An unbelievable evening with Beck & the San Diego Symphony

You wouldn’t think that a Tuesday night would end up a full-on party. But it’s summertime in San Diego, with the Padres playing (and winning) next door to The Rady Shell, where Beck was joining the San Diego Symphony on the waterfront for a one-of-a-kind performance of euphonic deep cuts he rarely (or never) performs live.

This Tuesday was dripping with Friday energy — just sayin’.

The place was already filling up before the opener Molly Lewis took the stage, with people grabbing bougey concessions in the sand — and I’m talking anything from poke bowls to pizza boxes — before taking their seats in the grassy turf of The Shell. Being the venue that hosts the San Diego Symphony, attendees were able to bring full bottles of wine to their seats, as well as lawn chairs and blankets to shield from any impending wind of the waterfront.

Jet skis zigzagged the ocean right outside the fence, while boats anchored around the bay to take in the concert on the water. For those without a boat (and a ticket), another hack to tune in was standing along the sidewalk that wraps around Jacob’s Park; it’s not the best view, but the acoustics are still very much on-point.

To warm up the crowd, Beck brought a literal whistleblower.

Molly Lewis only whistles. That’s it. When someone told me “a woman who whistles” will open the show, my mind went to Otis Redding‘s “(Sitting On) A Dock in The Bay”… that was not Miss Lewis’ jams. No singing, no accompaniment — just whistling. It was like a whole set of elevator music, whistled to you by a human canary. I was pretty impressed, not just by her prowess whistling to such acute precision, but how she’s able to whistle a whole 30-minute set without her cheeks feeling like they’re dying. Bravo to Molly Lewis and props on originality.

Only Beck would bring a whistler for an opener before taking the stage with a full symphony. What a legend. The San Diego Symphony adapted Beck songs to sound like James Bond theme music — especially when the ensemble went into “New Pollution”. Not your typical Beck set, fans were treated to super obscure tracks across Beck’s 37-year career; he was like a kid in a candy store, getting to perform numbers that he’s never had the opportunity to play live.

Sure, there were a lot of slow, sad songs… but the experience was so moving, it didn’t matter.

Beck did get into “the party” tracks towards the end — albeit, limited. With the amount of just radio hits the man has under his belt, Beck could’ve played well into the wee hours of the morning. But alas, the show had to end as scheduled, with just enough time to sneak in five fan-favorite’s sans symphony: “Devil’s Haircut”, “Mixed Bizness”, “Debra”, “One Foot In The Grave”, and the ultimate of all ultimates, “Loser”. Beck milked this part of the show too, shredding on guitar and hopping around the symphony stage to play with various instruments (he banged a gong and got it on… possibly breaking his contract in doing so). Harmonica in hand, Beck played his way out to uproarious applause, proving yet again why he’s the master of all things musically inclined.

Photography by Kristy Rose

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