"I'm a young and upcoming songwriter," 65-year-old Robert Forster quips as he tunes his guitar. "This is my first time playing to an audience larger than 30 people."
The dry wit of the veteran singer-songwriter may be an acquired taste, but it's much to the liking of the early arrivals this evening. Really, you can't help but be charmed by Forster's understated yet attentive presence.He chops at his guitar, occasionally wandering off mic to pose with it as he no doubt did time and time again in the heyday of The Go-Betweens.
That band serves as the centrepiece of his set selections, ranging from classics such as 'Spring Rain' and a sing-along 'Surfing Magazines' to slightly deeper cuts like 'Dive For Your Memory' and set closer 'Here Comes A City'.
To see some of the most revered cuts from the great Australian songbook performed in such a raw, stripped-back manner is worth the price of admission alone – in turn, giving great promise for Forster's own national tour taking place next month.
Keep an eye on this up-and-comer, as he'll performing on the streets of your town very soon.
The last time Beck was in Sydney, performing at the doomed Sydney City Limits festival, it was a set with all the usual bells and whistles that have been part and parcel of his shows for decades now.
A full band, video screens, synths, sequencers and probably even two turntables and a microphone if you looked up the back.
On this return trip, however, the creator of the Becktionary has shed most of his regular live show excess in order to offer up a rare and intimate performance – the likes of which he hasn't given since he was first on the come-up in the early-to-mid '90s.
For as beautiful as the opening suite is – including his beloved rendition of The Korgis' 'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime' from 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind', as well as the first of several 'Sea Change' cuts in 'Guess I'm Doing Fine' – what immediately sticks out are the flaws.
This is meant in a good way, mind; for someone who has largely delivered very polished and spotless sets at festivals all over the world, it's great to be reminded of the human operating behind it.
Beck fumbles over tunings, makes awkward jokes and tells stories about eating pancakes with Michel Gondry or writing songs for Johnny Cash. It almost feels like an 'MTV Unplugged' or 'VH1 Storytellers' taping, such is the laid-back nature of both the arrangements and the performance itself.
Even with such a minimalist setup – Beck himself on guitar and piano, plus a pedal steel player and a double bassist adding subtle texture – there's still multitudes to be explored.
We swoon over 'Blue Moon' and 'Heart Is A Drum', we grin and groove to 'Tropicalia' and 'Where It's At', we sing-along to a cover of Neil Young's 'Old Man' and we roar with laughter when the man himself attempts to perform a set of lyrics written by artificial intelligence in the style of Beck. "I don't think it knows who I am," he deadpans after teaching us the AI's hilariously corny chorus. The robots aren't taking over just yet, folks.
For the encore, Beck honours a fan's surprising request for 'Debra' – a goofy faux-funk number from 1999's 'Midnite Vultures' that does not lend itself to the acoustic setting whatsoever.
It's perhaps for this reason that it brings the house down, with Beck leading a falsetto sing-along and doubling down on just how ridiculous the song is without all its usual adornments.
A smash cut into 'One Foot In The Grave', with Beck bellowing on a harmonica and egging on a call-and-response, seems like the perfect place to end things.
In one last surprise turn, however, he returns once more for a touching and classy tribute to the late, great Daniel Johnston with a performance of his signature song 'True Love Will Find You In The End'.
Even with few hits and even fewer big-time flourishes, Beck has conveyed the layers of his artistry that can only come with nearly 30 years in the game.
