3 min read
The Beths. (Photo by Frances Carter)

Indie-rock band The Beths, from Auckland, New Zealand, comprises singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes, guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair and drummer Tristan Deck.

You can see them live in Portland on Saturday at the State Theatre, and the tickets are a steal at $25.

Last year, the album “Straight Line Was a Lie” was released to rave reviews, and the title track has been streamed nearly 2 million times on Spotify.

Here are four reasons why the State Theatre is the place to be on Saturday.

1. The band is bigger than ever

On Aug. 27, 2022, I was among the lucky fans in attendance when The Beths made their Maine debut at Portland House of Music. The show was a highlight of the summer; the band slayed with songs from the “Expert in a Dying Field” album, including “Knees Deep,” the title track and “Silence is Golden,” along with tunes from the two albums that came before it, like “Uptown Girl” (not the Billy Joel song) and “I’m Not Getting Excited.”

I was also fortunate to see The Beths play the following summer at the historic Newport Folk Festival, where they were enthusiastically received.

With the latest album, the band has exploded and, in Maine, is going from a venue that holds a few hundred people to one that fits just under 2,000.

Elizabeth Stokes of The Beths on stage July 28, 2023, during the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. (Photo by Aimsel Ponti)

2. You need to hear the latest album

Last August, The Beths released their fourth album “Straight Line Was a Lie,” the first on the storied American record label Anti-. Its 10 songs trace, in part, Stokes’ journey through mental and physical health challenges over the past few years. With songs like the rocker “No Joy,” the almost tear-jerking acoustic ballad “Mother, Pray For Me” and the tender-hearted “Til My Heart Stops,” this album is tremendous start to finish. Stokes and Pearce read Stephen King’s “On Writing,” “How Big Things Get Done” by Brent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, and “Working” by Robert A. Caro for inspiration. Stokes used a vintage Remington typewriter to bang out pages of stream-of-consciousness thoughts during a writing retreat in Los Angeles. During the California stint, the duo also watched Kurosawa films, listened to Drive-By Truckers, The Go-Go’s and Olivia Rodrigo, and went to see a bunch of live shows. These were all the right ingredients to inform “Straight Line Was A Lie.”

Advertisement

3. Mainers will relate to these 2 songs

“Expert in a Dying Field” is home to “Change in the Weather,” which is a theme us Mainers know all too well, especially this time of year. Switching from sweaters to flip-flops in the same week is the norm. Stokes sings the line “I feel it coming, but I’m scared to let it in this change in the weather.” Surely a few days in Maine would cure that fear.

“Straight Line Was a Lie” gives us an even more relatable track with “Mosquitoes.” The refrain offers this truth bomb: “So leave me here, let me go, I’m only here to feed mosquitoes.” Sing it, sister!

4. The opening act is worth your time

Get to this show in time to see the opening act! Squirrel Flower is the moniker of Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter Ella O’Connor Williams. She’s been putting out music since 2015 and has four studio albums and a trio of EPs. My introduction was “Live at Top Note Theatre,” released last year.

Her foray into the landscape of indie rock and dream-pop makes for a listening experience that is both soothing and wild. A fuzzy guitar makes its presence known on songs like “Not Me” and “I’ll Go Running,” and her vocals burst open on tracks like “Belly of the City” and “I Don’t Use a Trashcan.”

I’m hoping Squirrel Flower will win the audience over quickly so the chit-chat of excited fans of The Beths doesn’t drown out her set. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty riveting.


IF YOU GO

8 p.m. Saturday. The State Theatre, 609 Congress St., Portland, $25 in advance, $30 day of show. statetheatreportland.com.

Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town...

Join the Conversation

Please your Press Herald account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can subscribe here. Questions? Please see our FAQs.