Alex de Campi: Gojira!

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30.11.04 R.I.P. The Betas, 1996-2004

By the end of this week, one of the most original, wonderful and just plain fun rock bands will be no more. The Beta Band played their antepenultimate gig last night at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, about 200 yards from where the band started out. It was Gig Of The Year. The Betas are always magnificent live, and last night the entire Empire - four levels of Victorian music hall - was packed to say goodbye to our lads. The band played until they turned the lights on, closing with an absolutely mental two drum kit jam.

The guy in front of me spent the entire gig taking photos with his digital camera - I wonder whether he actually experienced any of the gig, or was too busy communicating it.

The Betas never rose beyond being cult heroes (check the pretty Kaare Andrews cover on that one), and although it meant in the end they couldn't continue, I was always happy they damned the torpedos and just made the music they wanted. And the films they wanted: their last Brixton gig opened with a short film that I can only describe as LONE WOLF & CUB meets TRAINSPOTTING, with the band as duelling, kilt-wearing samurai. The scene where the hero confronts the Shogun in a pebbledash house outside Crieff, with "you killed my family, prepare to die"-style dialogue in subtitled Gaelic, was utter genius. The dry-fly rod duel was also memorable... Sigh. Life will be poorer without these guys around. Hopefully we'll get some more from Beta offshoots King Biscuit Time and Lone Pigeon.

( 1:32 PM )

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