I was at school with the guys in Beatenberg, so it’s pretty criminal that I hadn’t gone to see them play before last Friday. They were main reason I went to We Are Beautiful Losers, but the fact that Bateleur and Jeremy Loops were also playing was a really nice bonus.

I arrived early to watch the screening of the documentary Beautiful Losers. While I’m not a fan of the art movement in the film, I found some parts pretty interesting – mainly the interviews with Mike Mills. He’s done some great music videos and he came across as a really nice guy (some of the other artists just seem like nutters and their ‘art’ made me frustrated).

Going outside after the film was a mistake. In total, I think around 1000 people showed up; it felt like drowning in a see of ants. There were art events going on somewhere out there but I missed them and waited for the bands back inside the ‘movie’ room where it was relatively quiet.

For a while before they were ‘Beatenberg’ they were called ‘NICE’, a name that, while quite silly, described their sound pretty well. Gentle pop songs with interesting and unexpected moments and a lot of sincerity; I enjoyed listening to them. It’s not really my kind of music, but I’ve had a few songs on repeat since seeing them.

I’ve always liked Matt’s voice and the fact that he’s an anti-frontman-frontman makes a nice change from the guys who start bands as an excuse to be stared at on a stage. It’s hard not find Beatenberg endearing.

When Bateleur arrived on stage they were dressed up in crazy animal costumes. ‘We were told this was a dress-up party’ said guitarist Nicolaas van Reenen, who looked like a cross between Jesus and the Easter Bunny. It was a dress up party (with a Greenpop tree being donated for every person in costume) though not many people I saw actually had dressed up (there were a lot of weirdly dressed people around, but I don’t think they were in costumes…) apart from the group of Where’s Wallys, the people in with home-made unicorn heads and the guy in dressed as a bottle of beer or some kind of condiment…

It was HOT in the small, crowded room by this stage, and I’m amazed Bateleur managed to play in those costumes and cramped onto the tiny platform that was the stage.  They were great, I always enjoy watching them.

The heat was exhausting and I found myself struggling to stay on my feet. We headed back into the ant’s nest seeking Coke at the bar. In spite of the fact that there were crates full of 2L bottles, the guy at the bar helplessly apologised and said he couldn’t sell us any as they’d run out of cups, we weren’t impressed.

Back inside it felt 20 degrees hotter than when we left and, impossibly, more crowded. Jeremy Loops has a bit of a cult following, and from the performances of his I’ve attended, I’ve decided that not only are his fans dedicated, but most of them are pretty nuts too…

One such nutter fell to the floor and took me with him – luckily, I landed on the stage-side chair that I’d claimed earlier and been gratefully enjoying throughout the night…

To his credit, the nutter was apologetic and pulled me back to my feet, but I still ended up spending most of the performance on the chair. It wasn’t for lack of enjoyment, I was just finished and couldn’t face standing, let alone dancing. Besides, the view from the chair was great.

It was an odd evening, most of the friends I was there with seem to agree. I’m glad to have gone and enjoyed the music a lot, but it was still an odd vibe…too many people in too small a space, lots of technical trouble with the sound, a lack of oxygen and a sense of slow-motion chaos outside…I dunno, maybe I was just tired and up too late…

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Beatenberg on Facebook and some tracks up on Soundcloud here (The Beaufort Scale is particularly lovely)

Bateleur on Facebook & their Mountain EP can be downloaded here

Jeremy Loops on Facebook

Beautiful Losers on IMDB, and, because he seems like such a nice guy,  2 lovely Air music videos by Mike Mills: All I need & Kelly Watch The Stars

Photos on Facebook over here.