Don't Miss Our Ongoing Live Coverage
BARSTOW, California – There's a common thread that runs through nearly everything Station to Station touches - how do we experience creativity now? Live performance. Photography. Video. Tweets. Instagrams.
But does it matter which medium brings the message?
That question becomes more interesting when the "happening" is, um, happening at a drive-in. Five decades before YouTube, drive-ins were one of the best ways to see moving pictures. Now, the Skyline Drive-In in Barstow is searching for ways to keep up with the digital age, and on the side hosting car shows and traveling art shows like Station to Station. A place that once showed classic films was still hosting a few of those, but last night it added to its roster a series of interactive art yurts, a photography exhibit by Stephen Shore, and a performance by Beck. And it was a great experience - so good it's almost a shame that more drive-ins, which are dwindling quickly, aren't being used as performance spaces.
The performance last night was as wonderful as it was weird. It opened with No Age, who – minus the benefit of any lighting whatsoever – performed right on the drive-in's dust and gravel surface. Situated beneath the theater's secondary screen, the band played a non-stop set accompanied by a projection of Stephen Shore's unedited photographs from Winslow – turning the space above them into a massive gallery wall that made the photographs look like the aftermath of something horrific, thanks to the band's jarring score.
Following the No Age/Shore presentation, everything mostly moved to the main stage beneath Skyline's massive primary screen, where Lucky Dragons started out with their "aural illusion" set, before Cold Cave came on to get people dancing (or at least head-bobbing in appreciation). Then it was Cat Power (also known as Chan Marshall) who took the stage, asking, "How cool is this place?" before launching into her first song, "Fool." In a departure from her other performances, she played the traditional song "He's a Mighty Good Leader." "I learned this song from Beck," she said, likely referencing his inclusion of the track on his album One Foot in the Grave.
After Marshall's set, it was time for the man himself. Well, the man and his fantastic choir. Before Beck took the stage, his entourage of backup singers – collected from the group he performed with for his epic cover of David Bowie's "Sound and Fury" – took to the drive-in's grounds to start their performance amongst the crowd before joining Beck onstage for his song, "The Golden Age."
"Good to be in Barstow on a beautiful desert evening," he said by way of introduction before launching into "Lonesome Tears" and a new track called "Wake Up" – which he said he "made up for this show." Then, as he was leading a "One Foot in the Grave" sing-along, the UFO showed up. Whether anyone knew it was coming or not, heads turned. As did smartphones. Soon the sea of lenses pointed at Beck's stage changed direction and pointed to the sky to try to capture a – probably grainy – shot of Peter Coffin's beautiful flying saucer. Even Beck himself paid homage to the disc that crashed his set, switching up the lyrics to his "Where It's At" to say "I've got two turntables and a UFO." But the crowd didn't stay distracted for long. As soon as Beck launched into a cover of Sly and the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" they were back in full-attention.
And then it was over. Of all of the locations and line-ups Station to Station has hit thus far, the Barstow stop may be the most impactful. Sitting on the edge of town, on the precipice of old media (auto-enabled movie-watching) and new (gadget-enabled UFO-making) and playing around with everything in-between, it might have just been a perfect piece of performance.
All photos: Bryan Derballa/WIRED
