New single Out-Side - released on July 12th Buy from Amazon.co.uk: CD1 | CD2 | 7" vinyl
Friday 03 September 2004 Posted by Jim @ 16:40pm
It would appear that the Glasgow date in November isn't a one-off... details are still being finalized of a full UK tour in November/December... check the message board for latest news and rumours about the tour
Wednesday 01 September 2004 Posted by Jim @ 18:34pm
Tickets have gone onsale today via Ticketmaster for a new Beta Band gig in Glasgow in November:
DFC & PCL PRESENT
THE BETA BAND
CARLING ACADEMY GLASGOW
FRI 12-NOV-04 DOORS 19:00
Meanwhile, the Beta Band's set from Leicester Summer Sundae was broadcast on BBC 6Music this Monday (30th Aug) ... if you missed it you can use the listen again feature to hear the show (the link should be valid until this Sunday). Fast forward to around 1h35 into the show for the Beta Band
Members of the Beta Band will be appearing on Scottish online radio station Old Jock Radio tonight from 8pm onwards (Wednesday 4th August).
If you would like to ask the band a question please email it over to the studio via peterankin@blueyonder.co.uk. The show is broadcast via Shoutcast, but for more info read this thread on the message board, or visit the show's official site
Monday 02 August 2004 Posted by Jim @ 17:22pm
THE BETA BAND SPLIT
All good things must come to an end. And so it is that after eight years of creating consistently innovative music, releasing three critically acclaimed albums and staging some legendary live shows, the Beta Band have decided to call it a day.
And they’re going out on a high. This year’s album, Heroes To Zeros, met with universal acclaim and is set to be their biggest seller to date. A fitting end to a career that the band would agree has had its highs and lows…
Steve Mason, Richard Greentree, John Maclean and Robin Jones made an immediate impact with their debut release and the resulting compilation The Three EPs. With their no formula approach to music making, a shared interest in film and art and a desire to push the envelope in terms of their music and live performance, the group continued to puzzle and delight with the release of their debut album, an album which despite the band’s own misgivings was hailed by critics as one of the year’s most important releases.
This experimentation with new sounds continued with the release of their second album the electronic flavoured Hot Shots II, which again met with widespread critical acclaim. Bad luck struck however when the release of the first single from the album was delayed when it transpired another band had used the same sample.
Always regarded as something of an enigma by the media but widely recognized to be one of the UK’s most influential bands, this year’s Heroes To Zeros proved not only their most successful but most cohesive and engaging album to date.
Sadly, eight years of hard work and critical acclaim but little return in terms of commercial success inevitably takes its toll and a group decision was made to finally lay the band to rest.
With John out of radio contact and Robin currently climbing monroes in the highlands, it’s been left to Steve and Rich to say their goodbyes in a typically idiosyncratic fashion…
Steve Mason; “The minority is always right. I left the room with silent dignity but caught my foot on the mat, and a thousand, thousand slimy things lived on, and so did I. This is adding insult to injuries. By the way, who’s your fat friend?”
Richard Greentree; “ The Beta Band apple has over rippened and become riddled with maggots, it must fall from the tree and let it’s seeds return to ground. Sincere thanks to everyone who has helped us along the way, see you in the Spring”.
All four members will continue to work in music and the arts. Steve and Richard continue to work on their solo albums and a new King Biscuit Time album from Steve is currently in the finishing stages. John, who directed many of the band’s videos and along with Robin was responsible for writing and directing the videos for Assessment and Out-Side, will continue his film work whilst keeping his foot in the musical door. The same can be said for Robin who’ll also divide his time between his twin loves, film and music.
The Beta Band will bid farewell with a UK tour in the autumn – dates to be announced shortly. Meanwhile Parlophone are preparing for the release of a DVD featuring a collection of videos and film work made by the band and scheduled for release in 2005.
The Beta Band would like to thank all those who’ve supported them throughout their career.
