Gig Review: Haiku Hands at Rock City Beta

It may be the evening of the hotly anticipated Season 2 finale of The Traitors, but that hasn’t stopped a decent-sized crowd getting down early to enjoy a Friday evening of live music in Beta.

First up is electro-punk duo Arch Femmesis who have set the standard for other support acts to follow this year. “This one is for the c*ked-up d**kheads at after parties!” exclaims enigmatic frontwoman ZERA TØNIN as they launch into the hilariously titled, Rejectile Dysfunction. The duo are mesmerising to watch, with the crowd in Beta vigorously moving their bodies to the sounds of clanging electronics, thumping bass and ZERA’s siren-like vocal chords. Before you know it, their half-hour of power is over as ZERA (who has moulded her blonde hair into some spiked devil horns for the evening) announces “Come find us, follow us, feel us – to be clear, on social media. Not in real life, we’ve had problems with that.” They then end the set with a scintillating performance of Tutti Frutti, which includes shout-outs to Haiku Hands, Rock City, Nottingham and the East Midlands. All bases covered!

Then from the moment Haiku Hands take to the stage, Rock City Beta is in full-on party mode. Dressed in vibrant outfits and fascinating headwear, they launch into the seismic energy of Super Villain which sends the crowd into a frenzy. “They put the sign up just for us” says Mie Nakazawa at the song’s conclusion, gesturing to Beta’s large “F**K IT” sign behind the bar. From there, it is evident that Haiku Hands are here for a good time and not necessarily a long time, racing through big hitters Ma Ruler, Onset and Squat, with the audience encouraged to join in with their best dancing on the latter. As joyous as it is to see everyone squatting in unison, it is the trio’s synchronised choreography that puts everyone else to shame, with Beatrice Lewis occasionally jumping into the crowd to get the audience involved too. 

“Do you like to party?” they then ask, all donned now in pearl headdresses as they get everyone grooving to 2020 single, Fashion Model Art. Before the song ends, they then launch multi-coloured party streamers into the audience who proceed to throw them back and forth, giving Beta an impromptu makeover in the process. The momentum and chaos of the show is like that of a festival DJ set, with the trio barely stopping to breathe in-between songs and Beatrice occasionally leaning behind the on-stage sound desk to grab some colourful buttons, pressing them to generate loud siren sounds.

“We released Pleasure Beast back in December and it means so much to come all this way and see people come out to enjoy it,” says Mie, with all three clearly taken with the response to the new songs like Paradise and To The Left. The latter is another moment of audience participation, as the lights in the room are turned off and everyone gets down low on the floor, eventually jumping to their feet to turn Beta into a mini warehouse rave. “We can feel your enthusiasm up here, it means a lot to us," says Beatrice, before the band don some stylish, futuristic shades and close their main set emphatically with old favourite, Not About You. They are only off stage for a few moments though, before the crowd thunderously call them back onto the stage for a pulsating encore of Feels So Good.

After the show, the trio then spend plenty of time chatting to fans, taking pictures and signing merchandise, showing their appreciation for everyone whose come out to see them. You really get the sense they put everything into their live performances, ensuring anyone who comes to their show leaves with the biggest smile on their face. It’s arena-sized energy and on-stage theatrics no matter the size of the audience and it’s refreshing to see. Although they don’t play the UK too often, I’ll be going out of my way to catch Haiku Hands again the next time they come to Notts – and I’d definitely recommend you do the same.

Haiku Hands performed at Rock City Beta on 26 January 2024