
VHS Or Beta gave a great show last night, demonstrating that they are a tight unit, even with the recent addition of their fifth member. They play with a confidence that shows they are comfortable in venues much larger than the one where I saw them. Much of their set had an anthemic feel that I could imagine rocking an arena. They seem to have left behind the all-black-extra-zipper new wave image they used for Night On Fire, in favor of more comfortable, less image-conscious clothes (unless they're saving that for the larger venues, too.)
While I am fond of 'Burn it all down', their best song is still 'Alive'. (They seem to have noticed; they made it their first encore and it got the strongest response of everything they played.) That song proves that these guys are more than the sum of their influences; it can't be waved off simply by invoking U2 or Simple Minds. I'm not saying I don't hear the influence of those bands. I just don't like reading reviews that sound like the author's point of view can be summed up with the phrase 'Everything has been done before.' If that's how you feel, go be a hermetic scholar and leave the music for the people who are still capable of enjoying it.
VHS Or Beta official website