Tune into ITV tonight at 2:35am, as The Beta Band are scheduled to appear on the highlights show from V2002 Chelmsford. Here's the listing on Sky Digital Planner:
2.35am ITV at the Festivals 20002 Sarah Cawood and Giles Vickers-Jones present V2002 festival highlights. Featuring the Stereophonics, Nickelback, the Beta Band, Rhianna, the Bluetones, the Burn and Leaves
Monday 19 July 2004 Posted by Jim @ 21:54pm
The Beta Band will play at the Dublin Ambassador club Temple Bar Music Center as part of the Bud Rising Festival tomorrow (Tuesday July 20th). Check the tours section for more upcoming festival dates
Wednesday 14 July 2004 Posted by Jim @ 19:21pm
Steve and John will be on MTV2 Gonzo this Friday (16th July). If you would like Zane Lowe to ask the band a question, head over to this thread on the MTV2 message board
Also, Steve, John & Rich will be on the BBC1 show In The Know this Saturday morning from 9.30am – 10.30am
The setlist for T In The Park (according to Dugsgotabone) was:
Inner Meet Me
Out-Side
She's The One
Dry The Rain
Broke
The setlist for the Move Festival over the weekend (according to roo) was:
Inner Meet Me
Out-Side
She's The One
Dry The Rain
Assessment
Dogs Got A Bone
Quiet
Broke
If you tune into ITV on Saturday night, there are highlights from the Move Festival (which will hopefully include the Beta Band). From Sky's TV Guide:
ITV 12:20am The Move Festival Festival Further highlights from the city centre music festival. Bands performing live include Morrissey, Keane, The Cure, New York Dolls, Goldfrapp, Beta Band and the Ordinary Boys
Monday 12 July 2004 Posted by Jim @ 22:27pm
The new single from The Beta Band 'Out-Side' is released today! If you're going to buy the single, try and buy it this week to increase the potential chart position for the band
Over the weekend, the band played shows at T In The Park Festival (Saturday) and the Manchester Move Festival (Sunday). If you took photos or wrote a review of either of these gigs, please email them to Jim and we'll put them on the site. Thanks to Tom Fern for sending his photos of Move Festival
Monday 05 July 2004 Posted by Jim @ 17:05pm
The Beta Band have been forced to cancel their German tour due to Steve's injury. The affected dates are as follows:
July 5th Munich, Elserzusatzhalle
July 6th Berlin, ColumbiaFritz
July 7th Hamburg, Knust
July 8th Cologne, Primeclub
Thursday 01 July 2004 Posted by Jim @ 18:04pm
It is with regret that the Beta Band announce tomorrow's Brixton gig has been cancelled.
Here's an official statement:
THE BETA BAND – BRIXTON ACADEMY SHOW CANCELLED
THE BETA BAND have been forced to cancel their show at Brixton Academy on July 2nd after
vocalist and guitarist Steve Mason sprained his wrist.
Mason has been signed off by his doctor and told to rest in advance of the bands appearances at T In The Park on July 10th and Guilfest on July 16th.
The Beta Band would like to apologise to fans who held tickets for the Brixton show. An autumn UK tour is currently in the planning stages, full details of which will announced shortly.
Ticket holders will be refunded from point of purchase.
The Beta Band release a new single, Out-Side, from their current album Heroes To Zeros, on July 12th.
Monday 07 June 2004 Posted by Jim @ 21:47pm
At their forthcoming Brixton Academy concert, The Beta Band will be joined by ESG, The Dead 60's and DJ Mani from Primal Scream. Check out the gig poster below:
Steve appeared on Scottish online radio show Old Jock Radio last night (10pm-1am). As well as playing some records and chatting with host Les Bell over a few beers, Steve also played a few acoustic numbers: Troubles and Wonderful (during the latter, the connection failed and the show went off-air). Steve returned to play Dr. Baker, Dry The Rain, The Cows Wrong and Inner Meet Me (check the message board for mp3s)
Monday 24 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 23:45pm
Couple of things to announce tonight, firstly the band will be playing at this year's T In The Park Festival on Saturday 10th July (stage and times unknown at present). Secondly, the band have signed a new management deal with Alan McGee's Creation Management.
