A band who wish to have enjoyable: The Beths dwell in Christchurch, reviewed

 Shanti Mathias finds the globetrotting Auckland band slicker than ever on their present New Zealand tour. 

“This is like, the third or fourth pancake,” stated Liz Stokes, holding her glittery white electrical guitar in Ōtautahi’s James Hay Theatre. She meant that The Beths, New Zealand’s indie-pop favourites, have been touring their new album throughout Europe and the US for months, they usually have the efficiency down. 

It definitely felt that method. I’ve been listening to The Beths since 2018, and Christchurch’s Town Hall (admittedly a smaller theatre off the primary auditorium) is far nicer than the sticky flooring of San Fran in Wellington the place I noticed them carry out first. The Beths are slick – they’ve performed every of their songs, from the brand new album in addition to earlier releases, a whole lot of occasions, and it reveals. 

The distinction with opening band Bub made this clear. Bub are wonderful – lead singer Priya Sami is humorous, wore pink eyeliner, and received the entire viewers over with a track she had written at age 15 about marrying Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. But they needed to pause whereas Sami reconfigured her guitar pedals, whereas The Beths have mastered the power to tune their devices whereas speaking. Bub’s efficiency was endearingly chaotic, however The Beths simply bought on with it, “playing songs in a businesslike fashion”, as guitarist Jonathan Pearce famous at one level. It was the band’s power in addition to a weak spot, the assured vitality from every member of the band making it barely more durable to get contained in the music. 

When Straight Line was a Lie – The Beths’s most up-to-date album – was launched in August 2025, frontwoman Stokes talked extensively in regards to the private experiences that had impressed the music; the 2023 Auckland floods, taking antidepressants and her advanced relationship together with her Indonesian mum. Performing music that non-public, particularly when it’s excessive vitality, with difficult guitar and bass strains, should take a toll. This was most noticeable in Stokes’ solo efficiency of ‘Mother Pray for Me’, the intimacy of the track and heartfelt phrases not given fairly sufficient house to breathe after jokey band introductions and earlier than launching into ‘Knees Deep’. 

“That’s the punishment part of the set,” Pearce joked, after enjoying Straight Line was a Lie monitor ‘Roundabout’. “But we want to keep playing songs from our new album.”

The distinction between songs with actually clear hooks and choruses and among the band’s extra obscure repertoire was apparent. I appreciated having the chance to hear to those songs extra carefully, appreciating new dimensions I hadn’t heard on the recording. But I might have appreciated to listen to the musicians briefly speak in regards to the music and introduce these lesser-known songs, as a substitute of dashing previous them. As it was, the one commentary on the music was Stokes remarking that ‘Mother Pray for Me’ was an “intimate” track. 

At occasions, it felt just like the band was making an attempt to convey again a main faculty music class: Pearce and Sinclair pulled out brightly colored plastic recorders, Stokes dinged a triangle, then used a banana shaker. It added a little bit of visible selection to the present, and felt like an affirmation that The Beths are a band who wish to have enjoyable. The set design was easy however wonderful: a painted banner with the band’s identify rendered as twirling vines, cloth-covered lamps that flicked on and off, immaculate work from the lighting staff with twirling gels chopping by means of the haze. 

With 4 acclaimed albums and EP Warm Blood, there’s a number of music for The Beths to select from. But they’re clearly decided to not get caught in nostalgia (not like different blockbuster New Zealand performances): everybody likes Future Me Hates Me, however the band clearly needs folks to understand totally different songs from their new album. That dedication to the brand new makes me satisfied The Beths will be capable of preserve going from power to power. It helps that every member is so musically gifted: Pearce shines in guitar solos, like in ‘No Joy’, and I significantly appreciated how drummer Tristan Deck added texture on slower songs like ‘Take’ and ‘Best Laid Plans’. 

The very private, particular phrases of ‘Mother Pray for Me’ and ‘Mosquitoes’ sounded wonderful from the entrance of normal admission, however I additionally appreciated how effectively among the album’s extra summary lyrics got here throughout when sung by everybody round me. Here is the place all that observe shines: Stokes moved effortlessly by means of starting-again single ‘Straight Line was a Lie’ and iron-deficiency anthem ‘Metal’ till it was inconceivable for the group to not see ourselves within the phrases. The Beths have all the time been a band set aside by their mixture of incisive and wry lyrics: sure, I do want the steel in my blood to maintain me alive! Yes, I don’t know if I can go spherical once more, even because the fractal refrain decays into an ideal mixture of Stokes and backing vocals from the band. 

The greatest track of the night time was undoubtedly ‘Till my Heart Stops’, a manifesto of types, toeing the road between excessively twee and transferring. Live, the music sounded fuller – a bit extra space for the bass line, maybe? – than the recording. “I fly my kite in a hurricane,” sang Stokes, and it felt so true, although it had been heat and sunny all day. The lyrics appeared so excellent for the second, the hurricanes we can not management, the enjoyment and enjoyable required to maintain going as straight strains curve round you. When the track completed, the particular person standing subsequent to me was wiping tears from her eyes.