beck. We will never see your like again.
We have waited a couple of years for this concert to take place, because of Covid. But, as always, Jeff didn’t let us down and delivered a performance to be remembered for the music and for other reasons of which I will write shortly.
the Gateshead concert. Immediately, any remaining tickets were sold. Such is the legend that is Johnny Depp. People were queueing outside the Sage for many hours to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp, or even an autograph (and some fans were lucky enough to score a signature). My carer Lisa was really excited at the prospect of seeing Johnny Depp. Now my view is that Johnny Depp is a secret closet rockstar wannabe. All of this is to his credit, by the way, in my opinion. He is a massive fan of Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones and sings and plays in a band called The Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper. But I was unaware of the Jeff Beck connection.
Johnny Depp came on stage to a massive cheer from the crowd. The pair then proceeded to deliver a short set of songs with Johnny Depp on vocals and guitar and Jeff Beck providing his own inimitable accompaniment. Now people have different views on Johnny Depp as a musician. He is not the greatest singer on the planet nor is he a wonderful guitarist but he puts his all into the performance and, for me, his vocals are quite emotional. They started with a song called “Hedy Lamar”, which I am not familiar with, followed by “Isolation”, a John Lennon song which again I don’t know. Then came a wonderful version of the Everly Brothers ballad “Let It Be Me” which I found quite emotional. Exquisite. Then another great song and a great rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going on “, followed by Hendrix’s “Little Wing” and a song by Killing Joke which was again unfamiliar to me. Johnny Depp left the stage: as he did, the two friends hugged each other. Jeff explained at one point “I met this guy five years ago when he came to my dressing room and said “Hello” and we have never stopped laughing since!” He also explained that they have been working on an album which will be released next month. Jeff Beck concluded the concert with two more instrumentals, ending with “Corpus Christi Carol”. Fantastic.
People have mixed views on this collaboration and on Johnny Depp’s appearance with Jeff Beck. Some fans appeared on local television questioning why Jeff Beck would “spoil” his concert by collaborating with someone who cannot sing too well (their view, not mine). Others were simply knocked out by having the opportunity to be in the presence of a major Hollywood star. Now this is my view: Jeff Beck is no fool. He does not need Johnny Depp to sell tickets. He does have his own legend to protect. But he simply likes the guy and enjoys the collaboration and it can’t do his reputation any harm. Indeed it will introduce many new fans to his music. So this is a win-win collaboration. I was certainly glad, and excited, to witness it.
A wonderful concert, and a wonderful evening. Thank you Jeff and Johnny.
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