Beck's Rock & Roll Puppet Show Hits NYC

Of course, Beck treated the audience to plenty of tracks from his new album, all of which came off sounding both exacting and effortless. The singer and his five-piece band -- including Ryan Falkner, who, when not playing percussion, showed off some sweet dance moves, and Justin Meldal-Johnsen whose sophisticated bass licks shook the room -- did a breezy version of the back-porch rocker "Elevator Music." And Beck's lackadaisical rap on the sweeping funk meets chamber pop of "Dark Star" came out like molasses.

Halfway through, Beck announced, "Time for dinner." Stagehands brought out a dining set replete with silverware and glasses, and the players seated themselves at the table, repurposing the supper-club tableau used on 2005's Guero tour. The singer strummed through a few acoustic tunes, including a cover of the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize" and "Golden Age." But when the puppets started replicating the dinner act, the show reached gimmick overload.

That said, Beck made sure that the fans -- who paid an average of fifty bucks per ticket -- got their money's worth. Even before the raucous encore of "1000BPM" and "E-Pro," a video with the puppets running amok in Manhattan -- grabbing a slice of pizza, checking out stripper listings, trashing the dressing room -- could've been a "Crank Yankers" skit. There wasn't a dull moment the whole night through.