Baltimore duo BEACH HOUSE’s second full-length Distortion is one of my favorite new albums of 2008 so far and since I hadn’t seen them play live yet, I was really looking forward to this show. Would they be able to pull off the rich, majestic dream-pop of Distortion (and to a lesser extent, their self-titled debut from 2006) in a live setting? The short answer is yes, though much like their music, it was soft, warm and comforting instead of an overpowering, overwhelming experience.
In this live setting, chanteuse VICTORIA LEGRAND (whose mother was in attendance) and guitarist/keyboardist ALEX SCALLY were joined by another member, though it was hard to see what he was doing because of the extremely crowded state of The Barbary. Regardless, it didn’t sound much different from the records and they played a nice, slow set that concluding with “Astronaut”, their best song so far. Its coda, which quotes “Be My Baby”, was a perfect way to end a lovely evening.
Openers PAPERCUTS answered the question of what a poor man’s version of THE DEARS would sound like. They had the indie chamber-pop sound down, but unfortunately didn’t have the songs, stage presence or anything else to match it and their set quickly became dull.
The amazing photo of Beach House singer Victoria Legrand that’s at the top of this page was taken by SAMANTHA FLOYD. It is used with permission. You can see more of her photos here.
