Jenny JimenezOn stage, Alex Scally, one half of Beach House, stays mostly

Jenny JimenezOn stage, Alex Scally, one half of Beach House, stays mostly to the sideline with his guitar and keyboard, relinquishing the spotlight to Victoria Legrand. Standing upright behind her organ and microphone, Legrand is commandeering, authoritative – she looks like she’s leading a political rally, breaking only to whip her hair around with the music or throw her hands out when emphatically singing lines like, “How much longer can you play with fire before you turn into a liar?” Throughout their set, Scally and Legrand both encouraged the audience to move their hips and dance – but I think everyone was too tranced-out and in awe for any of that.Legrand’s voice is like a sandstorm – gritty, powerful, and really something to behold. Some Beach House songs, like “Silver Soul” and “Real Love,” already have the touching effect of making me quite emotional just listening to them, and watching them performed live with such obvious devotion and effort doubled that effect. Legrand’s stage presence is so stark that she makes such lyrics as “Don’t I love you better than the rest?” (“Zebra”) and “Would you be my long time baby?” (“Heart of Chambers”) even more plangent and believable. The show’s best moment came during “Gila,” my favorite Beach House song. The lights throbbed red and deep, warm as Scally’s guitar tones, and Legrand’s vocals echoed and shuddered across the room, encapsulating us all in a cave-like space.Click through to see more of Jenny Jimenez’s rad photos of the show.