The Beths, a loud yet lovely band out of Auckland, New Zealand, have charmed global audiences with delightful decibel-pushing earworms.
Their most popular songs, “Future Me Hates Me” and “Expert in a Dying Field,” balance shoegaze guitar-shredding with sweet, euphonious vocal melodies. Catchy pop choruses and memorable guitar lines unite across the band’s catalogue, resulting in a perfect mix of heavy and harmonious.
The band will return to North America this fall, and instead of touring in support of an album, The Beths will celebrate their 12-year catalogue with the By Request tour. As the title suggests, every show’s set will be determined by audience requests, meaning songs from the band’s debut EP, Warm Blood (2016); their latest LP, Straight Line Was a Lie (2025); and everything in between is on the table! The final date of the By Request tour in the U.S. is Thursday, Oct. 15, at Pappy and Harriet’s.
“There’ll be various different ways to make requests at the show,” said lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Elizabeth Stokes during a recent phone interview. “I’m sure that the format of the show will be kind of tweaked as we go. By Pappy and Harriet’s, which is one of the last shows, it’ll be locked in. It’ll be spontaneous requests from people, so we will go in every night without a set list and then build the set list together as a group with the audience.”
The Beths first performed a crowd-chosen setlist at Bonnaroo in 2023. After their main set, the band hosted an intimate show inside a smaller venue on the festival grounds.
“Our sound guy was just wandering around with a microphone and asking people what they wanted to hear, and if we knew it, we would play it, and if we didn’t, then we wouldn’t play it,” Stokes said. “That was our first time trying something like that, and it was really fun. It’s kind of taking that and turning it into the whole show, with a bit more prep. We’re doing homework and learning all the songs that we haven’t played for a while, and trying to be able to play, hypothetically, everything in our discography.”
Some crowd favorites are muscle memory at this point, while other tracks, both new and old, are “a bit ropey.” Stokes said the varied comfort levels make the By Request tour all the more exciting.
“There’s almost like a live, improvised theater element to it,” she said. “The show that you get every night is going to be very different, and we’re going to be as well-prepared as we can, but sometimes we might get a little bit stumped, but I think that’s all part of the fun. We do take great pleasure in being a band and playing together, and the unpredictability of everything is part of the enjoyment.”
The band’s show at Pappy and Harriet’s is one of two California dates on a month-long tour that also heads to Fort Collins, Colo., Gainesville, Fla., and Sayreville, N.J., among other cities. Stokes said The Beths enjoy visiting places beyond the big cities.
“The ability to keep touring is part of why we keep coming back to America. It’s just this huge place of people who love music everywhere,” she said. “For us, there’s a certain cycle when you release an album, and you do these big shows around the album release, and you hit the biggest cities, but it’s so satisfying then to be able to come back and hit a whole bunch of other cities that are still quite big. You can tour for six weeks, and then come back and tour for another six weeks.
“Speaking as someone who lives in New Zealand, I find it really meaningful when an artist does come all the way down here. You do get excited, because you know how hard it is, so it is meaningful for me when we go to a place that people don’t get to very often. It means a lot for the people there—and not everybody lives in the big cities.”
Are there any songs Stokes is hoping to hear shouted out during the By Request tour?
“We haven’t been playing ‘Best Laid Plans’ or ‘Ark of the Covenant,’ which are the deeper cuts on the new record, so I guess I’m hoping that people might request those—but I also just want people to request what they genuinely want to hear,” she said. “I feel like there can be a bit of a ‘Gotta catch ’em all’ mentality sometimes with set lists, where it’s like, ‘It’s not that I particularly want this song; it’s just that I haven’t heard this one yet.’ I feel like you should go with what your heart wants to hear. That’s what I want people to request.”
As the political climate worsens, international bands have had more problems entering the country for tours. Thankfully, The Beths had no troubles bringing their sonics stateside, and Stokes said the band is always happy to be in the United States.
“From the outside, America looks terrifying, but once we get inside to the spaces that we’re inhabiting and the people who we’re around, it’s very much good people who are just trying to do nice things and be kind to each other,” Stokes said. “I know that there’s a lot going on, but you have to part what you’re seeing from the outside with what day-to-day life looks like.”
The vibe is always on the rise when The Beths are in town, as their poppy mix of radiant ragers is sure to uplift any crowd, and eliminate the stressors of society.
“It’s nice to be in 2026,” Stokes said. “To be in rooms with other people, like real people, feels meaningful. (The desert) is such a beautiful part of the country, a beautiful part of the world. We’re excited to come back.”
The Beths will perform at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, at Pappy ay Harriet’s, at 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Chelsea Jade will open. Tickets start at $38.60. For tickets and more information, visit pappyandharriets.com.
