Guitar Legends Jeff Beck and Pete Townshend Unite to Kill Cancer

Charity events are always curious balancing acts as the organizers seek to marry the sombre reflection of life and death issues with the energy and anarchy of a rock and roll show. Drive home the message too hard, and no matter how worthy the cause, an uncomfortable and overbearing atmosphere will emerge. Be too light, have too much fun and you can appear flippant or at worst you’ll find the audience questioning why exactly they paid £120 to attend.

Tonight’s Killing Cancer concert stumbled upon that perfectly happy middle ground. They kept the PDT treatment foremost in their audience’s mind without appearing like a lobbying group, while delivering a rock show that not only featured highly quality performances but those special once in a life time moments that help to give the event a unique “you had to be there” flavour.

Jeff Beck’s name stuck out like a saw thumb on the line up; taking to the stage after a crowd pleasing set by Bryan Adams and a haunting performance by Richard Ashcroft, topped off by a staggering rendition of “Sonnet”. Both artists performed low key and tender acoustic sets and in keeping with the maudlin surroundings you might have expected Beck to opt for his considered take on Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” or his tepid and regrettable cover of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.

Instead Beck decided to buck the trend walking resolutely onto stage and launching straight into “Beck’s Bolero”. The track’s usual streamlined sheen was supplanted by a ragged snarling performance, full of ad libbed fretwork, backed up by a thundering performance by Zak Starkey on drums that actually surpassed the energy Keith Moon brought to the original recording.

The suggestions of self indulgence that plagued Beck’s Emotion And Commotion tour and his recent O2 Arena dates with Eric Clapton were gone. Beck was focused and aggressive getting as much venom and distorted edge out his Fender as humanly possible.

From there on in he turned to one of Emotion And Commotion’s more up beat numbers, “Hammerhead”, which has become a set staple and fan favourite in the year since it’s release. With the strings absent, it was up to Beck alone to give the track its grandiose scale. He duly obliged by introducing a hefty new riff to match the track’s 60’s wah wah opening, and by exchanging solos throughout with the event’s keyboard player.