Total Embodiment of a Feeling Heart - The Beths in Baltimore
Elizabeth Stokes by Liv Stripling
One night with The Beths at Baltimore Soundstage can make an isolated heart beat fast again. The electricity of the band, and the bubbling smiles that accompany them, are all it takes to feel alive. On August 18th, their pure comfort and unfiltered emotional force on stage flooded Baltimore with a hypnotic power, pulling the audience through their set with joyous consent. They seeded a community in that room, growing with each song. By the encore, they’d tilled a forest. Bodies surfed the wind to their music like falling leaves when the seasons turn.
The Beths by Liv Stripling
With ease and quick transitions, the band kicked off the concert by playing through “Future Me Hates Me,” “Knees Deep,” and “Change In The Weather,” the former being the title track of their 2018 debut album Future Me Hates Me, and the two latter songs originating off their most recent 2022 record Expert In A Dying Field. Immediately it’s clear The Beths are tight in a uniquely casual, indifferent way. They didn’t move across the stage much, but they had untethered roots to their instruments and sounds, and their energy and craft were undeniable.
After blowing through the first three songs, leaving bodies bouncing and buzzing with sound, the band stopped to talk about Baltimore and banter about fish. The Beths formed in 2014, so it’s no surprise they can cultivate an audience connection. Each member took a turn talking to the crowd in their dense Australian utterance, treating us as old friends. Bassist Benjamin Sinclair plugged his Breakfast and Travel Updates blog, which he’s been following since 2019 and updates daily. You can tell tour and connection are important for the New Zealand band – they happily dig deep into the cities and people they travel to and record what they learn.
Benjamin Sinclair by Liv Stripling
Benjamin Sinclair by Liv Stripling
One of the defining features of 2022’s An Expert In A Dying Field, and The Beths’ previous records, is their sharp contrast between lyricism and instrumentation. Especially prevalent in “Knees Deep,” frantic strumming and poppy drums tend to accompany Elizabeth Stoke’s heavy, emotional lyrics to create an almost dizzying effect. Stoke’s live performance grips this dizziness by the throat and leaves no listener unfazed. Her incredible ability to play quick chord changes at high tempos while singing lyric-heavy melodies with force was mind-blowing. Watching her face contort with the emotional and physical effort of performance was one of the most genuine moments of expression I’ve encountered in live music. Despite her physical stasis, Stokes’ heart was on full display, and all the mouths agape in the venue knew it.
Guitarist Jonathon Pearce almost parallels Stokes’ performance when given room to shine. His nonchalant style of shredding was incredible, and he heightened every song that cleared the sound space for him. His various guitar solos were enrapturing, extending to almost a minute on given songs, with a variety in his melodic and rhythmic phrasings that told a continual story, never wavering in emotional stamina.
Elizabeth Stokes by Liv Stripling
Elizabeth Stokes by Liv Stripling
Another incredibly rewarding moment during the rejuvenation of the night was the band’s encore. After they closed with the well-known title track “Expert In A Dying Field,” Baltimore was ill-satisfied with letting the band go so early. The typical chant ensued with vigor, and The Beths took the stage once more.
The band walked onstage, only to leave Elizabeth Stokes center stage with her acoustic and slink back into the shadows.
Stokes, with minimal vocal accompaniment, performed “You Are A Beam Of Light” off The Beths’ sophomore album Jump Rope Gazers. This moment was quite special for a few reasons. Typically, bands construct their setlist to balance their upbeat and somber sounds, but on this night The Beths pounded the audience with sheer upbeat power for a straight hour. Up until this moment, we had never gotten silence.
But the room stood still for Elizabeth Stokes. The room shrunk back for her. It’s hard to make a mid-sized concert feel like an intimate, acoustic show and tell, but in this silence there was little audience intent other than to listen. The Beths were giving us a gift, and we took it with open, quiet palms.
Tristan Deck by Liv Stripling
After closing with “Little Death,” the band left the stage. I lingered for a moment to catch my breath and pile my memories. Scanning the audience, learning to love Baltimore for Baltimore, I eavesdropped on two older men in front of me. They joked about Stokes resembling Courtney Barnett, but eventually got serious. “I’m glad we did this,” were the words exchanged. After a tight embrace, they nodded to each other and slowly took their leave into the stillness outside.