The Beta Band - Live at the o2 Academy, Bristol - 30th September 2025

In a year of blockbuster reunions (Oasis, The Maccabees etc), The Beta Band’s return has flown curiously under the radar.

Yet one suspects that suits them just fine; Steve Mason and his cohorts have always thrived on being the outsiders, yet in the late 1990s they were perhaps indie’s most influential outfit.

21 years after calling it quits, they’ve re-emerged not with bombast or sentimentality but with the same eclecticism that made them cult heroes.

The night begins with a 10-minute intro film made up of spliced camcorder footage, including a parody of THAT scene from High Fidelity and even an appearance from Mani.

Then the four musicians wander on stage to Bowie’s ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’, dressed in boilersuits, surrounded by foliage and with enough percussion instruments to stock a music shop.

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/the-beta-band-bristol-gig-review/