The Beta Band

Touring briefly before the release of "Squares", the Beta's had a mixed 2001. They finally released an album that they were pleased with, yet the media seem to have mixed impressions and have accused them of turning into something of a cabaret nostalgia act that rely on songs from "The 3 EP's" to keep their fans entertained.

Well balls to them because the Beta gig in Manchester was good, though perhaps it didn't live up to expectations, but that wasn't the bands fault.

Beginning with the amusing trailer that can be seen on their website, the Beta's kicked off with "It's Not Too Beautiful", which came as a bit of a surprise as I thought they refused to play anything of their notorious debut album. Though is one of my favourtite songs on "The Beta Band", I didn't think it really worked live.

However the gig improved, despite complaints during performances of songs from "Hot Shots II" that you couldn't tell what instruments the band were actually playing. I wondered if the smoothness of C Swing's production could be translated to gigs, and in my opinion it was. "Broke", "Squares", "Alleged" and Als Sharp being particularly good.

And the songs from the EP's, well of course they were good. One memory that will stick in my mind being the space-rock version of "Dr. Baker" with the visuals of a the band riding on the back of a giant bird that looked like it cost a fiver to make but a lot of fun to film. "She's The One", "Inner Meet Me" and "Dry The Rain" were excellent. But the highlight was the four-man percussion on the closer, "The House Song". Many Beta fans call this a cliche, but, this being the first time I've seen them, I enjoyed.

And no, they're not miserable fellas either, perhaps if certain newspapers and magazines didn't keep asking the same boring questions they'd come across differently. It'll be very interesting to see what the guys will do next.