When my wife and I learned The Beta Band were reuniting for a tour, the only question was where to go see them. It was shocking they were doing this two decades after they had ceased to be a going concern. It was even more astonishing they were hitting some cities in the U.S., a country where they have not experienced the type of fame they have in their native UK.

Salt Lake City

When tickets were made available in spring of 2025, the National Guard had yet to be deployed to any major cities to assist in ICE enforcement. Still, there were already strong enough rumblings of displeasure from the highest office in the land regarding some liberal cities that made going to those less desirable. Go figure, many of the designated tour stops were in such cities.

In the end, we decided on Salt Lake City. I doubted the group would draw a mosh pit crowd anywhere, but a city with the reputation for being reserved and conservative seemed less likely to have rowdy behavior. I’ll admit I also factored in the possibility of, should there be a fan base there, they would likely be less rambunctious than in certain other metropolises. I don’t need anybody digging their elbows into my side to try to clear some more real estate for themselves on the floor.

Now that I have been to Salt Lake City, I would like to say I was misinformed about a city I was told was in a dry county, and which supposedly has an almost suffocating religious presence. I was told it was even difficult to find coffee. Instead, I found a city with a great deal of visible support for the LGBTQ+ community and one which, if I chose to drink, provides a great many places to imbibe. More importantly to me, it has many vegetarian and vegan restaurants, even a couple which serve variations of fast food and diner fare. My understanding is the liberal mindset changes once one ventures beyond the metropolitan area (much like how the city itself is an oasis in a desert) but I am going to…well, spread the gospel about this area’s true nature once I return home.

The Venue

Not having been to a show in this city before, we did not know anything about the venue, The Metro Music Hall. It is a long narrow hall, with what would appear to be the front actually being the stage, so concertgoers enter by walking along the length of the building to a door at the back and then, once inside, you walk back nearly the same distance to the stage. This is either good nor bad–it was just a layout I had not seen before.

The band’s massive bus and hitched trailer were parked alongside the venue, proving without doubt that these were together the length of the club where they were playing. It feels like there is an axiom to be made from this, though I am too tired to come up with one now. It’s just that, in my gut, I have a feeling there is something odd when your tour transportation is as long as the club where you are gigging, even if it is nowhere near as wide. Width is important, you know.

When we first arrived, we were mortified to see a great many vehicles had already taken most of the spots. Having finally parked, we came up to the shed that was the box office but nobody was there. It was only a quarter past six, and the doors weren’t supposed to open until seven. Did they open early and everybody was already inside? Turns out there was no need to panic, as everybody was there for a concert at a different venue. We got first!

Pre-Show

The next people to arrive were two couples, the first from Idaho and the other from Arizona. I was already wondering if anybody attending would be from the actual Salt Lake area. Something front man Steve Mason commented on from the stage was the slow ticket sales almost resulted in this stop being axed. Fortunately, it obviously wasn’t, and they played just as enthusiastically as if this was Glastonbury.

While waiting, we saw our first Beta, John Maclean, who largely handles keyboards, samples and turntables. To have something for the band to potentially autograph, I brought with me the obi strip from my copy of their debut LP. John was all too happy to be the first person to sign it.

Instead of an opening act, there were two disguised DJs, one after the other, though it wasn’t hard to figure out the first was Mason and the second was Maclean. Mason wore a mask straight out of a slasher flick and cued up such odd choices as Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy”.

This provided plenty of time to take in the curious assortment of instruments on the stage, especially the two full drum sets. There was also a whole lotta percussion, such as a stand with cowbells, blocks, and I don’t know what the hell else on them. At the top of the pole upon which these were affixed was a fake pigeon with its wings outspread. The importance of this was lost on me, but departed founding member Gordon Anderson has since recorded as Lone Pigeon, so maybe that is a way of representing him in absentia.

The Set

Anderson was one of the authors of “Dry the Rain”, the one track that, if an American knows of this group, it is from this song. That’s because this was played in the best scene of 2000’s High Fidelity, where record store owner John Cusack cues it up with the knowledge he is about to sell five copies of the EP from which it came. Given the Betas once made a short video parodying this scene, I can’t help but think they have a conflicted relationship with it. Still, they played it that night, with John playing the trumpet, adding yet another instrument to the long list of ones he can play.

