I forgot to mention the Beta Band, who we saw on Tuesday night. The Engine Room inspires two repetitive themes: seemingly, we are and always will be stuck behind an incredibly tall rabid fan of the obscure band, and someone near us gets and always will get into trouble with security because of some drug issue. This time it was a tall schlumpy white dude who kept making strange hand gestures towards the stage, while someone else unwisely thought they could light a joint next to the door guy. The glorious seventies are long gone, my friends. (No Kiwis on ecstacy this time, though... more's the pity!) The Beta Band themselves were very fun - I really liked the wacky little short films shown on the screen behind the stage, and the final performance-art maniacal drum freakout was groovy! In fact, I want to be their constant friend and take pictures of people wearing silly moustaches and run around Scottish fields with tinfoil on my head, and then fashion these experiences into trippy filmic moments while playing bongoes. Can I? Can I, huh, can I? They're a strange musical amalgam, actually. The whole 'vibe' reminded me very much of the Looper/Flaming Lips concert we went to a few years back - all the multimedia things and the humour - but the DJing, loops, and drumming were all much more groovy, like Salmonella Dub and the Stone Roses got together (another highly unlikely pairing). They could also, as Brent puts it in stoner voice, 'bring the rock!' if necessary. And the last time I heard a Jew's harp being utilised somewhere was on the Muppets album! (Hrm. Surely there's a better name for it than 'Jew's harp'? That sounds so ethnic stereotype-y or something. Have I missed some revolution in folk musical instrument naming? I hope someone lets me know...)