Live Shows: The Beths and Phoebe Rings, Fete Music Hall, Providence, RI 12/3/25
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| The Beths Photo by Ken Sears |
The Beths are one of our favorite and most consistent bands we've discovered while doing If It's Too Loud... Every album they've released since 2018's Future Me Hates Me has been stellar, and filled with killer song after killer song. Every time they come around, they're on a bigger stage than the time before, and they truly deserve all the attention they've been getting. This week they played their first ever Providence, RI show, and brought along fellow New Zealanders Phoebe Rings.
The first time I saw The Beths was back when they played Atwood's Tavern in Cambridge. Just to show how far they've come since then, that stage wasn't much bigger than the rug singer/guitarist Elizabeth Stokes stood on at Fete Music Hall. What's best about The Beths' success is that they're still the same band. While their sound has evolved over the past eight years, you could take any song from this year's Straight Line Was a Lie and insert it into any of their previous albums without it sounding too out of place. They've been growing their audience not by trying to make what they think people want, but letting an audience come to them.
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| Elizabeth Stokes Photo by Ken Sears |
Straight Line Was a Lie was definitely the focus of Wednesday night's show, with the band playing nine of the ten songs from that album. (Poor "Roundabout...") Long term fans could not have been disappointed, since it's a very strong album, and it still left plenty of room for favorites like "Silence is Golden," "Little Death," and "Expert in a Dying Field." One thing you realize when you see The Beths live is just how great Jonathan Pearce is as a guitar player. He's quietly one of the most underrated guitarists out there, with heroics that never overshadow the songs themselves. Plus, they played their version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." More bands should play their Christmas songs in December.
Another great thing about seeing The Beths is how entertaining they are, especially with between song banter. New Zealand's national comedy style seems to be "awkward," which might be my favorite kind. From Jonathan Pearce throwing Elizabeth Stokes under the bus for telling the Boston audience that they were beautiful without saying the same to Providence, to Stokes waxing about watching a particularly stunning sunset over the McDonald's across the street, The Beths are one of the most naturally funny bands out there. Even if Pearce and bassist Benjamin Sinclair now have recorder launchers for "No Joy" and the band have a more complex backdrop, they're still a band that sets up their own equipment incognito. They deserve all the accolades they get and more.
Opener Phoebe Rings won over the crowd at Fete quickly. I was curious how they'd go over since they play a more mellow dream pop instead of The Beths' much higher energy indie rock. But, the songs translated to a live show perfectly, and the crowd ended up loving it. They have as much charm as The Beths do, and songs like "Aseurai" and "Cheshire" were even more stunning in person. They've been a band you need to watch since we first discovered them, and after seeing their live show, they are even more so.
