Beach House brings dream pop back to Boston

On March 11, dream pop band Beach House took the stage at the House of Blues for a sold-out show, returning to Boston after two new album releases and nearly four years of international touring. Joined by two backing instrumentalists for its live performances, the critically-acclaimed duo, French-born Victoria Legrand and Baltimore native Alex Scully, has become central in indie rock and the “shoegazing” dream pop scene since its self-titled debut in 2006.

For its House of Blues performance, the band was joined by fellow Baltimore-based act Moss of Aura, the solo project of Gerrit Welmers, a member of Baltimore’s art-pop force Future Islands. Although Welmers' opening performance of “Sweat” off the 2011 album “Wading” was a tropical, synth-y welcome for the audience, the majority of the Moss of Aura set lacked the emotional resonance and energy of the main act.

Seated on the stage with his synthesizer, Welmers was barely visible from the standing room floor, with the main visual focus on the a flimsy tapestry colored by shifting mood ring lighting that was hanging behind him. His synth tracks tied into the dreaminess of Beach House but were ultimately too static to excite; one member of the audience described them as “study music.” Most of the audience stood waiting, expecting the religious experience of the main act.

Once Moss of Aura had packed his synth and left, Beach House vocalist and keyboardist Victoria Legrand, the essence of cool, crept onstage in an oversized white pantsuit, her wild curls shielding her face the way sunglasses might on a lesser artist. Although her look could be reminiscent of Florence Welch or “The Voyager” (2014) era Jenny Lewis, Legrand stands in a class of her own. Seemingly free of distraction, she emanates a quiet seriousness and focus devoted entirely to the band’s sound. Any aesthetics or theatrics appear to be natural yet careful and deliberate extensions of her music.

During the show, Legrand had a few words of thanks and wishes of peace to share between songs, but she mostly let the music speak for itself. And it spoke volumes. For Beach House fans, the emotive and atmospheric 16-track set was both a review of the band’s familiar greats, “Myth” (2012) and “Silver Soul” (2010) and an exploration of the bigger sound on its latest albums, “Depression Cherry” and “Thank Your Lucky Stars,” released in 2015. The band performed five entire tracks from “Depression Cherry,” the more accessible and aggressive of the two new releases.

For a duo that relies on so many layered “moving parts” of sound in each song, Beach House is still able to craft performances that are sonically nearly identical to its album recordings. From the grizzly opening guitar riffs of “Sparks” (2015) to the wild crescendo of “10 Mile Stereo” (2010), the band executes each individual song component on stage with such precision that it comes together to form a dreamy, familiar whole. It makes something that undoubtedly requires immense concentration and much rehearsal seem natural, even effortless.

Beach House wove through five of its six albums, ignoring its self-titled debut and touching on “Devotion” (2008) only once with a breathy rendition of “Astronaut.” The band took advantage of the venue, utilizing the space in different ways to set a tone for each portion of the show. Paired with the light reflected off the House of Blues’ disco ball, the performance of “Somewhere Tonight” from “Thank Your Lucky Stars” recalled the slow-dance portion of a dreamy, underwater prom, while the more energetic songs off of “Teen Dream” (2010) were accompanied by flashes of blinding light and rapid projections behind the stage in a grand and shiver-inducing way.

The audience, made up of people from hip grandfathers to quiet undergrads, moved from gentle swaying and bowing to light thrashing according to each tempo change. The overall energy was one of reverence, and most stood listening with rapt attention to the artists. Because the music of Beach House operates on such an emotional, personal and experiential level, this reaction was only natural.

After a two-song encore of “On the Sea” (2012) and “Sparks,” Legrand and Scully quietly exited the stage, leaving behind an audience lost in a dream-like trance. That evening, Beach House did what it has always done best: craft a pure and atmospheric experience for their listeners. Boston fans can only hope it won’t be another four years before we see it again.