On Wednesday, Baltimore indie legends Beach House landed at The Eastern in Atlanta for one of the dreamiest nights in recent memory. Despite having one of the longest, most consistent careers in indie rock, the band still felt slightly underrated in the mainstream spheres as of a few years ago — they finally broke through in a massive way thanks to the incredible spread of their 2015 single “Space Song” on TikTok, along with the 2022 release of the critically-acclaimed double album Once Twice Melody. Beach House is effectively a big deal now, and it’s been a long-time coming for the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally; they’re now in the big print on festivals like Life Is Beautiful alongside names like Lorde and Jack Harlow, and I showed up to The Eastern on Wednesday to read a sign that simply said: “VERY SOLD OUT”. The modern architecture of The Eastern with amphitheater-style seating stretched all the way to the top illustrated a simple truth: that room was fucking packed. For some reason, I hadn’t considered that Beach House was the type of band that could command an audience of that size — from prior experiences seeing them, they aren’t necessarily a docile band, but their dreamy, atmospheric sound is a bit of a contradiction to the typical experience of today’s popular indie music; Legrand and Scally (and longtime live drummer James Barone) tend to stick to the shadows and let their music wash over the crowd instead of creating a super engaging environment.
That wasn’t the case in Atlanta on Wednesday. The Beach House that took the stage that night was a visceral, enveloping experience that swept concertgoers off of their feet. Opening with the title track of their new album and following that with crowd favorite “Lazuli” off of 2012’s Bloom was a one-two punch for the ages, and they had the crowd in the palm of their hand for the rest of the night. The setlist traipsed its way through their discography dating back to 2010’s Teen Dream, illustrating the fact that they might be one of the greatest “Greatest Hits” bands of their generation. Every song they played was an essential track that everyone in the crowd knew, and their sound was downright thundering on songs like “Dark Spring” (complete with an insane strobe and star-light show) and “Pink Funeral”. The songs from OTM were rapturously received alongside the singles of their past discography, and the production that matched the sound was similarly awe-inspiring — strobes, projections, and intense haze all acted in perfect harmony to create an engrossing and mesmerizing experience. Beach House is here to completely command your attention, and it’s clear that their graduation into A-Lister status is not only warranted, but they’re completely ready for the moment that awaits them. Check out our photos of the night below:
