Last Night: Beach House at House of Blues

By Neph Basedow Thu., Sep. 20 2012 at 10:00 AM

Photos by Abrahan Garza

Beach House
House of Blues
September 19, 2012

It's been two years since Baltimore dream-team Beach House visited Houston. When they played Walter's in 2010, we foresaw bigger things for them -- a bigger stage, to be exact. Our vision was accurate: Beach House played to a near sold-out crowd at House of Blues Wednesday night.

Having previously seen Beach House in larger settings as well (including a 2009 SXSW performance at Auditorium Shores and Chicago's Pitchfork Music Festival in 2010), House of Blues was a nice mid-size venue to host a band in the thick of their rise to fame.

The trio opened their set with "Wild," from this year's Bloom, a slow haze of smoke and dim lights creating a beguiling aura that paired perfectly with their atmospheric sound.

"Thank you for being here," Victoria said, in her first address to the crowd. She stood center-stage, wedged between guitarist Alex Scally and touring drummer Daniel Franz. Sporting a structured black blazer and slacks, Legrand followed suit to the androgynous onstage style she described in our interview last week.

With layers of sleepy guitar tones and enchanting, reverbed vocals, Beach House shows and their recordings are pretty closely aligned; chances are, if you like one, you'll like the other.

The trio pulled from each of their albums throughout their hour-and-a-half set - except for their self-titled debut, which was overlooked on this tour.

"Norway," however, the single and standout track from 2010's Teen Dream, was a set highlight, as thousands of tiny twinkle lights appeared against the dark backdrop.

"Gila" was another highpoint, as the band dipped back into 2008's Devotion. (As cool of a performance it was, the lighters raised in the crowd didn't seem necessary; they never have, post-1985.)

"We're very lucky to have you here," Victoria said. "Thank you for your energy."

Location Info

Venue

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House of Blues

1204 Caroline, Houston, TX

Category: Music

20 user reviews	Write A Review
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Tags:

Beach House, dream pop, House of Blues, Sub Pop, Victoria Legrand

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marcsmall

Start kicking the shit of those duche bags and this kid of shit will stop happening. none of that shit happened by me cause i'm not putting up with these little punk ass kids and look for the opportunity to teach a life lesson with a beatdown.

Try that shit at walkmen tonight I have been looking for a reason to fight

anonymous

I'm not saying anything that isn't well known but the crowd at Beach House was the standard HoB crowd. For whatever reason, that venue attracts chatty assholes who want to get wasted on a Tuesday night while not watching the show for which they shelled out $30. It's so frustrating that the venue hosts some great bands because the crowd is ALWAYS a huge distraction. Stage diving? Seriously? It comes down to people being selfish. The show isn't about you. Please keep quiet and listen.

tclapp

this was my second time seeing a show at HoB and i was disappointed (again). i was right by the stage diving and some douchebag throwing beer at some idiot that tossed a beer can backwards. it's always confusing to see how people behave at shows ESPECIALLY a band like Beach House.

i don't mind people shouting "yeah!" from time to time but "i love your hair!" is about the dumbest thing to say to a musician on stage.

and everyone saw that guy get up in the middle of Myth and "give" something to Victoria? wtf man. wait outside afterwards like a normal stalker.

the only distraction that actually turned out to be pretty special was the guy in front of me proposing to his girlfriend during the chorus of Take Care- Victoria even congratulated them :3

all in all, i wish they would have played at Fitzgeralds :(

nephbasedow

@nephbasedow Thanks, A. Always nice seeing you.

AlexanderF

@nephbasedow Masked shout-outs for $1,000, Alex.

nephbasedow

@AlexanderF Wait! What?

AlexanderF

@nephbasedow No. I would have said hello. And probably gotten into an argument with stage-diving jack holes.

nephbasedow

@AlexanderF Looks like I forgot the word "review" too. Sheesh. Was I also drinking bourbon? Were you at the show?

nephbasedow

@AlexanderF Ha... I see. That tweet was meant* for my friend Adrien, who RT'd my review link. Looks like it didn't post that way.

AlexanderF

@nephbasedow It was in response to your tweet to "A". Admittedly, it made more sense with a tumbler of bourbon.

hprocksoff

@nephbasedow LOL, popular indie-rock in Houston is dead.

stonerbuddybongloader

it was a hipster douchefest up in there last night. And fuck HOB for charging $11 for a Corona tallboy.

But the women in the crowd were fiiiine!!

SomethingOfANeerDoWell

@stonerbuddybongloader

Really? "Hipster douchefest"? Were you at the same show I was at? All I saw were frat guys and their girlfriends.

JamesOtoole

@stonerbuddybongloader idiot comment coming from a real douchebag. Why the hell did you go to the show for idiot if you didn't like the crowd? Oh yeah... the women... who you probably didn't even stand a chance with. Loser. Lucky you weren't standing next to me or I would have kicked your face in.