Tune into BBC2 tonight from 23:40pm to catch The Beta Band on Later With Jools Holland. The show was pre-recorded on Tuesday (18th May) and according to zombie-flesh-eater on the message board, they played Assessment (including brass section) and Space
The Beta Band regrets that the scheduled appearance at the OXEGEN Festival in Ireland has been cancelled - they will return to Ireland as soon as possible
Friday 14 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 22:53pm
The Beta Band will be playing a gig at HMV in Oxford Street, London to help launch XFM DJ Steve Taylor's new book 'The A to X of Alternative Music'. The gig takes place on Wednesday 26th May at 6pm and is open to anyone in the store. However, if you want to get a special wristband that will allow you to watch from the other side of the velvet rope (which in this case is a special reserved section in front of the stage), then just click here and enter XFM's competition
Meanwhile, according to the BBC website, the band will be on the Later With Jools Holland show next Friday 21st May (alongside Morrissey and the Gypsy Kings)
Wednesday 12 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 15:03pm
Unfortunately the planned appearance on SoccerAM this Saturday has been cancelled... more details as we get them
Meanwhile, NME.com have run a news story about The Beta Band joining the Move Festival line-up here
Monday 10 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 19:38pm
The Beta Band are playing at Brixton Academy on Friday 2nd July, alongside a bill of other bands hand-picked by the Betas (more details and bands to be announced soon). The evening has a late curfew and runs from 9pm-3am. You can buy tickets for this gig online now via Aloud.com priced at £18.50
In yesterday's UK album charts Heroes To Zeros was placed at number 38 (following on from last week's new entry at number 18)
Sunday 09 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 02:18am
There's been a change of venue for the Amsterdam gig on 20th May. The band were due to play The Max but will now play The Old Hall at The Melkweg
Please check out the Heroes To Zeros reviews page, as we now have over 40 reviews of the new album for you to read!
Saturday 08 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 22:07pm
The Beta Band played the Manchester Academy last night - the setlist was:
[Troubles] - John Maclean's film
01. Rhododendron
02. Inner Meet Me
03. Assessment
04. Squares
05. Troubles
06. Al Sharp
07. Wonderful
08. Out-Side
09. She's The One
10. Lion Thief
11. Push It Out
12. Easy
13. Simple
14. Liquid Bird
15. Quiet
-------------
16. Dog's Got A Bone
17. Space
18. Broke
The Beta Band are confirmed to play at this year's Manchester Move Festival on the same bill as Morrissey, The Bees and The Ordinary Boys on Sunday 11th July 2004. You can buy tickets online now from Ticketmaster
The Beta Band will be guests on Sky Sports football show Soccer AM next Saturday 15th May
Thursday 06 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 22:02pm
Thanks to crewe for letting us know the songs that Radio 1's Session In Scotland played from the Glasgow Barrowlands gig:
She's the One
Simple
Liquid Bird (with John scratching Buddy Holly into it at the end)
Quiet
According to crewe, the live music lasted around 20 minutes and they also played a live recording of Out-side, about an hour before the others
You can use the 'listen again' feature on the BBC's website to hear the show if you missed it (or were unable to pick it up where you live). Fast forward to 33:38 for Out-Side and 1:28:42 for the next set of songs.
The Beta Band are confirmed to play at Austin City Limits Fest which takes place at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas between 17th-19th September. More details as we get them, but check the festival website for further info
Thursday 06 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 19:03pm
I've just uploaded the new betaband.com website. It's still heavily under construction but I'll be adding lots more content over the coming days and weeks. Let us know what you think on the message board
Don't forget - The Beta Band are on Radio 1 (Scotland) tonight, sometime between 8-10pm, with highlights from the Glasgow gig
Tune into The XFM Show on The Amp (Sky Digital channel 469 or NTL:home channel 933, repeated daily at 5pm and 7pm all this week) as the Beta Band are guests on the show. They performed Out-Side and were interviewed. Screengrabs coming soon... [thanks cappalad]
Tuesday 04 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 16:05pm
The album Heroes To Zeros is released today in the USA via Astralwerks. You can buy it online now from Amazon.com for $13.99
The Beta Band will be on the Session in Scotland show on BBC Radio One this Thursday 6th May (between 8pm-10pm). Last night's show at the Glasgow Barrowlands was recorded and highlights of this will be broacast. The show is only available in Scotland, but you should be able to use the 'listen again' feature on the BBC site from Friday onwards.
