Beach House

Baltimore dream popsters Beach House were victims of circumstance during their Saturday set. They were competing for attention in an early evening time slot that matched Björk's and with the sun still up, the stage's background of stars and reflective strings was a little bit lost, but Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally (joined by drummer Daniel Franz) nevertheless plunged into their set. The ethereal pop sounds that they're known for on records translated surprisingly well live and despite the lingering daylight, it was a pretty sight to see the members bathed in the green, red and purple stage lighting. Legrand's vocals were as sparkly as her sequined jacket and she seemed genuinely taken aback by the crowd response, at one point looking out over the crowd and saying she'd never done acid but imagined that's what it felt like. Beach House are good at what they do, but being given more stage time than acts like Nas and Cat Power (and the same amount of time allotted to Björk and last minute cancellations Mumford & Sons) seemed completely unnecessary and caused the music to drag on and get lost in an hour and a half of nice, but not consistently outstanding dream pop. It didn't help that Scally remained seated, while Legrand stood stationary behind her keyboard, moving only to flip her hair further over her face. Squeezed down to an hour and on after dark, it may have been a different experience, but as it was, the performance fell pretty flat.