Beck came to El Paso to find a friend—at least that’s what he repeated over and over during his Thursday night performance at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.

Mr. Hansen, this reporter would love to be your friend. In fact, everyone should be Beck’s friend. The energy, enthusiasm and passion of his performance had the crowds cheering, dancing and begging for more.

The show began with a boom as neon lights flashed designs and numbers behind the band. After performing a few high-energy songs first, the show slowed down as he played songs off of his latest album, “Morning Phase.”

Things got a little slow and dull—although his latest album is a treasure in itself, the live performances of the songs off of “Morning Phase” paled in comparison to his earlier material.

But of course, Beck loves El Pasoans too much to let us down. He pumped up the volume, put away the acoustic guitar and amped-up the light show.

He danced around stage holding his pants by the belt loops so they wouldn’t slip off his small frame and he had the crowd swaying along with him. At one point, the band made a dramatic exit by falling to the floor out of exhaustion and they disappeared into the darkness.

The best part of the show had to be when Beck returned for an encore after the first exit and sang a hilarious and dramatic ballad about his adventures following a girl named Debra into Ciudad Juárez only to find himself high as a kite with Willy Nelson in the back seat of his Hyundai.

You can’t help but love this guy’s ability to make you laugh while in the middle of a performance. His interactions with the audience were what made the show special.

Beck performed his hits “Loser” and “Girl” early on in the show. It ended with “Where It’s At” and somewhere in the middle he included an enthusiastic cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean.”

He praised El Paso several times throughout the show, even saying he had been trying for a while to come back to the city. He said the last time he was here the crowd’s energy was the best of his tour.

Should Beck return in the future, which is pretty likely, he’s almost guaranteed a good turn out. El Paso fans seem to be very loyal to the artist, and with good reason.

His performance was overall very refreshing, fun and exciting, despite starting on the slow side. When the band finally left the stage and the house lights turned on, the crowd left in a state of euphoria and we’re craving more.

Jasmine Aguilera may be reached at [email protected].