The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to someone at the other end of the country, but as per Friday-afternoon conversational protocol, she inquires whether I’m going to see any shows this weekend. Yeah, the Beta Band. “Oh, what are they like?” she asks. Uhhhhh ... was High Fidelity not released in West Coast theaters?

Clearly, the phrase I was searching for is “technocratic Glaswegian jam-band adept at obfuscation.” I mean, that’s obvious, right? On the topic of things that are obvious - to me, at least - I should mention that many, many critics have favored the term “psychedelic” when describing the Beta Band. While this is wholly dependent on your perspective (Olympic table tennis, reruns of Alf, Sunkist orange soda and staring into the microwave are no doubt psychedelic experiences for some), the most relevant aspects of the group have more to do with hip hop, dub/reggae and a general sense of musical and pop-cultural inclusiveness. To keep this aside brief so I can tell you about the show, let’s say the live Betas breed some sort of palefaced, short-haired grooviness you don’t float to (it’s the beat, stupid).

“This song was written for us by Mark Knopfler,” said most-of-the-time singer Steve Mason by way of introducing “Squares.” Heads were scratched, but we didn’t see him wink or crack a smile, so eventually it seemed entirely plausible that someone from the Dire Straits could’ve been responsible for the song’s twinkling hippiedom nicely rounded out by the key lyric “I fell asleep among the flowers/And it didn’t make a sound.” We’re just along for the ride.

The eventual instrument-to-Beta bandmember ratio was roughly 3:1, which is to say the stage was cluttered. More attention was diverted from the four musicians via a video screen depicting homemade movies of masked bucolic adventures; mostly featuring the mates romping around the Scottish countryside in short films describable as either a) Monty Python’s The Empire Strikes Back or b) Sid & Marty Krofft’s The Dark Crystal.

Mason at the mic again: “This song was written for us by the Incredible String Band.” Again, skepticism. Surely, “Al Sharp” (from the Beta Band’s latest album, Hot Shots II) couldn’t have been the product of long-retired Brit folkies. The guy standing in front of me proceeded to make a call on his cellphone, and while I’d like to think he was trying to reach a lifeline to ascertain the veracity of this particular songwriting credit, due to the volume of the concert it’s more likely he was either ordering a pay-per-view pornographic movie or getting in touch with a sickly aunt to provide music therapy. Either way, I admire his moxie.

During “Life,” a trumpeter wearing a blue silk caftan materialized onstage, then disappeared, nowhere to be found when the band needed him for the long trumpet outro to “Dry The Rain” (the lead track on The Three E.P.’s). Later, Mason informed us the following tunes had been penned by the following people. “Dragon” by Black Uhuru; “Broke” by Princess Grace of Monaco’s toy poodle, Miss Squeakers; “Quiet” by the cousin nobody ever talks to; and “Eclipse” by obscure Flint, Mich., space-rockers Falcon Sanctuary. If the members of Falcon Sanctuary could’ve witnessed the all-hands-on-percussion ending the Beta Band pulled off, they’d have been psyched.