By Spencer Isberg
On Feb. 20, the ears of Michigan listeners were blessed by Dream Pop power duo Beach House at 20 Monroe Live in Grand Rapids on tour for their newest project. During a set promoting their latest album, “Once Twice Melody,” which lasted over an hour and a half and was preceded by a shorter but impressive opener. Their Michigan audience experienced a visually and sonically concert that could only be described as a dreamy haze and nothing less than magical.
Originally hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, they have seen a decently extensive career within the realms of the indie rock and psychedelic rock genre since their start in 2004. Most famous for creating songs such as “Space Song” off their 2015 album “Depression Cherry” tend to tilt towards a very dreamy feeling within their music. Often utilizing very open-ended synthesizers and delayed guitars to create vast and lush soundscapes.
The Grand Rapids leg of their tour pushed this sound further as they performed a set of both old and new material that seemed to fill every square inch of the venue with the world they had created through their sonic endeavors.
The sound design of their music felt like they were made for live performances. Lead singer Victoria Legrand would often seem to perfectly integrate her voice into the synthesizers and guitars that would play throughout each song during their set, making a physical soundscape comparable to the feeling of a warm blanket being wrapped around someone on a cold day. The audio felt comfortable and nostalgic, no matter the lyrical or visual tone of the song that they were playing at any given time during their set.
The guitarist Alex Scally worked his guitar skills phenomenally into each performance. He played calm and composed enough to provide a relatively serene environment while still providing just the right amount of energy to assure that the audience couldn’t turn away.
However, only focusing on their sonic performance would be giving their entire set a massive disservice. The most attention-grabbing part of their performance was its visual aspect. Heavy usage of fog and specific lighting from both stage lights and a large projected screen behind them would offer some of the most psychedelic and masterful visuals out of any concert in recent memory.
The lights and projections of visuals always seemed to follow the rhythm of the songs down to the beat set by the live drummer. The heavy usage of the lowlight atmosphere mixed with just the right amount of strategic stage lighting seemed to force the audience to pay attention exactly where the band wanted them to when the band wanted to.
None of this would have seemed as impressive as it was, however, if it wasn’t for the opener; solo experimental electronic composer Collins Oboh (alternatively under the alias “Colloboh”). While sonically significantly different from Beach House in just about every way imaginable, the overall vibe of his set was similar enough to justify him as the perfect opener. Oboh stood on stage for six songs while utilizing a modular synthesizer to create electronic compositions that sounded paradoxically earthly and otherworldly. Minimalist lighting and heavy use of fog machines would set the stage for the remainder of his set and would later usher in a similar feeling in Beach House’s performance later on.
While Beach House may have finished their stretch of the tour in Michigan, they left their fans with a show that will stick with them for many years to come. A concert that physically seemed to transcend the physical fields of existence at specific points. They managed to achieve a set that had every song feeling truly like a “Space Song.” If they revisit Michigan, it is 100 percent worth anyone’s time to experience a true Beach House concert.
