Portlandians looking for a cozy night filled into the Roseland Theatre on Friday to see Beach Fossils perform. The New York based-band brought their tour to promote their new album, Bunny, along with support from Turnover and Mo Troper.
Opening up the show was Portland-based band, Mo Troper. Though I had never heard of them, it appeared that many in the audience did. It was nice seeing that energy and excitement for a local band. They definitely had that Portland energy to them (weird, different, and wonderful). Their sound reminded me of a cheery, indie rom-com from 2010. It was fun and upbeat and got the crowd into a comfortable mood.
Turnover was next to the stage, and their performance was highly anticipated. Throughout the show, I heard many expressing excitement to hear their music, specifically songs from their 2015 album Peripheral Vision. They played a few songs from the popular album including: “Dizzy On The Comedown”, “Take My Head”, “Humming”, and “Hello Euphoria.” The dizzying displays with low calm lighting provided a peaceful and relaxing environment for the entirety of their set. With fans gently singing along, the calming sounds of the guitar riffs carried the mood throughout the night.
Last on stage was headlining act Beach Fossils. I was surprised to see how full the room still was. Regrettably, I haven’t listened to the band much, and I had heard a lot of fans say that they had come to see Turnover. Usually in this situation, a venue will clear out after fans see the band they came to see, but this wasn’t the case. If anything, the venue was more full. Fans sung along to Beach Fossils songs all night. Looking for some space, I wandered to the balcony mid-way through the set. I stumbled upon a large balcony willed the the brim with excited fans. With barely any standing room, fans danced and sung along to the songs anyways, filling all the aisles besides the seats.
They played their most popular songs: “Down the Line”, “Sleep Apnea”, and “May 1st”, along with newer songs like “Don’t Fade Away” and “Sleeping on My Own”. Though I came in barely having listened to their music, I left a fan. What makes this band great to see live is the entire groups' effort into their performance. It’s common to see a lead singer with good stage presence, but even the guitarist and bassist put energy into moving around and enjoying their own performance. They are definitely worth going to check out live if you can catch them on the rest of their US tour.
