The Beta Band, the uncategorizable Scottish indie-rock band behind the beloved single “Dry the Rain,” will reunite this autumn for their first tour in over 20 years.
The foursome will launch their reunion trek in their native U.K. before heading to North America in October on a 14-date tour that begins in Vancouver and works its way eastward before concluding Nov. 1 at Brooklyn Steel.
Over a five-year span at the turn of the millennium, the Beta Band released The Three E.P.’s — a compilation of their acclaimed, eclectic three EPs, the first of which featured their signature song “Dry the Rain” — before signing a reported multi-million dollar record deal that resulted in three more studio albums, 1999’s unwieldy The Beta Band, 2001’s hip-hop-seasoned Hot Shots II, and their 2004 swan song Heroes to Zeros.
“Dry the Rain” was memorably spotlit in a scene from High Fidelity — “I will now sell five copies of The Three E.P.’s by the Beta Band,” John Cusack’s record store owner gloated in the film — and the group reached peak visibility when they opened for Radiohead during that band’s North American tour in support of Amnesiac.
However, record sales never caught up with the Beta Band’s ambitious sound or their million-dollar record contract advance — it didn’t help that they conspired against themselves, with singer Steve Mason proclaiming that their (very good!) self-titled debut was “fucking awful” and “one of the worst records that’ll come out this year” — and rather than remaining in perpetual debt to their label, they opted to call it quits in 2004, just three months after the release of their final album Heroes to Zeros.
In the decades that followed, Mason embarked on a prolific solo career under his own name as well as monikers like King Biscuit Time, Black Affair, and Alien Stadium, while the Betas’ drummer Robin Jones and keyboardist John MacLean released a series of albums as the Aliens; Maclean also became a filmmaker, directing the Michael Fassbinder-led Western Slow West as well as the upcoming Tornado starring Jack Lowden.
The Beta Band’s reunion tour — which will be “celebrating The Three EPs and other classics,” the group said on social media — comes a year after Mason himself embarked on a North American solo trek for the first time in over a decade.
The Beta Band North American Tour Dates
Oct. 12 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Oct. 14 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
Oct. 15 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Oct. 17 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
Oct. 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theater
Oct. 20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall
Oct. 21 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
Oct. 23 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Oct. 24 – Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall
Oct. 25 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Oct. 28 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club
Oct. 29 – Boston, MA @ Royale Boston
Oct. 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Nov. 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
