Saturday 17/09/05 King Biscuit Time @ The Academy 2, Liverpool

After the announcement last year that Steve Mason was splitting up the Beta Band, the world (or at least a few thousand dedicated followers) went in to mourning. The only comfort and solace granted by this announcement was that Mason was working on a full album under the guise of King Biscuit Time. He’s already recorded two really quite strange and poppy EPs under the KBT moniker and now with help from old friends Pete (of Old Jock Radio fame) and Colin Emmanuel (AKA C-Swing, producer of 'Hot Shots II') he’s hitting the road and Christ on a bike he means business…  

Opener ‘Left Eye’ is an exercise in off kilter pop so brilliant you forgive him completely for splitting up the greatest band that ever walked the face of the Earth. He’s in a playful mood from the outset, taking the piss out of someones daft facial hair, moaning about a particularly vicious wasp bite he suffered in the morning and bouncing around the stage like flea on PCP. The sound is perfect, but then again it should be, apart from his vocals and acoustic guitar, Pete’s bass and Colin’s synth the tracks are essentially coming from a DAT player. One of the many highlights is a dubbed-up to the eyeballs rendition of ‘I Love You’ from his second solo EP ‘No Style’. Of the new material ‘Rising Scum’, ‘All Over You’ and the astounding forthcoming single ‘C I am 15’. Steve is obviously bristling with confidence, playing Beta Band classics ‘Doctor Baker’ and ‘Simple’ on an acoustic guitar but hearing him over the crowd’s singing is damned near impossible.  

The atmosphere in the Academy is one of complete togetherness, all floppy limbed dancing and imaginary microphone dancing; much like you would get at an Ian Brown gig. The spirit of The Beta Band is living and breathing in Steve still - his chant-like vocals and gleeful charm ride over the rubber pop music with an assertive nonchalance that defies the many obstacles and tribulations he faced with his previous work. Radio One wouldn’t play his records, I Monster created panic in the camps using the same sample they did on 'Squares' and they never made ANY money, is he arsed? Is he ****. After the barn storming melodic pop of ‘When I Walk The Earth’ has faded at the end, the crowd want more. So in a true Beta-style mix of integrity and silliness he plays as an encore a reggae version of 'Anarchy In The UK'. No Shit. Finishing with ‘C I am 15’ (again) it would seem like a desperate move to persuade everyone in the room to go and buy his single but for Mason this is just another day in the office. What makes Steve different though is that his office is situated on Mars. And it’s made entirely from orange peel. Silly? At times. Shambolic? Certainly. Genius? Why of course. Comeback of the century…       

Photo by Jonson Walker