Calling itself “The World’s Largest Music Festival,” it’s only fitting that Summerfest brings talent from all across the globe to Milwaukee during its three-weekend, nine-day stay. While there have been acts from Europe, Australia, and other distant locales on this year’s lineup, no band traveled as far en route to The Big Gig as The Beths.
The indie rock quartet hails from Auckland, New Zealand, which makes touring in the states something of a rarity. Fortunately, kiwis have spent the first two weeks of summer (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least) in the U.S. playing in support of Spoon. Before heading home, The Beths thankfully decided to tack a Summerfest show onto its tour. Thursday night, the band kicked off the festival’s final weekend and put a bow on its North American jaunt with a charming and downright tremendous headlining set before a jam-packed and joyous crowd gathered at the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard.
Over the course of approximately 90 minutes, The Beths embarked on an 18-song journey that touched all corners of its catalog and included a well-orchestrated blend of rousing crowd-pleasers and emotionally wrought deep cuts—all performed to album-caliber execution.
Paying instant homage to its latest release, last year’s Straight Line Was A Lie, the band started its set with the record’s title track before chasing it with the jangly Expert In A Dying Field cut, “When You Know You Know” and the punchy Straight Line track “No Joy” that even came complete with some recorder accompaniment.
Despite turning up in town in belated support of a record released roughly nine months ago, The Beths worked in songs from each of its four albums, including the title track off Future Me Hates Me, which helped first vault the band to worldwide awareness in 2018, and four offerings from somewhat overlooked pandemic-era Jump Rope Gazers. Regardless of when someone jumped onto the ever-growing Beths bandwagon, everyone heard at least three songs from their favorite record on Thursday night.
Between pristine song renditions (a remarkable accomplishment for a band with such challenging vocals, nuanced four-part harmonies, and intricate guitar work who was on their last night of their tour), the members further endeared themselves to Summerfest by talking about having both the best and worst beers of the tour in Milwaukee that day, asking a wide range of questions about the Skyglider, and thanking a fan in attendance for giving singer Elizabeth Stokes the same model of guitar that was stolen from her.
They seemed legitimately gracious and happy to be back at Summerfest for the first time in seven years (that 2019 appearance being the band’s only Milwaukee show prior to Thursday’s return). “Who was here in 2019?” Stokes asked at one point, prompting an unexpectedly large response from the Briggs Stage onlookers. “That feels like a 100 percent return rate. It wasn’t that crowded then.”
Though only a small portion of the crowd was actually in attendance back in 2019, everyone seemed thrilled to be in The Beths’ proximity here in 2026. Following an especially excellent one-two punch consisting of “I’m Not Getting Excited” and “Dying To Believe” late in the set, one fan succinctly and quite perfectly summed up the night to that point, screaming “THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!”
The person who issued what the band called “an all-time heckle” was right. It was fucking awesome, and though New Zealand is a world away, we hope it doesn’t take another seven years for The Beths to come back to Milwaukee. But until they come back, they left us one hell of a show to remember them by.
SET LIST
Straight Line Was A Lie
When You Know You Know
No Joy
Out Of Sight
Future Me Hates Me
Take
Mosquitos
Roundabout
Happy Unhappy
Silence Is Golden
Jump Rope Gazers
Metal
Til My Heart Stops
Little Death
I’m Not Getting Excited
Dying To Believe
Expert In A Dying Field
Uptown Girl