"The trouble with your own thing", sings Steve Mason, former Beta Band frontman, "Is you end up on your own". It's hard to tell if it's meant quite so self-referentially, but appearing as it does to fit so perfectly what happened to Mason's former band, it's probably quite likely.
The Beta's were the poster children for obstinate artists, and while critically lauded for it, that acclaim wasn't exactly reflected commercially. About two years ago, following the release of Heroes To Zeros, that they decided to finally call it a day, frustrated by the lack of commercial recognition.
So here he stands, and gosh darn it he's ended up alone. Except for the two additional musicians here tonight. And the crowd packing the venue to the gunwales. But you get the idea. Presumably the majority here were people who didn't buy the Beta's records but were interested enough to turn up to see what Mason did next, and then probably not buy any of the King Biscuit Time records either.
What he's done next isn't hugely different to what he did last. Not that KBT are entirely a new creation, already possessing a pair of rather fine EPs from around five years ago. And dipping into these revealed some long forgotten marvels - particularly the stoned fuggy groove of I Walk The Earth.
Elsewhere Mason played something old (I Love You also from the No Style EP), something borrowed (acoustic versions of old Beta Band favourites Dr. Baker and Simple) and something new (single C I AM 15). In fact he liked the new so much he played it twice, the only discernable difference second time through being the removal of his shirt.
Which hardly counts as a remix, and seemed a little lame. Forgiving that, it all fitted together rather well: the Beta Band material having the layers of redub, overdub, effects, and instrumentation stripped off to reveal the of doe-eyed pop gems that lie at their core and the KBT songs, for the most part, all tripping along to a similar dubby bassline.
Underneath the quirks, the oddities, there lies a great songwriter and a damn fine performer. The end of the Beta Band has given Mason a fresh start, and as a nation it's about time we clamped him to our respective bosoms. He'll still be doing his own thing, but he deserves to not be quite so lonely.
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