The Beta Band

Given the choice of burning out or fading away, I'd always select the first option every time. Give it all you've got until the tank is bone dry empty. Sadly, if tonight is anything to go by, The Beta Band seem to be caught somewhere between the two.

Sure, they may have wished to go out with a bang, a big "FUCK YOU" to anyone who ignored them and chose style-over-content retro peddlers instead. At times though, their obvious discontent and disillusionment with the record industry which undoubtedly hastened their decision to call it a day showed its weary head during this evening's show.

Minor niggles they may be but:-

Where were the slideshows and visual effects that have customised previous Beta Band shows?

Where were the many costumes (the astronaut outfits or the "Four Amigos" for starters) that always added to the spectacle?

Tonight their attire was more Joy Division circa 1978 rather than the futuristic space cowboys we've come to expect.

Musically, as ever, the band were tighter than a constipated duck's backside, and in terms of the setlist, it was possibly more than any Beta Band completist could have hoped for, with the likes of 'B+A', 'The House Song' and 'Its Not Too Beautiful' all getting a rarer than rare outing.

It wasn't until about halfway through though, during a bass-heavy 'She's The One' that Steve, Rich, John and Robin really seemed to actually start to enjoy themselves, with MacLean even recycling the magic tractor joke to a chorus of gupphhaws and coughed giggles.

As a farewell, this probably wasn't the ideal way to send one of the most innovative groups of the last decade off into the sunset. Instead remember them for 'Champion Versions', one of the GREAT debut singles of the last decade or so, and the improvised live workouts that would later become some of their most defining songs, and also the fact that their most recent long player 'Heroes To Zeroes', by far their best collection of work incidentally, will surely find itself in the upper echelons of most "End Of The Year" polls in a few weeks time.

photograph courtesy of Ian Ho