Beach House

A commendable initiative on the part of the Circolo degli Artisti, to keep up its indoor programming even through the summer months, bringing the activity of Roman venues in line with those of the major European cities. This is how the idea for an intensive series called "Frigidaire Sonori" came about, and the Beach House concert turned out to be one of its most eagerly awaited events, not least because it marked the American band's return two years on from their last Roman performance and, above all, after the release of "Teen Dream", the album that further propelled them into the empyrean of the most celebrated and beloved indie acts.

As was largely predictable, the trio's set, running a good hour, focused for the most part on their most recent album, played almost in its entirety, with just a couple of concessions to their two previous records, dusted off for a few of their standout tracks such as "Gila", "Heart Of Chambers" and "Master Of None". Detached and quiet at first, the three on stage gradually gained verve and a willingness to connect, now well aware of their own abilities and of a sound that, while inevitably less dense than on record, was handled with great mastery in the interplay between Alex Scully's guitar and Victoria Legrand's keyboards. She is at the centre of the stage, and she is the one playing the lead role, at once an ethereal muse and an enchanting siren, her vocal modulations now dreamily elusive, now deep and expressive.

Priestly and almost motionless at first in her solemn pounding of the keys (from a distance, almost a Mimi Parker in freak-dreamy mode), Legrand gradually lets herself go, often tossing her thick, loose mane of hair and venturing brief exchanges with the crowd, as the standout tracks of "Teen Dream" follow one another in sequence, from the sparkling pulses of "Used To Be", to the insistent vocalising of the single "Norway", by way of glimpses worthy of Cocteau Twins on "Walk In The Park" and the luminous harmonic surges of the splendid "Silver Soul".

Despite temperatures well beyond tropical levels by now, the performance is one of ever-growing synergy between the musicians on stage and an audience left exhausted but thrilled by the balance the band's sound strikes between old and new songs, between "driving" numbers and slower passages; if the former may have suffered somewhat from the reduced sonic richness allowed by the live dimension, the latter often end up being enhanced by it, drawing convincing power from carefully calibrated deliveries, decisive rhythms and a generally greater immediacy in the versions performed (as is the case with "Astronaut" and "Take Care").

When the lights come up after the interstellar ride of "10 Miles Stereo", what remains is the feeling of a live show without any particularly thrilling peaks, but certainly an honest representation of the current state of a band whose growth cannot yet be said to have run its course, as attested by the turnout, despite the sweltering July night in Rome, outside and above all inside the venue.

The only shame is that the promise of a longed-for chill remained confined to the title of the series, even if, as always, the sheer engagement of Beach House's music was at least able to momentarily take one's mind off the litres of sweat pooling in a Circolo degli Artisti turned sauna. So much so that, in the end, what will stick in the memory most is Victoria's thank-you to the crowd, which perfectly captures the evening: "thanks for sharing our sweat".

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