NAPA — For Beck, simply covering Neil Young wasn't enough.
In Thursday's set at the Uptown Theatre in Napa, emulating the legendary Canadian songwriter was the answer.
Splitting his show into two 40-minute sets in preparation for performances at this weekend's annual Bridge School Benefit, when Los Angeles' alternate rock hero felt much like the festival's organizer, who is known for his haunting acoustic numbers as much as his gritty, snarling brand of rock 'n' roll.
Artists traditionally perform acoustically at the festival, so for the first set, Beck killed the headlights and put it in neutral, mixing covers with multiple cuts from his mellow masterpiece "Sea Change" in an unplugged set.
Beck's backing band was comprised of bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, drummer Joey Waronker, guitarist Jason Falkner and multi-instrumentalist Roger Manning, musicians who played on the same record with him. It was the group's first time on stage together in nearly 10 years, Beck said.
The 860-seat Uptown Theatre made an intimate setting for the confessional "Sea Change" material, an album which subverted the perception of Beck as a thesaurus-fueled, quirky songwriter with a string-swelled break-up album.
The night started stridently with the gentle oohs and coos of "The Golden Age" and, later, "Guess I'm Doing Fine" used warm, yellow lighting and found the headlining artist singing confidently.
There were nervous moments, too, as Beck and his band massaged the kinks in front of an audience.
"I messed that up pretty good," he joked at the conclusion of a shaky "Lost Cause."
The novelty of the initial set juxtaposed against the latter electric one, as an experimental vibe gave way to a festival.
The jovial electric section was a payoff for what Beck called the "slow, low, slow boil" of the first half. Fans went from watching respectfully in their seats to dancing in the aisles, enjoying a barrage of Beck classics that included "The New Pollution," "Gamma Ray," "Devil's Haircut" and "E-Pro."
After an intermission, "Where it's At" opened the second set. Beck went to this trademark black and white ax for the first time of the night, but left the guitar solo for Falkner.
Whatever jitters Beck showed in the first half, he was cooly comfortable orchestrating a blowout in the latter.
In "Nausea," he pulled the brim of his brown fedora over his eyes and gave a devilish grin as he croaked, "I'm a straight-line walker with a blackout room / I push a shopping cart over in an Aztec ruin."
Such linguistic gynmastics are hardly a departure for Beck, who writes songs that feel like parties.
One such was "Girl," which was speedier and charged harder. Even without the horn bursts to punctuate "Pollution," he had an animated Meldal-Johnsen, who jumped onto the drum riser at the back of the stage and jammed.
If the first set offered a preview of the Bridge School performances, one can only wonder how it will translate in a venue with 20 times as many people.
"Pocahontas” suggests it might do well. Presumably added to the repertoire for a collaboration with Young, Beck and Falkner nailed the vocal harmonies while Manning took a turn on the electric mandolin.
If Beck can, in the same two hours, turn heads with a jubilant electric set as well as a captivating acoustic one, he did the Bridge School organizer proud.
The Bridge School Benefit takes place at 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View. For more information, visit the show's official website.
Acoustic Set
01. The Golden Age
02. Lost Cause
03. End of the Day
04. Guess I'm Doing Fine
05. Dead Melodies
06. Pocahontas (Neil Young cover)
07. Sleepless Nights (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant cover)
08. Already Dead
09. Winter is Blue (Vashti Bunyan cover)
10. Sunday Sun
11. Jack-A--
Electric Set
12. Where it's At
13. Black Tambourine
14. Think I'm in Love
15. The New Pollution
16. Paper Tiger
17. Modern Guilt
18. Girl
19. Gamma Ray
20. Nausea
21. Devil's Haircut
Encore
22. E-Pro