Guitarist and singer-songwriter Liz Stokes played her first-ever solo performance at Largo at the Coronet on April 16. Stokes is the lead singer of the band The Beths, with guitarist Jonathan Pearce, bassist Benjamin Sinclair and drummer Tristan Deck. Based in New Zealand, Stokes came all the way to Los Angeles to take the Largo stage for one night only.
She brought a few special guests with her: comedian, singer and fellow New Zealander Bret McKenzie, perhaps best known as half of the duo Flight of the Conchords; comedian Roz Hernandez of Hulu’s “Living for the Dead”; and Australian singer-songwriter and musician Courtney Barnett.
While The Beths have released some acoustic versions of previous songs, their indie rock lends itself to a classic guitar-bass-drums ensemble, so it was interesting to see how Stokes would adapt The Beths’ songs and her new music to a stripped-down, solo format.
She started the night off with a new song: “Straight Line was a Lie,” a recognition that life’s progression is more circular than linear, before jumping into an old favorite, “Out of Sight.”
Stokes has a very unique tone and incredible vocal control. Her voice has a very emotional quality to it, which was even more so on display than it usually is when accompanied by the rest of the band. Getting to hear her so clearly allowed for an even greater understanding of the complex metaphors woven into every Beths’ song. Her finger picking also allowed the melody of the song to really shine. It baffles me how they’re able to come up with so many different riff combinations, which all manage to sound so cohesively like The Beths.
Then she brought on McKenzie, who performed the topical song, “What the Fuck just Happened” to a crowd of excited fans. McKenzie also performed with Stokes, as he sang and she did “spoken word,” in a song in which he desperately tried to convince Stokes to love him. Following McKenzie was Hernandez, whose crowd work, specifically her biting commentary on polyamory, killed. The last special guest was Barnett, who contrasted Stokes’ primarily acoustic set with an electric guitar.
Then Stokes came back on stage to play more unreleased material. “Mosquitoes,” which Stokes wrote about a park where she frequently walked during the COVID-19 pandemic, was my personal favorite. While its lyrics were more literal storytelling than The Beths’ cleverly metaphorical songs, they were no less effective and rang true. Stokes sang, “I’m only here to feed mosquitoes. Only skin, only blood, a little less now than there was.”
She then moved the capo up to perform a touching song about her relationship with her mom, “Mother, Pray for Me.” In it, she talks about feeling a disconnect and trying to find common ground and understanding, singing, “I would like to know you, and I want you to know me. Do we still have time? Can we try? Mother, pray for me.”
“I have to talk to her about that one before it comes out,” Stokes joked.
Unlike other higher-energy full-band shows, this was very intimate, slower-paced and more personal. Stokes sat casually on a stool in the middle of the stage, making one-sided conversation with an audience that was eagerly but patiently anticipating each song.
Stokes was candid and relatable, admitting that she was nervous to play a show by herself. Her laid-back energy felt similar to when my friends and I mess around on my guitar in my dorm room, quiet and personal, yet confident. I could imagine her in the studio, working things out, as she allowed us to see her in the most vulnerable state for an artist, exposed by the hollow strum of an acoustic guitar. The Beths’ songs are just so good that it’s hard to imagine what the writing process is like, so it was incredible to get a sneak peek.
Fans of the band then got a special treat toward the end of the show, when Stokes brought out her guitarist, Pearce, for a very important announcement. Before playing my personal favorite song of all time, “Expert in a Dying Field,” they revealed that they’d recently been in the studio, and… that a new album from The Beths is on the way.
“Don’t tell the media!” Stokes joked.
‘Joke’s on you – you did just tell the media,’ I thought as I scribbled down the quote in my notebook. Largo has a strict no-electronics policy, which, though it made note taking more difficult as I couldn’t see what I was writing in the dark venue, I appreciated in hindsight because everyone in the audience was so present during the performance. So often at concerts, the audience becomes a sea of phones held in the air as everyone records, focusing on preserving instead of savoring the experience. This refreshing lack of technology may have also had something to do with the fact that the average age of the crowd was that of my mom’s generation. (To be fair, my mom was the one who introduced me to The Beths in the first place.)
But I digress. Since the show was one night only, and I couldn’t capture any of it, I simply joined the audience of fans, appreciating a rare appearance by their favorite New Zealander. It may have made me appreciate the experience more than I did my first Beths concert, the tour promoting their 2022 album “Expert in a Dying Field.” I’m thrilled to hear it likely won’t be their last and looking forward to hearing their new material again, but louder.