Caught Live: Beach House, London

Sections of the audience are sat on the concrete floor of Cargo’s auditorium as Jana Hunter plucks the opening chords of the night, but soon enough everyone is drawn to stand. Alex Scally – Beach House’s male half – joins Hunter on stage to play bass and guitar, even offering a joke as Hunter tunes-up: “What lies at the bottom of the ocean and shivers? A nervous wreck,” he says. It’s funny, but Scally turns away a little embarrassed. Hunter is a presence on stage, though petite and often with eyes kept closed, her large spectacles slipping down the bridge of her nose. She delivers a varied and entertaining opening half an hour.

It’s clear that Alex Scally is conscious of the sound tonight, as he was in Manchester for a section of the dream-tour with Fleet Foxes. He can be seen hooded and slinking through the audience in the early stages of Jana Hunter’s set. But here at Cargo the sound is excellent, and the momentous drive that can be found in Beach House’s latest record Devotion hits home acutely. Both Scally and vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand appear fresher than the summer shows, and perhaps it’s the freedom of the headline slot that allows their songs to be fully appreciated. ‘Wedding Bell’ carries a punch, but it has to be Devotion’s highlight ‘Astronaut’ that rings most true, with Legrand pleading: “Please be my baby/don’t be maybe”. And tonight her voice fills the room, the perfect foil for those droning keys and reverb-drenched guitar riffs.

Scally asks for the lights to be lowered “as we move into a more sinister part of the evening”, and indeed, the lights move to a ruby red that dresses with some elegance on Legrand’s bare shoulder. One loved-up fan at the front of the stage begs Legrand to play the new single ‘Used to Be’, Legrand smiles and plays the opening chords for ‘Master of None’, received favourably amongst the audience. When the young man at the front gets his wish, along with a high-five from Legrand, she kisses her palm. ‘You’ve made my month!’ he hollers. Many here feel the same.