Revisit Jeff Beck’s final concert
On November 12th, 2022, famed guitairst Jeff Beck treated fans in Reno to what would turn out to be his final concert. The performance marked the guitar hero’s final stop on his tour with actor-musician Johnny Depp.
Beck and Depp became friends in 2016 and quickly started collaborating. “When Johnny and I started playing together, it really ignited our youthful spirit and creativity,” Beck explained, dubbing the actor a “kindred spirit.”
Fast forward to 2020, and the duo released their first single, a rendition of ‘Isolation’ by John Lennon. At the time, Depp explained that performing with Beck had helped keep him “alive and sane and happy” during the Amber Heard defamation trial.
Beck and Depp’s 2022 tour saw the duo perform cover tracks from their collaborative album 18, many of which were featured on that final setlist. The Reno concert included renditions of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus In Furs’ and the Beach Boys’ ‘Caroline, No’.
The setlist also included a plethora of Beck originals, including ‘Loose Cannon’, ‘Big Block’, ‘Star Cycle’, ‘You Never Know’ and the guitarist’s 1975 instrumental track ‘Freeway Jam’. Depp contributed just one original track in the form of ‘This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr’.
Remembering how he convinced Beck to record the track for the album, Depp told Hollywood Authentic: “I sent a very cheeky text to Jeff and said, ‘Hey, don’t think that I’m asking you to play on this because I’m really not’ Don’t feel any pressure at all. I’m just sending you this song that I wrote. Of course, if you wanted to play on it, that’s fine. But I’m not saying you should, and I’m not asking you to, because I wouldn’t do that to our friendship.’”
Guilt-tripped into a corner, Beck replied: “Send me the stems, you fucker.” The pair’s Reno performance attracted more than 2,500 people, including Whitesnake’s David Cloverdale. The show concluded with a rendition of Killing Joke’s ‘Death and Resurrection Show’, a choice which would take on greater resonance when Beck passed away just two months later at the age of 78.
