Bands: Ronnie Nordac, Dylan Ewen & The Sulk Scouts, The Beets
Date: November 26, 2013
Venue: The Whitehaus

THE BEETS of QUEENS performing in Boston, two times in about a three week span. I’ll take it. You’ll take it. Let’s make this a regular occurrence – why not? Thanks to Dylan and Ben (of BUFU Records, pictured above) and B.O.W. Shows, The Beets came through, full band/full visuals, to play the illustrious Whitehaus. Opening for the trio was the man himself Ronnie Nordac as well as Dylan and the Sulk Scouts. Now, a legitimate show reviewer might just omit the following, but I won’t: train delays and bus shuttles and all of that kinda crazy shit meant that we KLYAM were running a bit behind. We missed Ronnie and Dylan. And I’m still pretty pissed. But we ran as fast as we could, got pointed in the right direction by Naked Man Simon, and descended into a dark, crowded underground. The Beets were all set up, flash forward exactly one minute. They start playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE BEETS – guitar/vocals Juan Wauters, bass/vocals Tall Juan Zaballa, and Chie Mori drums/vocals – are without any second guessing, simply one of my favorite bands to listen to – live, recorded, on YouTube, whatever. It was back in April 2009 that this band came into my life. Wellesley College opening for No Age. There weren’t many of us there, but you can ask Nick and he’ll tell ya all about it. I remember thinking Beets’ sound was a bit like Black Lips, like Beat Happening, two juggernauts themselves right there. Well whatever the case maybe, a couple years passed by, and we heard they were playing the Problem House. That was something else. I remember Chris begging for some “Broken English” and he did indeed get his wish. Then there was Hassle Fest, still very fresh in my mind. Their set was a highlight, a passionate affair. Ben Katz and Chris Collins going ape shit, singing along.

I will say…………..last night was maybe even more special! People were itching for more Beets, perhaps feeling like they’ve been missing something from their life these past 17 days. It was awesome to be surrounded by several people that may have been turned onto this show from Hassle Fest. Well anyway, with flags draped behind them, lights attached to microphones, The Beets went along. Jumping up and down at the hit of a drum, the pluck of the guitars, head bobbing. Most of the dozen or so songs that THE BEETS played are characteristically short, but characteristically oh so memorable for those of us obsessed. “Happy But On My Way,” “Why Should I Live If I Don’t Fit,” my top dawg “What Did I Do?, and the ultimate lil teaser, shout-along “The Devil” from Spit On The Face; 90 second clanger “Cold Lips,” “Watching T.V,” “Knock On Wood,” and “Flight 14” which they did as an encore (yo if they played more after this, don’t even tell me!!!!!!!!!!!!!) from Stay Home; and from their most recent LP Let The Poison Out, we got “Let Clock Work”, “Doing As I Do,” “I Think I Might Have Built A Horse,” “Friends of Friends”; a pair of covers — Beatles “Day Tripper” and Howard Sterns “Silver Nickles and Golden Dimes”; and a really really really cool song sung by Chie. Am I forgetting some???? Maybe.

The bottom line right here is that The Beets are a must-see/must-hear group. Their minimalist rock ‘n roll ways go deep in that the experience is always like very few I’ve encountered in the many shows I go to. If the Beets were from around here, you’d be reading review after review, and honestly we’d never tire of writing about them. No exaggeration.

CHECK OUT THE BEETS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!