Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp.
The evening's musical matinee, held on the second Monday in July at the O2 Universum, was headlined by Jeff Beck and his band consisting of Rhonda Smith (bass guitar), Anika Nilles (drums) and Robert Stevenson (keyboards). Actor Johnny Depp was announced as a special guest. The venue was originally supposed to be the Forum Karlín, but the popular hero from the pirate saga of the Caribbean corsairs was a bigger draw than the organizers had originally expected, so the venue was moved to a larger space. Michal Pavlicek took on the role of the opening act with rhythm and keyboard. The four-piece ensemble played a set of more than forty minutes, which turned out to be clearly excessive. The sound of the band was rather poor and the first three songs were mixed as if Mrs. Pavlíčková was sitting behind the mix. Only guitar, light bass (five-string and six-string), few drums and bland keyboards. The main protagonist in a pink shirt with a pattern performed fast, but more or less purposeless runs on the fingerboard of the four replaced guitars, giving no space at all to the rest of the band. A dramaturgical mistake was the inclusion of the sung stuff at the very end. The bad sound and perhaps the nervousness and sadness of the missed opportunity to play in front of a "Beck" audience took its toll on the turnaround and rightfully forever forgotten support act.
At 9.15pm, Jeff Beck comes on and all is suddenly as it should be. Sonically intelligible rhythms performed by two outstanding instrumentalists, Rhonda of whom has accompanied Jeff on tour for over a decade. Beck is wearing a white t-shirt, flowing grey-blue pants, over the neck of one of two alternating white Fender Stratocasters. The first track is Pump (1980) and it's excellent. Great tempo, in keeping with the title it really pumps. In the second track Star Cycle Jeff uses the "bottleneck" or slide technique. The audience responds vividly during the pauses of the third track, a cover by the Mahavishnu Orchestra You Know You Know, and applauds the virtuosity of Rhonda Smith during a bass solo played at the very edge of the stage. Watching her from behind sunglasses is German drummer Anika Nilles, who gets a chance to show her polished technique later. Jeff Beck makes the guitar weep with thumb, ring finger and pinky finger controlling the vibrato and volume knob in the opening Where Were You and the following, perfectly throbbing Big Block sets the stage lit up in red. The ninth track is Cause We've Ended As Lovers - on vinyl, the first track of the second side of Blow By Blow (1975). Jeff has played it at every one of his concerts for many years. The attentive listener will detect the slight improvisational deviations that the composer uses to freshen up a brilliant composition. After a dozen songs have been played, another character appears on stage - pirate/actor/guitarist Johnny Depp. Music by Jeff Beck, lyrics by Johnny Depp and the song This is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr is a loose link between the first and second part of the concert and "justifies" Depp's participation in the guitar great's musical concert. The text reflects the fate of the Austrian-American actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr. With Johnny, therefore, a vocal line is added to the existing sound. Initially, the delivery is a little awkward, but "Jack Sparrow" rectifies his reputation in the often Jeff-interpreted ballad Little Wing composed by Jimi Hendrix in 1967. The last before the break is the again crimson-hued The Death and Resurrection Show (Killing Joke, 2003), with its thick, treading underside and powerful finale. The encore includes the obligatory Corpus Christi Carol (Benjamin Britten), and on the very last track of the concert, Johnny Depp returns to the stage to do the vocal part in the obligatory pathetic opus A Day in the Life (Beatles, 1967, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).
The first part of the concert was better than the second. First of all, dramaturgically. Cleaner speech and more interesting instrumentation. Jeff Beck is still in excellent form at the age of seventy-eight and watching his musical equilibrium is a treat for every connoisseur and fan. The arrival of Johnny Depp on stage changed the atmosphere, the attention was fragmented between more objects, the sound became thicker and less cluttered. At times Depp seemed a little clueless, in movement, acting and singing. But if the point of engaging him alongside Jeff Beck is to offer an example of the masterful acting of a singing guitarist, it was fulfilled. The audience enjoyed the unusual combination of disparate personalities and left satisfied. Overall, the evening was an interesting juxtaposition of diversities and, in addition to an extraordinary musical experience, provided many topics for reflection. Jeff Beck handled his part perfectly and was once again brilliant.
see previously published reviews - Jeff Beck 2011 and 2014
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