Beach House
Beach House played at the Downtown Brew in San Luis Obispo, CA to a sold out crowd Thursday night. Yes, I embarked on the trek from Santa Barbara to SLO in order to see Beach House (and for the record, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a concert in SLO). And yes, it was totally worth it.
Beach House is a project between Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally. Beach House gained some buzz a few years ago surrounding the release of their second album Devotion. It has been through their latest release Teen Dream that Beach House have gained even more attention, especially from tracks like “Take Care” and “Norway”. When I heard the album, I was swept away by their music and pulled into a trance. It takes you into a different world, regardless of where you’re listening to it. After listening to the album, I knew I had to see them live and would be willing to drive far and wide to experience their music live.
Bachelorette, aka Annabel Alpers, opened the night and started out the set a bit slow-paced. She played a solo set, complete with her computer and different pedals, mixing her music together live. Behind Annabel Alpers was a screen with different images prjected on it throughout the night, ranging from a weird mountain landscape to sound waves. She was very courteous to the audience throughout her performance, responding to one person’s statement “you’re hot” with the response “you’re hot”. Her music started out being relaxing and upbeat, but promised the crowd that everyone would be dancing sometime during her set; she just wanted to take baby steps. She was right. The dancing part of her set picked up once she projected sound waves of her music onto the screen behind her. Overall, a great way to open the night.
Bachelorette
Beach House came out to an antsy crowd; the line to get into the show initially wrapped around the block (mind you, this is a small venue). The stage was dark, except for a few accented lights as well as a few decorative diamond-shaped, piñata-looking objects, covered in shiny foil. At times, the lights would shine on the objects and they would illuminate the stage. During certain parts of the set, the objects would spin and different lights would reflect on them, changing their color. With the dimmed lights, surrounded by colors and music, it was as if you were in a dream-like state. Beach House were prepared to put on a performance.
Beach House started out their set strong with the song “Walk in the Park” from their latest album. Everyone in the band made their contribution to the live concert experience. Victoria Legrand’s vocals were deep and hypnotic. I was completely transfixed on her throughout the night. She emanates a certain brilliance, even though she was the most difficult to see on stage. Throughout the night, she would swing and sway her hair while playing keyboards, really getting into the music. Alex Scally’s guitar tones were crisp and clear, echoing throughout the room. He sat back while playing throughout the night, just taking everything in. Daniel Franz pounded on the drums, but he was not overpowering, just playing what was necessary. Beach House’s music surrounds you like a warm blanket live, you’re completely surrounded by different textures. The music was sweeps you away once you surrender your control.
To top off their great musical performance, it was nice to see how gracious Beach House were of their fans. Someone from the audience handed Victoria Legrand a letter and she stowed it away safely in her keyboard to read later. During the night, she also threw out a new bottle of water to the audience and said to “ration it”. They ended the night by stating that the crowd had been a “wonderful audience”.
I can’t express to you how amazing Beach House’s most recent release Teen Dream is, and to see it live brought the songs to a new dimension. I walked out of the show feeling pure joy. Looking at other audience members after the show, everyone had this look of satisfaction. This was a full music experience.
Beach House
Beach House set list
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