I remember when Beck was good. JMJ on bass, the Man Thing on keys, the Brass Menagerie, easily Beck’s best live band without Smokey Hormel on guitar. In 2000, Beck could do no wrong. Having mastered what it meant to be a good 90s musician, Beck moved from alt tastemaster to bandleader with Midnite Vultures. It wasn’t long into the decade before Beck started weirding out roadies and bandmates with Scientology talk and ended up having to replace a few people mid tour. After recording Sea Change with some of his long time studio collaborators (some of which were also tour mates), The Flaming Lips became Beck’s touring band. They soon realized why no one would touch Beck anymore. Since Sea Change Beck has gone down hill and has had to rely on gimmicks over musicianship and his live bands rarely look like they want to be there.
