Riding a wave of buzz created by their excellent third LP, Teen Dream, Baltimore’s Beach House visited Chicago Friday night for a sold-out show at Metro. The night began with a solid set of fuzzy indie-electro by New Zealand’s Bachelorette (aka Annabel Alpers). The crowd sufficiently warmed up and packed onto Metro’s overcrowded-as-always main floor, Beach House took the stage at precisely 10:15. The duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally was joined on stage by drummer Daniel Franz, and played a set that covered most of Teen Dream as well as a smattering of tunes from the group’s self-titled debut and 2008’s breakthrough Devotion.
The energy in the crowd was high, especially given the generally understated sound of the headlining act, and the audience was treated to a strong, surprisingly loud show. Concerns that Beach House’s cavernous recorded sound would be difficult to reproduce in a live setting were allayed by the pristine mix at Metro. The band’s albums are intricately layered with echo and subtle instrumentation, and each sonic facet was clear and defined. Scally’s guitar provided a nice skeletal framework for songs like Teen Dream’s epic opener “Zebra” and “Ten Mile Stereo,” and added the occasional riff as on Devotion fan favorite “Gila.” Legrand, aside from being the group’s lead vocalist and de facto spokesperson, augmented the sound with tasteful keyboard textures and what could be assumed was a pre-programmed bass track. Franz was a welcome addition throughout the set, his pounding percussion adding a dimension that is occasionally missing from the band’s dreamy, swirling recordings.
The stage show was a surprise, and was apparently themed as a Teen Dream of sorts. An amused onlooker noted that the stage “look(ed) like a goddamned high school prom,” and the assessment wasn’t far off. Garlands of metallic pompons bordered both sides of the stage, and giant reflective diamond-shaped piñata-like objects stood on crude motion-activated platforms at various points. The band’s dark, cheap-chic lighting seemed designed specifically to light the diamonds rather than the musicians, and for most of the show the musicians were only sort of visible amongst the shining stage adornments and the thick dry ice haze that hung about them for the duration of the set. Adding to the feel of an 80s semi-formal dance was a white suit jacket worn by Legrand that strongly recalled James Spader’s Steff character in “Pretty In Pink.”
Without disregarding the energy of the crowd, wonderful instrumental accompaniment, and ambitious stage setup, the undisputed star of the show was Legrand’s voice. Though compelling on record, nothing could prepare the listener for the power and beauty of the singer’s live performance. Teen Dream standout “Silversoul” served as a particularly fitting showcase for Legrand’s multifaceted ability, her voice taking on a booming quality and filling the entire venue during the song’s swells and displaying surprising vulnerability during quieter moments. Legrand’s focus was evident as she stayed mostly still during vocal sections of Beach House’s songs, and her delivery was rewarded with rapt attention from the audience. Her flawless in-song execution was accompanied by levity - remarking on the heightened energy in the venue perhaps brought on by the first days of spring in Chicago, Legrand announced that it was “baby-making time.”
Clocking in at just over an hour and ten minutes, the set was brief. While this could potentially be cause for complaint about a headlining act, it made sense in this circumstance. There is a hazy similarity to most of the group’s songs, and an overlong set would run the risk of detracting from each tune’s impact. Beach House chose to mold their performance in the spirit of the “teen dream” invoked by the group’s album title – fleeting, perhaps, but no less memorable and powerful.