Monday 03 May 2004 Posted by Jim @ 22:00pm
Some new European Beta Band tour dates have been announced:
20.05.2004 Amsterdam Melkweg
21.05.2004 Brussels AB Box
23.05.2004 Milan Rainbow
24.05.2004 Paris La Maroquinerie
Also, for those of you asking about USA tour dates - there's no confirmed details yet, but a tour in September looks likely
The band were on BBC 6Music on Saturday afternoon on Mark Riley's radio show Rocket Science. The band played Out-Side and Dog's Got A Bone and were interview by Mark. If you missed the show you can hear it online this week via the BBC 'Listen Again' feature:
[trouble] - kung fu film
01. Rhododendron
02. Inner Meet Me
03. Assessment
04. Wonderful
05. Simple
06. Al Sharp
07. Space
08. Lion Thief
09. She's The One
10. Troubles
11. Push It Out
12. Easy
13. Squares
14. Liquid Bird
15. Quiet
-------------
16. Dog's Got A Bone
17. Out-Side
18. Broke
Meanwhile, the band are now confirmed to play the Aladdin's Cave stage at the Guilfest Festival on Friday 16th July. For more details please visit www.guilfest.co.uk [thanks Diver]
Friday 30 April 2004 Posted by Jim
The Beta Band played the first night of their 12-date UK tour at the Sheffield Leadmill last night. The setlist was:
01. Rhododendron
02. Inner Meet Me
03. Assessment
04. Squares
05. Troubles
06. Al Sharp
07. Wonderful
08. Out-Side
09. She's The One
10. Lion Thief
11. Easy
12. Push It Out
13. Simple
14. Liquid Bird
15. Quiet
---------------------
16. Dog's Got A Bone
17. Space
18. Broke
Check back soon as we'll have photos from the gigs on this site. If you're going to watch the band please feel free to email your photos and gig reviews and we'll put them on the site.
The band seem to be onstage very early at all the UK dates - here's the run times (subject to change):
29.04.2004 Sheffield Leadmill (Support 7.20pm /Betas 8.15pm)
30.04.2004 Liverpool Carling Academy (Support 7.20pm /Betas 8.15pm)
01.05.2004 Leeds Met Uni (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
03.05.2004 Glasgow Barrowlands (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
04.05.2004 Aberdeen Beach Ballroom (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
05.05.2004 Newcastle Uni (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
07.05.2004 Manchester Academy (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
08.05.2004 Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
10.05.2004 Bristol Academy (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
11.05.2004 Portsmouth Pyramids (Support 8pm /Betas 9.15pm)
12.05.2004 Nottingham Rock City (Support 8pm /Betas 9.15pm)
13.05.2004 London Coronet (Support 7.30pm /Betas 8.45pm)
Meanwhile the Beta Band were in session on XFM on Wednesday night, according to kid_____a they played Out-Side and Simple. XFM usually make these sessions available on their website a few days after, so keep checking on this page
Wednesday 28 April 2004 Posted by Jim
The Beta Band are now confirmed to play the OXEGEN Festival at Punchestown Racecourse in Ireland on Saturday 10th July. For more details please visit: www.oxegen.ie
Last night the Beta Band played at the London ICA as part of the Beck's Futures 2004 awards party. According to message board poster Mitch the setlist was:
Rhododendron
Inner Meet Me
Assessment
Squares
Out-side (announced as the next single)
She's The One
Lion Thief
Liquid Bird
Quiet
Space
Broke
Head over to our message board for reviews from the gig from the competition winners!
Finally, the full UK Beta Band tour kicks off tomorrow in Sheffield. Tickets are still available from Ticketweb, SeeTickets and Ticketmaster
Monday 26 April 2004 Posted by Jim
Heroes To Zeros is released today in the UK Make sure you head to your favourite record shop this week to buy yourself copy!
Wednesday 21 April 2004 Posted by Jim
The Beta Band will be playing a private gig at the Beck's Futures 2004 awards night at the London ICA on Tuesday 27th April. Tickets will not be available to the general public for this private gig, but if you head over to our message board we have a competition to win tickets. Winners will be contacted by Monday.
Sunday 18 April 2004 Posted by Jim
Assessment entered the UK singles chart tonight at number 31. For the latest press reviews of the album (and single), please head over to the message board
Tune into XFM's Xposure Part 2 radio show on XFM this Tuesday (20 April) as John Kennedy will be playing Heroes To Zeros in full, including a track-by-track commentary from the band. More details on the XFM website [thanks Arab]
Steve appeared on the new internet radio station 'Old Jock Radio' this Friday (16th April), where he played records and mentioned possible USA tour dates in June... again, check the message board for the latest...
Wednesday 07 April 2004 Posted by Jim
Assessment is 'Single Of The Week' in today's NME. You can read the review below (thanks to Neil for the scan):
Friday 02 April 2004 Posted by Jim
For Sky Digital viewers in the UK, tune into Channel 941 - BBC1 Scotland tonight at 11:30pm til 0:00am, as the Beta Band will be on The Live Floor Show. For viewers in Scotland, this should just be on your normal BBC1 channel (?)
