Review: The Beta Band at Metropolis Fremantle

The Beta Band at Metropolis Fremantle
w/ Death In Vegas (DJ Set)
Saturday, June 6, 2026

Legendary Scottish experimental indie group The Beta Band have achieved an almost mythical status over the years. Mysterious, unique, talented and impossibly cool, they burst onto the scene in the late 90s with a string of three classic EPs, which were then released together as an album, aptly named The Three EPs, which has come to be regarded as a cult classic and one of the greatest, most defining albums of the decade.

After disbanding 20 years ago, they reformed last year out of the blue and embarked on a world tour, which brought them to Australia for the first time, to perform their classic album and more. And they did not disappoint, living up to all the hype and delivering a dynamic show for the ages, with faithful renderings of their many beloved works of art, much to the delight of their dedicated fans who never thought they’d see the day.

Forming in 1996 in Fife, the band shone brightly as indie’s next big hope, garnering critical praise and superstar fans (like Radiohead and Oasis) for their singular sound and aesthetic. After three more amazing and adventurous records, they never quite achieved the level of success they deserved, not that it’s what they aspired to. Around the turn of the millennium, the whole music industry was changing with the rise of the internet and people weren’t buying albums much anymore. Soon after their fourth album Heroes To Zeroes was released in 2004, the band broke up, citing financial issues with their label.

Their music always seemed a little futuristic, ahead of its time, and in its own little universe, far removed from the dominant Britpop of the time, and was influential for years to come. Perhaps the future has now caught up with The Beta Band, as their music still sounds startlingly fresh, vivid and cutting-edge. It’s hard to put in a box or classify into a genre. Fiercely independent and artistic, their sound is a kaleidoscopic fusion of diverse influences, including indie rock, folk, Madchester-era dance rhythms, leftfield sampling and electronica, hip-hop, trip-hop, dub, and as they were once described, bongo-psychedelia.

With such fabled bands, you don’t want to put them on too much of a pedestal, but thankfully, the band are in great form! They delivered a solid, polished performance that was surprisingly smooth considering how disjointed, complex and strange some of their tracks are. It’s impressive to watch them recreate them live, with their musical mastery, constantly moving between instruments. The group seems to have rediscovered their mojo and love of performing, and they sounded great. It’s a shame not more people turned up to welcome them, with the whole upper level of Metropolis closed, but it made for a more intimate and comfortable affair, and you could tell the mostly older crowd were very excited about it.

The driving force of the band is the duo of lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Steve Mason, whose distinct, smooth, melancholic baritone sounds evergreen, and John Maclean, who creates all sorts of weird and wonderful sounds from behind an array of keyboards, synths and samplers. Overall they have a sound like no one else. Perhaps one of their closest luminaries of the time would have been Beck, as they share his restless experimentation with the more electronic elements and crunchy lo-fi folky acoustics with a DIY punk aesthetic.

Their underground cool was certified when they were immortalised in the film High Fidelity (based on the classic Nick Hornby book), when John Cusack’s record store owner character Rob Gordon smugly states to his music nerd colleague, “I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs by The Beta Band” before putting on their most famous (and greatest) track, Dry The Rain, in the store. Within moments all the cool, young customers’ ears prick up, and they start nodding to the impeccable rhythm. It could be a bit of a silly scene if it wasn’t for the fact that Dry The Rain really is that good, and when the groove hits, it does have that effect. This brief iconic movie scene resulted in a huge spike in album sales for the band.

Their tour announcement contained another exciting detail: they would be supported by another UK legend from the turn of the millennium, electronic indie wunderkind Death in Vegas, aka Richard Fearless, who released his first album in almost 10 years last year. Though it was billed as a DJ set, many fans were expecting some indietronica beats, excited by the prospect of what Death in Vegas tracks he would include. Turns out the answer was none.

Instead Fearless appeared on the side of the stage, behind The Beta Band’s decks and proceeded to play chilled out, downtempo, dub and reggae 45s for half an hour! Sonya Spence’s Peace & Unity from 1978 and Joy White’s Dread Out Deh from 1974 were featured, and it was all very cool that he was mixing vinyl singles, but to have Fearless come all the way to Perth for a rare appearance, to then only spin some old reggae records, seemed a bit disappointing. Maybe that’s what they wanted, and there are rumours he will return next year. It was still a nice mix of rare grooves setting the mood for the main event…

About 15 minutes after Fearless stepped down, the big screen behind the stage fired up to display a short video. Those who know the band know that they’ve always dabbled in experimental art films, primarily driven by Maclean, a graduate of the Edinburgh College of Art and London’s Royal College of Art; he has since directed two feature films. In their trademark surrealist style, it was a fast-cut, cool, wacky, Beatles-type montage of band and friends’ exploits and included some famous faces like Mani (RIP) of The Stone Roses. This culminated with David Bowie’s song Memory Of A Free Festival and its iconic outro, “The sun machine is coming down, and we’re gonna have a party!” It was quite an epic intro and had the desired effect of working the crowd to a fever pitch in anticipation.

Then there they were. The Beta Band emerged on stage to massive cheers. Finally, after all this time, stepping out of the enigma: just four ordinary 50-something guys on stage. Surrounded by various percussive instruments and flanked by two drum kits, Steve Mason took centrestage with his acoustic guitar. John Maclean was on the right behind the decks and keyboards. Robin Jones was at the back behind the drums, and Richard Greentree to the left on bass.

