Beach House at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles

While spending a Saturday night in a cemetery might not seem like the ideal night life scene, many gathered around for the second night of Beach House’s performance in Los Angeles. Around sundown, people enjoyed picnics on the grass between the graves. There was a romantic air about the night as couples shared wine and cheese plates or swigs from flasks together while waiting for Beach House to go on stage.

The summer night scene was set, as Hawaiian music sounds filtered across the field. At 8:25, the trio took the stage, and were immediately back lit with smoke drifting around them, matching their eerie surroundings perfectly.

They opened the set with “L’Inconnue.” Alex Scally’s guitar was giving some crackling feedback, but the audience didn’t seem to mind as they nodded along to the dreamy song which would fit quite well in a church setting. As the sound engineers worked on Scally’s guitar, singer Victoria Legrand charmed the audience. “So nice to be with you tonight in this very special place in Los Angeles,” she shared, showing her appreciation for the unique venue. “Anybody getting a Woodstock vibe feeling right now?” she asked the audience… “I’m getting a feeling like a storm is coming and people are about to start climbing things.” She also took a moment to debut her stand-up impressions, which she teased but then returned to later — one including an Irish Darth Vader impression that had the crowd chuckling.

When the sound hitch was resolved, they delved right in to the next song, “Silver Soul,” a chill-inducing song off Teen Dream, with a heavy slide guitar from Scally and moving visuals featuring the typical Beach House starry lights backdrop. The crowd up front grew quickly as they swayed along to the song. For “PPP” warm lights bounced around the backdrop while Scally and Legrand remained backlit. The crowd was particularly excited for “Lazuli” and “Lemon Glow,” two of the more rhythmic songs of the set so far. The visuals were minimal yet played with color and patterns, “Lemon Glow” featuring a subtle yellow flash at the end of the song.

When “10 Mile Stereo” started up, the crowd cheered. The song built up intensely as the drumming quickened and Legrand’s voice belted across the field. The visuals matched as the lights flashed and flickered towards the audience with equal intensity. They continued the set with some new songs off their latest album, 7 including the dreamy “Woo” and “Drunk in LA.” During “Wishes,” the crowd could be seen singing along to the beautiful melody, “Wishes on a wheel / Is it even real?” Another standout was “Elegy To the Void,” which Legrand picked up the guitar for so play a simple but screeching part that grew in intensity with the drumming rather than fading out as the song does on the album. They ended the set with the arpeggiated “Myth” and left the stage, but not before thanking the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and the audience for “being on a journey” with them.

The crowd cheered loudly for the encore, and the trio came out once more and played the soft and subtle “Rough Song” off Thank Your Lucky Stars and closed the night with another new song, “Dive,” leaving everyone wanting more, both above and below ground.

Setlist:

1. L’Inconnue
2. Silver Soul
3. PPP
4. Dark Spring
5. Lazuli
6. Lemon Glow
7. Space Song
8. 10 Mile Stereo
9. Woo
10. Beyond Love
11. Drunk in LA
12. Sparks
13. Pay No Mind
14. Wishes
15. Elegy to the Void
16. Myth

Encore:

1. Rough Song
2. Dive