Jeff Beck
Live At Ronnie Scotts: Performing This Week…
Eagle Vision DVD
By George W. Harris

I just got back from Jeff Beck’s gig at the El Rey Theatre in LA, and, while it was just fantastic, I’m getting too old for the volume being set at “11.” Whew! This dvd captures the same band that Beck’s been touring with, with MUCH better sound and separation than being there live, and it includes Eric Clapton to boot!

Performing at the famous, legendary and cozy British jazz club, Beck is both visibly and audibly inspired by the atmosphere, which includes Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in the audience (if you look carefully). Beck is just all over the stage and guitar, and delivers fully charged treatments of tunes ranging from the anthematic “Beck’s Bolero” to the exotic “Nadia” to the bluesy “Porkpie Hat” and to the jazzy “Scatterbrain.” Vocalists Imgen Heap and Joss Stone keep the music varied with passionate readings of “People Get Ready” and “Rollin’ and Tumblin’” but everything pales in comparison to Clapton coming on stage for two torrid blues-rockers: “You Need Love” and “Little Brown Bird.” Seeing and hearing these two Strat Frats together is worth TWICE the price of the dvd. Everyone’s having a good time with this music, and so will you.

The bonus interviews with Beck and the band members is delightful and insightful. Beck goes over his beginnings with the Yardbirds and replacing Clapton as lead guitarist, as well as feeling intimidated by playing in an intimate jazz venue. The self-deprecating and yet cocky street kid (yet nearing 70) comes across with disarming charm during these interviews. You definitely feel like you want to sit in a booth with a pint and have a chat with this bloke, and there20aren’t many rockers you could really say that about. Get one copy for yourself, and one for your buddy who may have missed the gig.