Though haunting in their melancholic delivery, Beach House simply aren’t a band for a venue the size of a bus station.
Beach House (By Dusty Knapp via Flickr)
By Dan Humphry
Two atmospheric performances found themselves a little wanting in the Anson Room’s this past weekend as Beach House’s intimate song writing got lost in an oversized school hall.
On first glance Holy Other seemed an odd choice of support for the headline act. Whereas Beach House can be neatly categorised as the haunting, if whimsical, dream-pop outfit of an American indie film that probably starts Zooey Deschanel, then Holy Ghost is their ambient-Goth older brother, ban from the guitar and so making lyric-less songs about death and pain with only a synthesiser.
But the deep bass and ghostly melodies of Holy Other suited the echo-prone Anson Rooms and created something of a cathedral-like sound that softly flowed throughout the venue. Beach House did not have such luck, however, as despite a welcoming crowd the band’s intimate, dream crafted songs and pondering vocals failed to embrace such a large audience.
Though haunting in their melancholic delivery, Beach House simply aren’t a band for a venue the size of a bus station. The nuance and personal touches of their songs are lost and subsequently, for many, so was the connection to any real emotion. That Beach House barely acknowledge their audience didn’t help much, I suspect.
In a smaller venue this set of new tracks and old B-side favourites could have been special, but on this night it was a strikingly bland affair.
Source:
http://www.bristol247.com/2012/11/13/review-beach-house-at-anson-rooms-bristol-27082/