Beck and Alex Edelman at Bowery Ballroom
On Monday, February 17th, 2025, Beck performed a sold out show at Bowery Ballroom. With tickets going on sale a week before the show, fans snapped them up pretty quickly with the intimate show selling out shortly afterwards. Billed as a “solo acoustic” performance, it was technically neither as Beck was joined on stage by guitarist Smokey Hormel, who performed some songs on electric guitar, and a rented drum machine was used on exactly two songs (“Tropicalia” off his Mutations album and “Debra” from Midnite Vultures).
Fans lined up hours before the show began to try to get the best spot they could despite the bitterly cold weather. Thankfully, Bowery Ballroom started bringing people who arrived early inside the venue at 6PM, before doors were scheduled to open at 7PM. The evening began with a set from comedian Alex Edelman who did a short set. Edelman recovered impressively after a fan up front fainted just after he stepped on stage and was carried out of the room. Edelman previously opened for Beck at another solo acoustic show at Irving Plaza in November 2021. Beck added this show after the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary celebrations at Radio City Music Hall, and followed the run of shows Paul McCartney also had at Bowery Ballroom before the SNL events.
Beck’s set began after 9PM and relied heavily on his 2002 album, Sea Change, with the set commencing with the opening track of that record, “The Golden Age.” I have a soft spot for the album as I saw him live for the second time after it was released on his tour with The Flaming Lips (my first Beck experience was a couple years before that after the release of Midnite Vultures when he performed at Radio City Music Hall). Hearing these songs live in a very small room was an absolute treat and I’m so glad I heard about the show early enough to buy a ticket before it sold out.