Matteo Petrera, Alumnus Contributor

Beach House played an absolutely packed show at D.C.’s newest major venue, The Anthem, on Saturday August 25th, 2018. Touring their newest album, 7, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand did what they have been doing best over the last twelve years and seven previous albums (including their 2017 release, B-Sides and Rarities, a collection of unreleased music recorded throughout their entirety of work together). Lush synths, mesmerizing vocals, and ethereal guitar work was intertwined beautifully by the band who has defined the ‘dream pop’ genre since 2006.

Opening with “Levitation”, the title track off their 2015 album Depression Cherry, ​Victoria Legrand emerged from a haze filled stage, silhouetted against the backdrop as her hauntingly beautiful, signature tone echoed through a roaring crowd. The setlist roamed through the band’s discography, revisiting favorites such as “Master of None” off of their 2006 self titled as well as multiple songs off of Teen Dream and Bloom.

Midway through the show, “Drunk in LA,” a huge hit from their most recent album, captivated the audience and offered a moving central point from which the show progressed. Legrand, constantly silhouetted against a varying spectrum of colors, backdrops, and lustrous astral lighting, firmly held her ground as she took the audience through whirlwind of rich synths, finally stepping away towards the end

of the performance to rip through the guitar solo at the end of “Sparks.”

After finishing the show with another huge hit off of 7, “Lemon Glow,” the band was ushered out into an encore from a thunderous crowd. From here, Beach House revisited two of their most well known classics, “Heart of Chambers” and “Walk in the Park” off of 2008’s Devotion and 2010’s Teen Dream, respectively. The crowd went wild, and by going back to these classics, Beach House proved that even throughout 8 albums, all of which received critical acclaim (5 of them receiving Pitchfork’s ‘Best New Album’ reward), the group’s limitations are endless and their evolving sound still has years of musical innovation ahead of them.

Setlist:

Levitation

Wild

PPP

Dark Spring

Silver Soul

Lazuli

Drunk in LA

Myth

L’Inconnue

Elegy to the Void

Space Song

Wishes

Master of None

Girl of the Year

Sparks

Lemon Glow

Encore:

Heart of Chambers

Walk in the Park

Dive