Beck showed up with his skinny, well-coiffed band of punky deviants last night at the Knitting Factory to play an hour-long private set in front of 200 celebrating his Paste magazine cover. Roots drummer ?uestlove served as the between-sets DJ. James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins was just being James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, hanging out in the VIP area with overblown blonde locks befitting Courtney Love. We contemplated Paste's disporportionate amount of street cred for a magazine that, while certainly well-put-together, we barely think about much less read. Beck, in a Courtney Love move, left the venue while his band — including an exceedingly mediocre white breakdancer/cowbell-player who looked like he just rolled out of his dorm room — played the encore.

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