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Date: Monday 3rd May 2004
Venue: Glasgow Barrowlands
Capacity: 1900
Venue website: www.glasgow-barrowland.com
Setlist:
unknown?
Notes:
Sunday Herald [direct link]
Reviewer: Samuel McGuire
Rating: 3/5 stars
HAVE The Beta Band ever really achieved their potential? It’s a question that’s nagged ever since the ramshackle four-piece first appeared in 1997. Their first few releases – loosely collated as an album entitled The Three EPs, and subsequently immortalised in the movie version of High Fidelity (when John Cusack vows to sell five copies of the album in 15 minutes just by playing it in his record shop) – set such a ludicrously high standard from the off that everything since has struggled to measure up.
Of course, it didn’t help that they demolished their first proper album in interviews ahead of its release, and they’ve never quite escaped a grumpy, curmudgeonly reputation at odds with their hippy-esque music. Early on in tonight’s gig, there’s a One Foot In The Grave flash when bristling bandleader Steve Mason fixes a guitar gremlin by launching a hefty kick at his amp. But things soon settle down into what The Beta Band do best: the groove.
It’s at the heart of all their best work, somewhere underneath the deceptively all-over-the-place drumming and pass-the-parcel instrumentation. And while these lithe basslines have increasingly been interfered with by technology, there’s an organic tug to them that’s pleasingly primitive. Mason’s vocals are as reedy as ever – part liturgy, part Only Fools And Horses theme tune – but once he manages to escape his all-weather overcoat, he even seems to be having a little fun.
A fair chunk of tonight’s set is lifted from their recent third album, Heroes To Zeros, a confident, occasionally blissful collection of songs. Live, they sound pretty good too, from instrumental opener Rhododendron – cascades of glockenspiels splashing down over a church organ base – to the softly pounding Liquid Bird – which thunders forward in a swirl of drums, keening guitar lines and aggressive synth waves.
The highlight of the new material is sadsack anthem Simple, where Mason sings sweetly about doing your own thing and ending up on your own over a sparse violin line that later collapses into a dirty groove. Like much of the album, it’s well-received, but there’s still a greater swell of excitement when they return to songs from those first three EPs. The droning Push It Out has the entire ballroom bobbing, while the strained melody of She’s The One has people bravely trying to sing along in harmony.
Perhaps The Beta Band will never quite overshadow their first flourish. But by assimilating their irresistible past into their intriguing present, they’ve at least found a way to push things forward – and not lose the rag while they’re doing it.
The Scotsman [direct link]
Reviewer: Matt Brereton
Rating: 2 stars
IF LEVELS of anticipation were anything to go by, this gig should have been a belter. Riding on the crest of the wave of new album Heroes to Zeroes, the Edinburgh four-piece were greeted as they took the stage by a roar that attested to their hero status. But it soon became clear all was not as it should be in the Beta camp. The wacky stage outfits had been dispensed with, one hoped to make way for a more focused musical drive.
Unfortunately, the music didn’t live up to expectations. Not that the new material isn’t up to scratch, it just didn’t fly out of the blocks. Assessment may have been introduced as their "new hit single", but it scored badly, while Troubles also failed to sparkle, especially in comparison with tried- and-tested material from Hot Shots II. The scuffly kick-beat of Lion Thief really threatened to take off, but was spoiled by too much messing around on novelty instruments.
The swirling light-show and washed-out visuals were all very well, but the simple fact was the Beta Band looked like they’d been in the studio for too long. When they took the stage they were greeted by a roar, but by the end of the set that roar had been replaced by the murmur of muttered conversations. A classic case of heroes to zeroes.
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