Live Review: Beck at the Brooklyn Paramount

On October 22, Beck brought the Ride Lonesome tour to Brooklyn Paramount with support acts Wayne Faler and Ionna Gika, in support of his latest LP Ride Lonesome, released by Capitol Records. This marks Beck’s first headlining show at Brooklyn Paramount. Beck is presenting a new era of acoustic singer/songwriter music on his 25-date North American tour. Beck took the stage at 9 pm, and opened with “In The Night,” under one spotlight and one guitar. The entire theater went silent when he walked on stage. The Brooklyn Paramount is known for having great acoustics, which served Beck well during his stripped-down acoustic set.

 Keeping the energy mellow for the early part of the show, he transitioned seamlessly into the title track of the album “Ride Lonesome,” strapped with one guitar in front of foggers on stage, creating an immersive atmosphere. The stage transitioned into a living room during “For Your Love,” with Beck sitting on the right side of a 15-foot-long table with an electric guitar as he went into the ballad. With a decent amount of audience interaction, he spoke to the Brooklyn crowd about the last time he played a New York venue, which was Carnegie Hall for two nights in July 2024. The band took out 4 chairs from backstage, put them in a circle in the middle of the stage in front of a light that resembled a fire before Beck explained this is what happens before his shows and how he rehearses the songs. In the circle with the band, Beck went into “Gamma Rays,” and an acoustic track “Cold Brains,” in front of a visual of dark clouds on a screen overlaid with foggers on stage once again. 

With over 15 studio albums, Beck’s setlist consisted of newer tracks from the recent LP and deeper cut songs from the early 2000s. From the stage, Beck introduced the 2004 track “Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime”, a cover from The Korgis which he recorded for the film soundtrack of “Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind.” This is one of 17 songs he has recorded for films over the course of his 30-year career. The Brooklyn Paramount did not use a video display for his set; the crowd was focused on Beck the entire night and while there was no restriction on recording, the Brooklyn crowd was in the moment and not filming the show.

Taking to the right side of the stage for the 1998 track “Nobody’s Fault But My Own,” the crowd was once again silent, allowing Beck’s vocals to stand out over his guitar. The encore included two songs: an acoustic version of the 1999 song “Debra” from the album Midnite Vultures, and closed night one of his two shows at the Brooklyn Paramount with a cover of  “True Love Will Find You In The End,” originally recorded by Daniel Johnston. The Ride Lonesome tour highlights Beck’s new era of folk music while taking people through his 30-year-long touring career with over 15 albums in 27 songs in a two-hour show. 

Setlist

1. In The Night
2. Ride Lonesome
3. Paper Tiger
4. Unforgiven
5. Cycle
6. For Your Love
7. Bleed
8. Slow Canyon
9. Wave
10. The New Pollution
11. Gamma Ray
12. Cold Brains
13. Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime (The Korgis Cover)
14. Think I’m In Love
15. Girl
16. Nobody’s Fault But My Own
17. Disappearing Act
18. Lost Cause
19. It Ends Right Here
20. Modern Guilt
21. Devils Haircut
22. Loser
23. E-Pro
24. One Foot In The Grave
25. Where It’s At

Encore

1. Debra (Acoustic)
2. True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston Cover)