Something I did not anticipate is all the band members swap instruments, and often in mid-song. Often it was a move to something percussive, and everybody would eventually have their turn at something different, whether it was bongos or what weird pigeon-topped percussion stand. An astonishing drum duo between Mason and main drummer Robin Jones showed how a band with an outwardly haphazard appearance could be an incredibly tight and well-oiled machine. The two were so synchronized that I felt like I was witnessing telepathy. In the final song of the evening, everybody was on percussion at the same time.

Although Jones primarily traded off between drums, bongos and xylophone, I was surprised to see him on guitar for “Needles in My Eyes”. I never knew he played that on the original recording, nor did I realize how rudimentary that guitar line is. Live, the band repeatedly straddles an odd line between perfectionism and goofiness, something encapsulated in his apparent intense devotion to reproduce the guitar part exactly how it is on the record.

Another surprise was bassist Richard Greentree stepping up to the microphone for “I Know”. Well, something I didn’t know is he did the vocals for that, and he seemed shy doing so on this particular night. Maybe he is always a bit reluctant to do this. At the end of “Push It Out”, he had pointed to me and called out thanks for being the only person who clapped the beat throughout the song. Actually, I know others around me were doing the same, and I didn’t even notice I had continued uninterrupted, as I was in a near-religious ecstasy. But being singled out, even with praise, always makes me uncomfortable.

This was a concert of all highlights, but I have to say the performance of “Alleged” from sophomore album Hot Shots II was the most fulfilling moment for me. I was stunned they dug a bit deep into the catalog for this track, one which has an unusual structure of really being two separate songs, complete with silence between them, making the back half a kind of hidden track. I have always had a strong and personal connection with that song and I’ll admit I had tears in my eyes when they played it.

After the Show

When the set wrapped, I yelled to the guitar tech to ask for a setlist, which he handed to me. I don’t know your name, but I give you my heartfelt thanks. With that setlist and obi strip in hand, I waited outside with other likeminded fans, and got to meet Mason, Greentree and Jones. I was tempted to also talk to Maclean some more, but I didn’t want to monopolize anybody’s time.

I first saw Mason catching a smoke by the front of the bus and I had to psych myself up to approach him. First, I didn’t want to interrupt his well-deserved break. Secondly, he was quite intense for most of the concert, and it was hard to get a read on how he might be feeling. It was a relief during the show when he would crack a smile, or might light of something, such as an especially contentious effects pedal on the large rack of them. Lastly, in many interviews from before they went into hiatus, he came across as quite prickly.

Turns out he was absolutely the nicest guy and, when I told him we had travelled nearly 1,500 miles to see them, he wished me safe travels. I, of course, wished him the same. I had some questions about him, the band, their music and their future. He answered all of these quite candidly, but I will not share that conversation here, as I believe that would be violating a confidence.

Next was Richard, who was the kind of person you instantly feel comfortable around. He talked about his kids a lot, and it is always great to hear people happily talking about theirs, especially when it is somebody you respect so much. I asked him if the band ever plays “To You Alone”, a fantastic track that was a non-album single. He said he had completely forgotten about that, and he would have to bring it up, as that is a great song. So, if anybody who sees them on a future tour date gets to hear that, then I was glad to put the bug in their ear.

At long last, Robin emerged from backstage, as full of wiry energy as I expected. It is no surprise the guy is so thin, as he appears to always be going at full speed. Like the others, he was incredibly pleasant, and I would have loved to have talked to him more, except I know everybody was ready to move on.

I never really stopped to consider what the band members would be like, probably because my expectations of other musicians have been subverted before, and sometimes painfully so. But it turns out the Betas were really who I assumed they would be, even if I never really stopped to think about it. For them to come to the U.S., let alone Salt Lake City, and put on such an amazing performance is a testament to who these people are as musicians. That they stayed and talked so warmly and enthusiastically with fans proves how good they are as people.

It was a perfect night. Thank you, Steve, John, Richard and Robin.