The Beths at Hangar 34, Liverpool (18 Jul ’23)

My ticket

I went to Hangar 34 for only the second time, to see Kiwi indie popsters The Beths, with support from Lande Hekt.

My previous visit had been for The Beat With Dave Wakeling in May, supported by Bow Wow Wow Feat. Annabella Lwin, as reviewed here.

The support act

First up was Lande Hekt from Exeter, who has released two albums as part of Muncie Girls, From Caplan To Belsize in March 2016 and Fixed Ideals in August 2018.

She put out her first solo album Going To Hell in January 2021, with follow-up House Without A View emerging in September 2022.

All of this music was entirely unknown to me ahead of the day of the show, when I managed to squeeze in a bit of preview listening.

She kicked off with December from her debut LP, with it immediately reminding me of several bands on the Sarah label from the late 1980’s, much more so than when I’d listened online – definitely a good thing to my ears.

Lande Hekt and band

The next song brought Lush and other similar early-90’s 4AD sounds to mind. This was Cut My Hair off last year’s album.

Whiskey had a great slow build, being followed by 80 Days Of Rain, another song from her first solo album, with this one featuring a riff that harked back to The Wedding Present or perhaps The Loft.

Overall, the sound was very much focused on Hekt, with the three backing musicians (whose names I sadly failed to catch properly) much less prominent in the mix.

Lande Hekt

After the one new song, Axis, she was positive about Liverpool, saying “It’s a cool city and I’m really glad to be back.”

I got more Sarah hints in Lola, specifically The Field Mice, a song “about my cat… she’s what you call a tuxedo cat.”

The penultimate song Pottery Class featured the most interesting drum and bass work from her band, with the set closing with Gay Space Cadets.

I immediately added her latest album to my Amazon wish list as I’d enjoyed her set a great deal.

My history with the headliner

I’d been meaning to get some albums by The Beths ever since the first one came out in August 2018, around four years after they formed in Auckland, but I’d never actually done so until having bought a ticket for this show earlier this year.

I’d read about them in Mojo magazine, as well as hearing them being played on both The Big Takeover (many times) and The Ledge podcasts.

I immediately snapped up all three records from Amazon in April, paying £13.85 for the debut Future Me Hates Me, £11.99 for Jump Rope Gazers from July 2020 and £11.75 for last September’s Expert In A Dying Field.

My Beths collection

The main event

While waiting between bands in the stifling conditions, I was approached by one of the hosts of the always entertaining Trust The Wizards podcast (and its Robert Pollard’s Guide To The Late 60s offshoot), whom I’ve been at several of the same gigs with over the past few years.

We had a brief chat about gigs, music and football, but didn’t have long to wait for the headliners to emerge.

One interesting titbit he mentioned was that he’d bought one of Hekt‘s singles last year that featured a cover of The Wedding Present’s Octopussy (from Seamonsters) – so my noting a Weddoes twang to one of her songs was a pretty good shout.

The band appeared along with a giant inflatable fish that was rapidly aerated behind guitarist Jonathan Pearce.

The Beths (with inflating fish)

I believe it is a kingfish, also known as a king mackerel, featuring on the cover of their latest record. Apparently, they normally ask the audience to give the fish a name, but it didn’t happen on this occasion.

The set was unsurprisingly weighted towards the latest album, with eight of its twelve tracks making the cut, together with five from the preceding Jump Rope Gazers, four from the debut and one other number.

They started with the debut album’s title track before Knees Deep off Expert featured some nice psych guitar work.

An early number saw drummer Tristan Deck (the only non-original band member, who joined in 2019) start the wrong song off, before rapidly realising that he should have been playing Watching The Credits, a single released in March of this year, the only number in their set I didn’t already know.

Following this, the band introduced each other in a round robin format, something I don’t recall ever having seen before in my many years of gigging.

Lead singer and guitarist Elizabeth Stokes introduced moustachioed bassist Benjamin Sinclair, who in turn presented the drummer, then onto Pearce, who finally introduced Stokes.

I Want To Listen, the first of three in a row from the current album, was slightly more acoustic, brining the rather deafening sound down a notch.

Elizabeth mentioned that Less Than Thou was the last track on their debut LP, leading Pearce to add that this made it “season one, episode ten!”

Elizabeth Stokes

Jump Rope Gazers’ Dying To Believe wonderfully showcased its great riff, before Sinclair described his website, Breakfast And Travel Updates, which I have been pleased to discover is actually a real thing, and not an elaborate ruse.

Reading his blog on this site about their trip to Liverpool has revealed that the fish actually has a name – Bird. Of course.

He appeared very impressed with the docks and the Anglican Cathedral as well as the décor of the Mexican restaurant they ate in.

Anyway, back to the show, which continued in fine style, with one of the peaks of the evening for me being I’m Not Getting Excited from Jump Rope Gazers, swiftly followed by that album’s title track.

Great No One has a fabulous chorus, with the set then closing with the double Expert whammy of Silence Is Golden (with a lot of singing along) and that record’s title song, which made me think of The Beths’ kinship to the likes of Pom Poko, Superchunk and maybe a tinge of Aimee Mann.

They headed off, with the packed crowd vociferously demanding they return, much more so than many recent audiences have done so at other gigs I’ve been to, which pleased me greatly, as crowds should have to show some love before the obligatory encore.

Elizabeth performed You Are A Beam Of Light from Jump Rope Gazers effectively solo, with just occasional backing vocals from the rest of the band.

The very final song was the debut’s Little Death, a song about the intoxicating effects of love or lust, which was a fitting way to end. It has some great lines in it:

“And it’s cold, the steam escapes through my lips and dissipates…
Your smile it makes me weak and the red spreads to my cheeks
You make me feel three glasses in and you say my name
My legs support a little less, my tongue becomes a little mess”

As a fairly new listener to the band, there weren’t any specific songs I felt had been missed out, so I was very content with a top-notch night’s entertainment.

My t-shirt

Hopefully there’ll be another album from them some time soon, and I’d definitely go to see them again if possible.

Tonight’s t-shirt

I decided to stick with the headliner’s country of origin, sporting my bottle green Flying Nun t-shirt.

There were a few other band tees in evidence, including Fleetwood Mac, Tame Impala, Fortitude Valley, Pale Waves, Trojan Records, Johnny Foreigner and Evil Blizzard. A decent haul for a Tuesday night.

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Playlist

Here is much of the music from the night on Spotify: