GIG NUMBER SIXTY-THREE
Who
I made the mistake of arriving late without drinking anything, instantly making me far less up for it than I should be. Gisli were already onstage and were OK. They were loud, rocked a bit and even said that they'd "fuck off now for The Beta Band" which is uncharacteristic honesty from a support. Didn't pay much attention though but I think it was just four guys doing a standard indie thing, the singer in red and some of the rest appeared to be in suits. When they finished I moved my way forwards through the far too indifferent crowd. The keyboard guy was already onstage, apparently billed as a DJ although all he did was put on a few records then carefully put them back in their sleeves. In fact for the five minutes before the band were onstage it seemed they'd even forgot to put any music on at all, just dimming the lights and making us wait for them.
The band seemed to have practically sold out the place and enthusiasm seemed to have built up by the time they'd got onstage. Sadly though there was none of the costumes or backdrops I'd expected, although perhaps the strength of their show made this criticism irrelevant anyway. They wandered onstage and most probably played It's Not Too Beautiful which was good although hampered by the fact that I didn't know it. Squares though I did know and is a wonderful tune, marred only by the fact that it isn't really their song. Lots of other tunes I didn't know (or barely knew from my few listenings of Heroes To Zeros) followed and seemed mostly very good, although my lack of knowledge seriously hampered my concentration on everything. Normally it's a shit crowd or crap setlist which lets a gig down but here it was my fault for not buying and hearing their stuff better beforehand like I'd been planning to. I also wasn't up for it as much as I should be, tragically missing the opportunity to join everyone in moshing like a moomin to Out-Side, a glorious pop song featuring woofing at the start!
Thankfully though Dry The Rain was delivered around the middle. "I'll smile when they play it" was my words beforehand and it proved to be very true. This was perfect pop with everyone singing every word back and moshing for even the quiet bits. It was thankfully even extended a bit in a lovely nod to the fact that people expected to hear this song and any notion that they'd miss it out would be a crime against humanity! The moshpit generally continued although I took a while to get over the comedown from the obvious set highlight. Someone even gave me some beer which no doubt helped me out a bit too, so by the time She's The One came up and sounded fairly familiar I'd got nicely into it.
The crowd were certainly good, with one case of standing on someone's shoulders being met by the band with "good God you're a big lad!" which is the kind of thing guaranteed to make anyone laugh in a gig environment. The guys seemed to be quite up for it as well as being nice and loud, with the keyboardist doing his bit despite jigging up and down throughout and the singer delivering all his lines with enough energy to make the records I'd heard sound quite inferior by comparison, exuding the attitude of Ian Brown whilst being in far better tune! I seemed to remember them looking quite geeky, fat and bearded in photos but this seems to have changed. Although many of the songs no doubt nudged ten minutes it didn't seem to harm anything at all, and somehow even simple things like standing on an amp and playing the guitar while swaying from side to side were done in a cool enough way to feel noteworthy! I described them afterwards as indie-rap and that seemed a very apt description of their sound to me.
Thankfully Dry The Rain was certainly not the only individual highlight. Dr. Baker was delivered with much energy, before being slowed down to the pace of the record for its second verse and this worked amazingly well. They also played Inner Meet Me, which was a top tune. I didn't know the songs well enough to pick out as many moments as I'd like to here, although I feel like more from The 3 E.P.'s L.P. was played than the setlist credits! The set really hit its heights again towards the end, Dogs Got A Bone making up for the false start from the band by sounding gloriously moving and B + A dragging out its simple guitars to a degree that shouldn't had worked but did stunningly, especially with the tambourine solo at the end! "The hits just keep on coming" Steve said, not without a hint of sarcasm and bitterness! They were certainly making me feel bad that I hadn't became a real fan far earlier, although I'm glad I took the chance to see them before it was too late.
Just when I thought it was over, The Beta Band made it two encores by coming back on to The House Song, which really made everyone try to dance properly to this fantastic loop as it was blasted out at us with Steve adding more vocals and excitement to the show than maybe anything else had managed to! In the end Steve got behind the second drum kit as the other two guys pounded the cymbals from the front in a surprisingly effective drum solo to finish us off. They thanked Manchester then left the stage to a top reception. In fact I'd enjoyed this bit so much I hadn't even checked my watch to see whether they'd finished early or not. The only criticism of the set I could make is that there was no Beta Band Rap although this seems a trivial point. Considering the lack of costumes and my lack of knowledge this was a fantastic show, thus no wonder I bought all of their albums within a few weeks of it and became a proper fan!
Mark: 8.0/10
The Beta Band
Support
Gisli
Where
Manchester Academy
When
19th November 2004
Price
£15.00
Who with
No-one
Position
Towards the front
Comments
I had hoped that they would play a festival and I'd get to see them that way but, upon hearing the news that The Beta Band were to split after this final tour, I realised that this was my last chance to enjoy their show so thought little of the £17 I was made to pay for a ticket. After all, Dry The Rain is quite simply one of the greatest songs of all time and would be worth the money by itself. I'd acquired The 3 E.P.'s L.P. almost five years previously but this was the only track that really made an impact on me, being both a fantastic sing-along and something that you would turn up so loud and then have to turn it down as it reached its climax! I figured a chance to see this masterpiece live coupled with some other alright tunes like Squares, Dr. Baker, The Beta Band Rap and Dogs Got A Bone was worth it... Provided they played them! I even purchased Heroes To Zeros beforehand to get into the mood, although didn't get round to hearing it much anyway.
Setlist
It's Not Too Beautiful
Squares
Alleged
Easy
Inner Meet Me
Simple
Out-Side
Space
Dry The Rain
She's The One
Dr Baker
Lion Thief
Quiet
Broke
Assessment
Dogs Got A Bone
B + A
The House Song
n.b. This setlist was from another gig, but it's probably quite similar.
