Beth MCCarthy

BETH MCCARTHY UK TOUR

19.06.2023 @ The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham (120 Capacity)

Written June 2023

I first saw Beth play when she opened for Emlyn back in March and absolutely loved her set then so I booked tickets for this show afterwards. 

I reached out to her via instagram around a month before the show and managed to secure work experience as she let me come and attend soundcheck to watch/observe because this is what I want to go onto in the future.

I arrived at the venue a few hours before doors & by that time, they’d already set/mic’d up the drumkit but were in the process of doing everything else.

This meant that I was able to watch them soundcheck to see how things operate at a small gig. I met both Beth & her drummer/MT, Michael who was her only other team member for this small tour. There was also a rep from LiveNation who was running most of it as well as the in-house sound engineer who I was able to talk to briefly. 

They even had the same sound desk as the one at the college I attend so I was able to easily understand what he was saying. It gave me a lot of insight into how intimate some operations in the industry are & how simple the process can be.

I was also able to help out setting up some LED lighting on stage in Beth’s signature colour, pink, & set up the merch desk in the bar above the venue, taking a stock check too. Due to my involvement in the proceedings of the day, I was given an AAA pass that was a sticker. I didn't take the back adhesive off it though, & just carried it in my pocket so I was able to keep it as a souvenir. 

One of beth’s more emotional songs is called ‘she gets the flowers’ & when we saw her in Manchester opening for Emlyn, an audience member gave her a singular flower during it & I took inspiration from this by making by making her a small bouquet of pink paper flowers in a little glass bottle with a label that had the date, venue & its size alongside a small message. I placed it in the small room at the back of the venue next to the items of her rider. When Beth noticed it right before the show, she absolutely loved it & said she was gonna keep it forever. 

Before the show, I went up into the bar above the venue to meet up with my sister & say hi to some of the audience members as they were all having drinks & mingling before doors opened. A week before the show, Beth had set up a group chat on instagram for all 3 shows & we’d all been talking for most of the week. It was cool to meet these people face to face & have a chance to talk to them before the show. 

The gig itself was absolutely amazing & I loved every second. The venue was so small that both Beth & her openers, Car Park, had to make their way through the crowd from the back of the room to get to the stage, but this also meant that it felt so much more intimate & set a relaxed feel. We were all able to enjoy ourselves without crushing each other & overall have a great time. Beth has plans to release songs that follow her journey of self-discovery to build up to an EP that’ll be released at the end. Starting with ‘What do you call it?’ in March, followed by ‘She’s Pretty’ in June. 

This meant that we were able to hear some unreleased songs, and not just the ones we heard at the Deaf Institute as ‘She’s pretty’ was one of those..

After the gig, everyone went back up to the bar to continue to hang out & Beth also came up to talk to everyone & get pictures. She knew a few people that had reached out online or followed her for a while before this gig & took the time to talk to us all one by one - not just a photo & go.

This gig was even more enjoyable than most as I knew what had gone into it to make it happen & overall, the day was a fun experience as I was able to see how a gig runs & gain some more insight into all of the future career paths I'm considering. I love Beth's music and her current artistic direction so I look forward to the EP coming out soon!