Beck at Forest Hills Stadium
photo by Ellen Qbertplaya

Beck, Cage the Elephant & Spoon @ Forest Hills Stadium (pics, setlists, video)

The Beck/Cage the Elephant/Spoon tour hit NYC on Saturday for a show at Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium. Kicking things off with one of his signature songs, “Loser,” Beck packed his set with hits, from ’90s classics like “Devil’s Haircut,” “Debra” and “New Pollution” to his cover of The Korgis’ “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime” (from the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack) to “Wow” and “E-Pro.” Beck told the crowd he had roots in New York City, not too far from the stadium, so playing at the venue held special meaning for him. For the five-song encore, which began off with “Where It’s At,” he brought out Spoon’s Britt Daniel to cover Elvis Costello’s “Pump it Up” and then Cage the Elephant’s Matt Shultz to play the CTE/Beck collab “Night Running.”

Shultz got the A for Effort award during Cage the Elephant‘s set, coming out wearing about seven layers of clothing which got peeled off throughout the night till he was down to shorts, a tank-top and socks. On their last song, “Teeth,” Shultz then climbed into the audience and, alternating between crowd-surfing and standing/walking atop the crowd, he navigated across the entire length of the stadium. Shultz managed to reach the roof of the soundboard area and even climbed to the upper level in the rear, greeting fans who were in the nosebleeds.

Spoon, having just released a Best Of compilation, stuck mainly to the hits, including many (thought not all) from that album, like “The Underdog,” “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” “Don’t You Evah,” “The Way We Get By,” and new single “No Bullets Spent.” They were also selling autographed copies of the Everything Hits At Once: The Best of Spoon at the merch table.

The night opened with a short set from NYC’s own Sunflower Bean. Pictures from their set, and the whole evening, are in the gallery above and you can check out Beck and Spoon’s setlists — and video of Beck with Britt Daniel and Matt Schultz — below.

SETLIST: Beck @ Forest Hills Stadium 8/17/2019
Loser
Up All Night
Girl
Qué Onda Güero
Mixed Bizness
Debra
Wow
Saw Lightning
Dreams
Devils Haircut
Go It Alone
Lost Cause
Everybody’s Got to Learn Sometime
(The Korgis cover)
The New Pollution
Dear Life
E-Pro

Encore:
Where It’s At
Good Times (Chic cover)
One Foot in the Grave
Pump It Up (Elvis Costello cover with Britt Daniel)
Night Running (Cage the Elephant cover with Matt Shultz)

SETLIST: Spoon @ Forest Hills Stadium 8/17/2019
Do I Have to Talk You Into It
The Way We Get By
My Mathematical Mind
No Bullets Spent
The Underdog
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Inside Out
I Turn My Camera On
Don’t You Evah
Do You
Rent I Pay

photos by Ellen Qbertplaya