A Love Letter to The Beths

One day during the Outside Lands music festival in August of 2022, my dad and I were walking around with little of a plan. The artists we were interested in seeing were all playing later in the day, so we found ourselves hunting for something to grab our attention. We then began to hear a band playing on a stage far out in the distance. For whatever reason, we started walking towards them. We heard sparkling guitars, kicking drums, and grooving bass tied together with an unmistakable New Zealand accent. As we marched closer, a shot of the lead singer came onto the big screen next to the stage to which we heard her happily ask, “Am I on the big screen? I’ve never been on the big screen before, this is so cool!” We only caught the last half of their set, but that experience cemented how humble and amazing this Kiwi indie-rock band was, and I wanted to hear more.

For the past year since, my answer to the question, “What is your favorite band right now?” has been The Beths. Their sound, combined with Elizabeth Stokes’ stellar lyrics make me want to tell everyone I know about them, and it seems I’m not alone. If you’re not sold by my praises, maybe Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service lead singer Ben Gibbard will persuade you.

The Beths are no strangers to opening for Death Cab for Cutie, having done so back in 2019, but this year they’ve joined together again alongside another Ben Gibbard-fronted group The Postal Service in a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Death Cab’s Transatlaticism (2003) and The Postal Service’s Give Up (2003). The shows see both groups performing the entirety of their respective albums. The draw of celebrating these classic albums while also seeing the entirety of The Postal Service perform together for the first time since 2013 has brought massive crowds in massive venues. The tour’s initial lineup of 17 shows was bumped up to 25 due to demand.

This leads us to Wednesday night, October 11th, the final night of three sold-out shows at Berkeley’s Greek Theater. My viewpoint allowed me to peek over and see The Beths huddled up together just minutes before they were scheduled to go on. They put their hands together in the center and then shot them up into the sky, and it was not long before they ran onto the stage playing “Future Me Hates Me” from their 2018 album of the same name. I was so glad to see that I wasn’t the only one bopping along and even singing the lyrics (not that it would’ve stopped me if I had been).

The Beths had a half-hour set playing an assortment of songs from all three of their studio albums, including a personal favorite of mine: “Out of Sight” off of their 2020 album Jump Rope Gazers. In between songs, Elizabeth sorrowfully stated that this was one of the last shows they’ll play opening for Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, but reminisced on how amazing the tour has been.

As I stared back at the crowd behind me growing closer and closer to the 8,500-seat capacity, I did some reminiscing myself. I thought about seeing the crowd surrounding the stage midday at Outside Lands, and then as the sun set on these guys smiling and jumping around the stage playing for a crowd this big, I felt my heart grow very warm.

The Beths’ fanbase has only been growing and growing over the last few years, garnering critical acclaim and playing more headlining shows at larger venues. And something about them just makes you want to always root for them. All of the members have their personalities shine through in so many ways; obviously, there’s their love of music, but there’s also a beautiful humbleness and genuineness that comes through in their words between songs (as well as in Ben Sinclair’s wonderful blog Breakfast and Travel Updates.com).

So thank you to The Beths for your music, your humility, and your photos of Ben’s breakfast. I’m excited for all the “big screens” to come.