Live Review: Beach House, Hatchie

Six years have passed since Beach House played a club show in Brisbane and boy have we felt it with the release of the phenomenal Depression Cherry and solid Thank Your Lucky Stars in that time. The release of their seventh studio album, 7, last year saw the band take a slightly different but still familiar approach to songwriting and the dreamy pop duo have finally come back to haunt us with their undeniable live presence.

First off the ranks is Hatchie, aka Harriette Pilbeam, her ‘90s-tinged pop-rock outfit doing Brisbane proud, with members from The Creases and Babaganouj forming the live band. Hatchie covers the room in a thick glaze of sugar as her voice fills our hearts. Opening with Sugar & Spice, it's an  undeniable ear worm made ever better live by the beautifully layered acoustic and shoegazed-out guitars. She plays a lengthy set of tracks from her EP as well as giving us a taste of her upcoming release. The new tracks get the crowd moving a bit more than the EP cuts, but when the dreamy synth lines of Sleep hit, the dancing shoes are on. A well-deserved support slot for one of Brisbane’s most promising talents – here’s to the future!

When you are at a Beach House show there are two things you can be assured of: you are barely going to see the duos faces, and the lighting is going to blow your mind. Fusing their dreamy pop landscapes with what resembles a Windows Media Player visualiser at times, Beach House are an absolute titan of the live music game. Every track is perfectly orchestrated with beautiful lighting and light fog – it's like a vision of heaven or hell depending on the song. Opening with Levitation before dipping into the back catalogue with Wild, it’s apparent we are going to be getting a piece of all the Beach House pie tonight. The lighting evolves with the albums; the beautiful lustre and wonder of tracks off Depression Cherry reflected by a light pink glow, while the skitz visuals and trance-like whirl of set closer Lemon Glow make us feel like we are in some sort of heavenly rave. 

Early highlights PPP and Lazuli immediately get a roar from the crowd simply through the iconic synth or drum sample that leads us in. The crowd throughout is incredibly tame, hypnotised and polite, applauding heavily and refraining from yelling. The same can't be said on stage as the music takes hold of singer Victoria Legrand multiple times with wild erratic headbangs, all capped off by harsh white strobes. The stage design is minimal, yet when tracks such as Space Song take centre stage, a subtle string of stars or a light projection of pearls capture our eyes like nothing before. It’s like a GOMA installation; each track is a work of art in all facets. Playing a mammoth 16-song set along with a two-track encore (Walk in the Park and Dive), we think we can confidently say our Beach House itch is scratched, but let’s not wait another six years to scratch it again okay?