
But 18 is a peculiar and hugely uneven record. His career is replete with startling changes of direction, and unusual collaborators, which probably accounts for him being revered by musicians, but never really achieving stardom to match his skill. It’s to Beck’s credit that alone among the guitar heroes of the 1960s UK R&B boom, he has not retreated into coffee-table blues. Where Lou Reed really did come across as tired and weary, Depp just sounds like a bored robot. Venus in Furs is an odd choice for the same reason – why now, of all times, would he choose to perform a song about sado-masochism? It is disastrously recast as goth metal, losing all the creeping dread of the original. The former simply lacks the menace and terror that are Killing Joke’s stock in trade – it’s like cosplay, so clearly about projecting danger, which is an odd thing to want to project given that Depp’s legal travails have concerned whether he really is dangerous. Actor and inventor Lamarr, one supposes, is being used as a cipher for Depp: misunderstood, abused, unfairly traduced: “Erased by the same world that made her a star / Spun out of beauty, trapped by its web.” Of course, Lamarr went into seclusion rather than making an album to win public sympathy.Īnd then there are the two horrorshows – versions of Killing Joke’s The Death and Resurrection Show and the Velvet Underground’s Venus in Furs. Beck’s closing solo, too, is the best on the record. This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr is better musically – its standard post-Beatles piano ballad structure is disrupted by the drums (played by Depp) beating a military tattoo for its first 90 seconds, rather than going straight for the mid-paced plod. It’s juvenile and asinine and just not very good.

Sad Motherfuckin’ Parade is little more than a minimal bass riff with Beck’s guitar squealing away on top and Depp snarling a barely coherent rant: “You’re sitting there like a dog with a seven-year itch / You keep serving up fast to make a barrel of fish.” All of which is punctuated by a downpitched voice intoning “Big time … motherfucker” as a percussive accompaniment. Those two – unsurprisingly, given the quality of the other compositions – are the weakest musically, if the most revealing lyrically. They’ll get some serviceable covers sung by Depp – the Miracles’ Ooo Baby Baby (his best performance, in an unlikely falsetto), Dennis Wilson’s Time, the Everly Brothers’ Let It Be Me, and an entirely redundant version of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin’ On.Īnd they will get a handful of tracks that are plainly meant to play to Depp’s image, and his own self-perception, including two he wrote. What will they get? Instrumental guitar pieces, of course – perfectly pleasant but wholly unnecessary versions of Davy Spillane’s Midnight Walker, and Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder) and Caroline, No, from the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds – which sound custom made for montages of gulls swooping above cliffs on the Travel Channel, no matter how gorgeously pellucid Beck’s playing is. And while the fact that it’s been planned for three years protects Beck from any accusations of cashing in on headlines to generate sales, the presence of Depp loyalists coming to view their hero playing alongside Beck at his recent shows suggests that 18 will reach a wider audience than any Beck record for some time. It’s the presence of Depp that makes it noteworthy. Ordinarily, a new Jeff Beck album would pass without much comment in most quarters.
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There will also be free light sticks for the kids, while supplies last.įor more information on Starburst 2022, visit. Finally, things wrap up with the traditional fireworks display starting around 8:30 p.m.Īdmission is free, thanks to support from local businesses and sponsors.

The 2022 Citizens of the Year, Suzanne Koehler and Joseph DeCarolis Jr., will be honored at 6:45 p.m. That will be followed by two performances by Neurotic Gumbo, 5:45-6:45 p.m.


And, for the second straight year, local musicians will take center stage.Īs soon as gates open at 4:30 p.m., Scott Babineau will take the stage. 28.) It will also mark the official opening of the Twin Cities Rail Trail, which runs behind Doyle Field and across Priest Street.įor the second straight year, Starburst is not being held at its usual time in mid-June. The annual summertime tradition will take place Saturday, Aug. LEOMINSTER - Music, awards and fireworks will be on display at the 30th edition of Starburst this weekend.