All but Mason were in their traditional matching boilersuits, with their name and various badges embroidered on them. Mason himself was decked out in navy pants and rain jacket with a matching wide-brimmed bucket hat, complete with the string fastened under the chin. It made him look like he was about to head out camping, but he’s always had a penchant for headwear and winter jackets.

They kicked off the set with Inner Meet Me (the fifth song on The Three EPs) as the looping vocals and gently strummed guitar washed over the crowd, lulling them into a trance. It was almost a given that the album/EPs wouldn’t be played in order, but another track from the fabled compilation, She’s The One was next, with its twangy jaw harp intro. One of their more beautiful, harmonic pieces, it moves through several phases and was the first to see the band members moving around between instruments, with Mason sitting down at the congas, Greentree taking Mason’s acoustic, and Maclean moving to a stand-up drum kit, complete with a (fake) bird on a tall pole that moved up and down, attached to one of the foot pedals.

This set the tone for what was to come with the band’s casual multi-layered, multi-instrumentation, as they seamlessly moved about the stage during songs, demonstrating their musicianship.

It’s Not Too Beautiful, from their somewhat maligned 1999 self-titled proper debut LP, sounded beautiful live, with some quirky interludes. The opening track Assessment from their final 2004 album Heroes To Zeros was a more straight-up, guitar-led rocker, and Push It Out brought a laidback, slinky, psychedelic groove.

Two other highlights from The Three EPs followed with Needles In My Eyes, which saw Mason move to the keys, Maclean to bass, Greentree to drums and Jones to guitar. And the excellent Dogs Got A Bone saw Jones come up front to play the congas and the harmonica!

Sometimes with the movement and performance onstage you feel like you’re sitting in on a studio jam session with them, with all the instrumentation and the random, weird samples flying into the mix from Maclean. That’s the brilliant thing about them. They seem so loose and casual, but this belies their talent, precision and professionalism.

“It’s so good to be here in Fremantle… For the first time!” said Mason, inciting more cheers. “It’s kinda like somewhere between Amityville and the town from The Lost Boys… But with lots of good seafood!” Fair enough. Perhaps a new tourism slogan?

They would end up playing every track off The Three EPs, apart from Monolith, which, if you know, you know why. Apart from being over 15 minutes long, it’s the most batshit crazy, experimental piece on the album.

The more sparse, intimate sounds of Dr. Baker’s piano and chimes have a chamber pop element to it, a style that can be seen to have influenced bands like Alt-J, before the sounds suddenly build up to an explosive cacophony. B+A similarly starts with a low-slung groove before erupting into a stomping beat with a prominent bassline from Greentree.

It was the last show of their Australian tour and Mason made sure to thank all the crew before it was finally time for the big one everyone was waiting for, Dry The Rain, which he dedicated to the ladies. It was everything we could have hoped for and more. It was just so good to hear this timeless classic live! Undoubtedly one of the greatest songs of our generation… or all time for that matter! When the drums and bass groove kicks in about halfway through, it’s just pure bliss and had the whole room moving and smiling.

At first it seemed like that might be the end of the set, and in fact some people were seen to leave after this song (why?!), but they treated us to some more Beta goodness, finishing the set with a rousing rendition of Broke from their 2001 album Hot Shots II that climaxed with Mason joining Jones on the second drum kit for a percussive workout!

They returned for a generous three song encore of the glorious chilled beat of I Know, with its jingling coin change percussion sample and noodley guitar, before the even more awesome Squares with its famous sample of the Günter Kallmann Choir’s cover of Daydream (originally recorded in 1969 by the Belgian pop group Wallace Collection). The Beta Band track was held back from release due to the I Monster track Daydream In Blue which also used the same sample (“Daydream, I fell asleep amid the flowers”) and was released around the same time!

Mason’s voice is so unique and smooth with the tone and effects he uses, and he really shines on this track. He picked out their “number one fan” in the crowd to give his set notes to before they finished with an epic version of The House Song, which ended with some impressive rhythmic jamming and even record scratching from Maclean. The rolling tribal rhythms of the drums and bass were somewhat akin to the magic Reni and Mani of The Stone Roses created, culminating with all four members drumming in synchronicity.

While there was no mention of any new material on the horizon, Mason’s comment at the end of the set implied they would be back! As well as pleasing the fans, this tour was about pleasing the band. As Mason himself said in a recent interview with Brooklyn Vegan, “I think we owed it to ourself as a band to fire up the engines and have a trip that was really enjoyable for us, so that we could have a great time playing these songs. It’s not about nostalgia. It’s about coming full circle on something that was left in an unpleasant way. I think we owe it to the music that we made and all that work that we did, all that artistic pressure we were under. We owe it to ourselves to enjoy our work in a more relaxed environment.”

A superb set worthy of their legacy. This was no nostalgia act. This was a legendary, pioneering, underappreciated band still in top form, back from the dead, full of life and renewed swagger, to reclaim their place at the apex of indie cool. The time seems right for their return. They seem to be in a good place, truly enjoying and appreciating being able to play again for their dedicated fans and themselves. Long live The Beta Band!

ALFRED GORMAN

 Phots by Linda Dunjey