Beach House Reviews

Tobias from Detroit, Michigan

ALSO MEH

Anyone not a giant was stuck looking at the backs of the people in front of them. Didn’t even see the stage. Awesome to hear Beach House, but setlist was fairly disappointing. One song from Teen Dream :| I understand that a band has a desire to promote a new cd, but I wish there could have been more variety. From the lack of enthusiasm in the crowd, I don’t think I was alone in my wishing.

Bloorwestdave from Toronto, Ontario

OVERLY AMBITIOUS

Opening act needs practice. Melding Arcade Fire with Jefferson Airplane is tough and adventurous stuff that is possible, but just not yet. Try some simpler arrangements until you have the chops. Beach House blew out the inadequate venue sound system with their over-reaching vocals and taped filler. The fanboyz and fangirlz bopped their heads stridently trying to self-induce an ardent frenzy and another hit song. When a “deep cut” arrived to supplant their desired ditty they slowed their pace. Beach House needs to make a decision as to whether they are arty or pop du jour. Their fans need to know.

JAMES from Vancouver, British Columbia

DISAPPOINTING

Right off the bat, the sound was awful and way too loud for the venue given it was a seated audience. I felt sorry for the kids sitting behind me as the volume was downright uncomfortable. The crowd response was good but was, in my opinion, probably due to the people excited by the opportunity to see a really good band. The experience came off more as a shoegazerish wall of sound performance which I wasn't expecting. The was a lot of feedback and the vocals were completely indecipherable. Was also disappointing to not be able to see the band at all as they were completely back-lit for the entire time. Based on my experience, I'd be reluctant to go see another band at the Orpheum which is a shame as it's a beautiful venue and the seats provided a great view of the band. Lots of places to eat nearby pre-show as well. Was good to hear some songs that I didn't recognize but felt they should have thrown in a few more of their more popular songs for a better balance.

Michael from Portland, Oregon

TERRIBLE SOUND

Beach House and their opening act, Sound of Ceres, had the same problem. The bass was stupidly loud, often almost atonal in its intensity, and the rest of the instruments were just a muddled mess in the mix. Oddly enough, when I stepped out into the lobby mid show, I realized that the sound pumped out there was mixed really well. But a constant barrage of 110 dB sound (measured it) and a bad mix just made for a boring evening. I was really looking forward to this show and am sadly disappointed.

Joe from Austin, Texas

MEH

Short set. Only played a couple songs from Team Dream and Bloom. Lighting was so dark I never saw their faces.

Greg Rubinstein from Venice, California

HORRIBLE SOUND

Totally agree with Jenny Bee from BC. The sound was muddy and muddled. Way too much bass; the vocals and bass were one bloody mess. Way too loud. I could barely make out the songs. My ear plugs designed for music just reverberated the sound mess in my head and didn't help at all. And even regular ear plugs didn't decrease all that bass decibel. Most of the guitar sounds were buried by the deep bass vocals and keyboard. The lighting was cool but there was no use of spotlights or other lighting of the band--they were only lit in silhouette! Waste of $500 for 4th row center seats and a terrible initiation for my date who hadn't heard them before. Totally disappointed.

Don Land from Louisville, Kentucky

95 MINUTES? HARPISTS FAKING PLAYING MUSIC

I drove all the way to see Beach House from St. Louis, and was extremely disappointed that the band only played for 95 minutes after a terrible hour and a half delay where we were forced to listen to some poorly played “harp” music, where the harpist much of the time wasn’t even actually playing the harp!? Beach House themselves were pretty good, but Paul McCartney 80 years old plays for 3 hours per show. Beach House could only manage to play from 9:30 until 11:05 PM!? I was hugely disappointed, and the joke of a harp music player was a disaster. Sound quality was OK, but standing on a large flat floor with hundreds of other taller people right in front of us was very disappointing. It was one of the worst concerts I’ve ever experienced, and I’m 59 years old and have seen lots of concerts over the decades. I love Beach House music, but their effort was pretty abysmal. 95 minutes? Fake, weird harp player? And then another 60 minutes before BH came out and played mostly music from their latest album. Song selection was also disappointing. Won’t ever go see a concert at this venue again and won’t ever go see Beach House again. What a shame.

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