Monday night’s Beck performance at the Helio Drift launch party in Hollywood sure had some surprises! Gone was the black vest and hat outfit he’d sported through the summer months of his tour; missing were the puppets that copied his and all of his band mates’ moves; also missing was the banquette table where the band clanked out tunes such as "Clap Hands" using forks and glasses for instruments.
Speaking of the band, there was one mystery member in a white suit who went incognito under a big, white cowboy hat and large aviator sunglasses, a guitarist resembling Beck’s brother-in-law, Giovanni Ribisi. No mention was made of him, and I noticed this a.m. that he was not in any of the band portraits taken before their performance. The Girl Scout that I am quickly Googled, "Giovanni Ribisi plays guitar," and on a random fan page, sure enough, I found the sentence, "He enjoys playing the guitar."
Can any of you PopWatchers help me out and let me know if said guitarist (pictured, left, having an intimate moment onstage with Beck) is indeed the Giovanni Ribisi? I mean, I could probably call the publicist, but it’s way more fun this way…
Katy,
It is definely Gio Ribisi. Beck is married to his sister. He was touring around with them the past few weeks.
It’s definitely him. Look at that lip!
of course it’s him. LOOK AT THE PICTURE. it’s gotta be
they’re both Scientologists….makes sense
just,
I suspect that “Beck is married to his sister” is pretty much what Katy meant by the phrase “Beck’s brother-in-law.”
Beck is married to Giovanni’s sister, and it sure looks like him in that photo.
That is definitely him. I’d know that face anywhere. I love you, Giovanni!
as soon as I saw this I was like: “Hey that’s Earl’s friend playing the guitar!” Sure enough it was.
Giovanni’s a scientologist? Beck’s one too? What’s up with all these great actors joining up with that money sucking cult anyway?
I don’t know 100% if it’s Ribisi, but based on the photo, it’s got to be him.
Yeah, he actually played with them at two earlier gigs, in Nashville and El Paso.
For sure that’s him – the facial expression gives it away. And I’m pretty sure that both the Ribisi siblings and Beck were brought up as Scientologists since birth. So, they didn’t choose it per se, but have been brainwashed all their lives.
Beck blew into Dallas a few weeks ago and performed at the Gypsy Tea Room and Giovanni also played guitar. Same outfit, actually. It was so last minute that they had to borrow guitars. It was a great show – and a very small venue.
EP,
I dunno about the “great actors” and scientology link. There are also some real losers, loose cannons, and Z-listers in that thoroughly whacked-out culty cult cult.
Two of Beck’s band members are Scientologists, too.
Maybe I’m missing something, but what does it matter that they’re both Scientologists? If you’re making inferences about “That has to be Giovanni, they’re both Scientologists”, does that mean John Travolta was playing drums, and Tom Cruise is their stage manager?