Sea Change (album) - Sea Change Touring

Sea Change Touring

Sea Change yielded many tours in support, the first of which began as a low-key, theatre-based acoustic tour in August 2002. Each show gave a playful, energetic atmosphere, with Beck telling jokes in between performances, and a surprise appearance by Jack White of The White Stripes at the August 11 show, which MTV News described as getting "a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd of college kids and beatniks." A larger tour was planned for October 2002, with The Flaming Lips as opening band, as well as Beck's backing band. The tour began in October and ended in November 2002.

During the touring for Sea Change, Beck varied the set list and experimented with song structures, changing the arrangements each night as a way to break away from predictability. True to Beck's desire for re-interpretation of songs, he dismissed both his longtime touring band and the group he worked with for Sea Change shortly before touring began. Between new and old original songs at each concert, Beck performed many improvisational covers, such as "No Expectations" by The Rolling Stones, Big Star's "Kangaroo", The Zombies' "Beechwood Park" and "Sunday Morning", by The Velvet Underground. Described as "breathtaking" by David Fricke of Rolling Stone, Fricke also expanded upon his statements: "It was a perfect fit — songs about commitment and loss, written and sung by the wounded."