Beck/Spoon/MGMT at the Hollywood Bowl

About a minute into MGMT I realised the singer sounds like the guy from Rush! Maybe it was the fact that the rest of the band look like heavy rock kids, all long hair, jeans and black t-shirts. Live, there are also shades of Pink Floyd, ELO and even Supertramp for gods sake! Even on the New Radicals flavored 'Electric Feel' the lumpy drums sounded like Floyd's money... Only on the final track did the 'duo' ditch the backing band and karaoked their way through one of their party pop hits, although the bemused look on their faces indicated they had revealed their true colors much earlier in the set.

Spoon were about as exciting as, well, a spoon... I like some of the songs I've heard but live they were a little boring...

The first half of Beck was like his greatest hits on speed and although he played the iconic 'Loser' and 'Devil's Haircut' everything seemed a little half-hearted and rushed. For me it was just another reminder that how ever inventive his recordings are, Beck isn't the greatest showman. After an entertaining 'interlude' where the band ditched their regular instruments and played a couple of songs using mini-keyboards and beat boxes, the Hollywood strings joined the band. If the first part was Beck on speed the second half was a smacked out orchestral self-indulgence and even the Gainsbourg-esque 'Paper Tiger' failed to get the pulse racing. Only during the encore (Where it's at and E-Pro) did Mr Hanson (and the crowd) come to life and demonstrate what a Beck concert should be like - a hip shaking, sing-a-long celebration of an iconic genius...

MGMT about to launch into Tom Sawyer or Breakfast in America!