Barely
a year after their Covid-affected, multiple-times-postponed UK tour for their
sophomore album, 2020’s “Jump Rope Gazers” (April 2022, in fact; gig. 1,223),
spritely New Zealand indiepop combo The Beths once again make the lengthy trek to
the UK, to tour their third! Said album, “Expert In A Dying Field” was once
again a shining glory-box of brain-hugging hookery and upbeat Summery indie
tuneage, adding to an already-impressive body of work which has seen them as regulars
on my recent “Best Of” annual compo CDs, and of course on my “Dance Card” gig
itineraries. A Bristol gig at the (hopefully now completely repaired, following
a fire in July 2021) SWX was therefore an essential one, also representing a
step up in venue size for talented singer/ songwriter Liz Stokes and the boys. Let’s see how they
adapt to this, then…
Beef
joined us for this one, popping round for 5.30, then we headed to Shrivenham to
pick up Abstraction Engine boys David and Gareth before a swift journey saw us
park up just before 7. My first SWX visit since said fire, and happily there’s
a much wider entry staircase, and better gent’s loos! Grabbed drinks and a
floor spot a few rows back, chatting before opener Lande Heckt at 8. A full
band Lande this time, she/they were full on authentic C86/ Sarah Records
revivalists, from the innocent, slightly gauche Summery tuneage evoking lazy
days punting on the Thames, to the Breton shirts and oversized, turned-up
jeans. An innocuous jangly vibe, if more than a little substantial and lacking
oomph mix-wise, and also lacking memorable tunes, a more upbeat, Weddoes-like
“80 Days Of Rain” and robust closer “Gay Space Cadets” notwithstanding.
I’d
wore my Parachute Men t-shirt tonight and, between bands, was approached by a gent
who’d driven all the way from Derby for tonight’s tour opening night (that’s dedication
for you!), but who’d also played in a band with original Paras drummer Mark
Boyce! Had a nice chat while the dancefloor in this awkwardly-shaped venue got
ever more crowded; then at 9.20 the strains of a casio-tone version of “Future
Me Hates Me” fed through the PA, The Beths then taking the stage and romping
through the actual version, accompanied by the sudden mid-song inflation of a
giant trout head (who actually got an introduction when The Beths attempted a
somewhat awkward round-robin band intro, as “Bird”!) to surprised cheers. An
early “Out Of Sight” took a couple of tries to get going (“we forgot to press
record,” quipped drummer Tristan), before its’ understated, pastoral verse
ceded to some serious middle-8 shredding from vocalist Liz, then “Great No One”
– one of many Beths numbers which give the impression of actually accelerating
throughout the song! – featured excellent harmonies from the happily-restored
guitarist Jonathan (after missing that Fleece gig 1,223 through illness) and bassist Ben, contrasting with Liz’ pure, lilting lead line.
Harmonies
were actually quite to the fore tonight; as per the support, the guitar sound again
felt a little less upfront in the mix (particularly during “Head In The Clouds”,
which sadly sounded notably less robust than on record), but this allowed
Jonathan and Ben’s delightful vocal backups greater prominence in the sound.
Suits me, I’ve always been a sucker for 3-part harmonies, and on the slower
numbers such as the plaintive, beautiful “Your Side”, the lush “Jump Rope
Gazers” and the countrified, “Shame About Ray”-era Lemonheads-esque “When You
Know You Know” they were the main feature. They’ve worked on their between-song
banter too; Liz’ early comment about the nice weather in Bristol turned into a
climate change critique (their native Auckland suffering recent floods), and Tristan
later recounted catching a bus in Bristol and enjoying using the phrase, “cheers
drive!”. “Less Than Thou” was a superb mid-set highlight, a slow burn riff
building to a metronomic and absorbing thrill-ride recalling War On Drugs (!); “Dying
To Believe” was a tremendous fizz-pop blast with some great strident mid-song “whoo”’s
(I did a Mexican wave for these; sadly no-one joined in!); however my overall
highlight was set closer “Expert In A Dying Field”, the harmonies once again
lush and quite, quite lovely, particularly during the final deconstructed choral
outro.
A
gabbling, galloping “Little Death” capped a 2 song encore and an overall
splendid showing from this talented combo. Waited for a list afterwards until
the lights went on and we were ushered to the back, then had an unpleasant run
in with an utter jobsworth asshat security bloke who rather pettily told his
colleague (who was in the process of sorting out a list for me, as he’d previously
promised) not to give it to me. Then, as I resignedly leaded off to the exit, a
Specialist Subject promoter chap tapped me on the shoulder and gave me his
copy! Result! Score 10 for SS, minus 1,000,000 for SWX security… So, a happy
drive back to drop the boys off, home just after midnight after a fine
pop-filled evening out with the boys and The Beths!
No comments:
Post a Comment