Beck Covers Neil Young & Breaks Out 2 Long-Lost Songs At The Greek Theatre

By Scott Bernstein Sep 24, 2026 • 7:29 am PDT

Beck returned to his hometown of Los Angeles on Wednesday for the second show of his Ride Lonesome Tour. At the Greek Theatre, he told a story about watching Neil Young perform there as a kid before covering “Old Man” alone. He also brought back two songs that had been absent from his setlists for years.

Beck said he rarely had money for concert tickets growing up. One of the first shows he saw was Antonio Carlos Jobim at the Greek. He returned for another concert without a ticket and watched from the bushes. “The artist that was performing was Neil Young, playing by himself acoustic, just like this,” Beck said, picking out the opening of “Old Man” on guitar. He went on to play much more of the song, occasionally asking the audience to help with the lyrics.

Afterward, Beck crossed to a small house built into the stage set. He joked that its 150 square feet were all he could afford in the neighborhood, then gathered his band there for “Cold Brains.” According to Setlist.fm, the Mutations song had not appeared in a Beck setlist since 2006. Later, he played The Information track “Soldier Jane” for the first documented time since 2016.

The choices reflected what Beck had told fans to expect. In an Instagram Story ahead of the Greek show, he described the Ride Lonesome Tour as a deep dive into his new album and the worlds of Sea Change and Morning Phase, with songs he plays less often. Eight selections from Ride Lonesome appeared in Wednesday’s set, beginning with “In The Night.” The album arrived on September 18, and the tour opened the previous night in Santa Barbara with several live debuts.

Beck also played “The Golden Age,” “Paper Tiger,” “Lost Cause” and “Nobody’s Fault But My Own” before ending the Los Angeles show with “Where It’s At,” “Loser” and Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You in the End.” Watch the full-show video below, cued to the introduction to “Old Man.”