“Spending too much time out of California,” sang beabadoobee, as she opened her set at Los Angeles’ historic Greek Theater cheekily playing her new song “California.” She smiled at the irony of the line, as she grabbed a pink electric guitar and she and her band picked up the energy, building into a soaring pop rock tune.
beabadoobee (Beatrice Laus) is a British singer and songwriter known for her soft voice, sweet melodies, and vulnerable songwriting. Initially rising to popularity with her song “Coffee,” written for her then boyfriend, she was catapulted into the public sphere when “Coffee” was remixed in Powfu’s “death bed.” The song was one of the biggest songs in the world at the beginning of the pandemic, and made beabadoobee one of the biggest faces of the bedroom pop scene at the time. She stood out with her intimate and open songwriting, and lines like those from “You Lie All The Time”: “So tell me it’s okay/That everything is great/’Cause I just hate the fact/That every time we do, we look the other way.”
Pivoting later to more rock sounds, beabadoobee now celebrates 90’s rock bands while maintaining the same openness in her earlier works. With a set of her best songs over the years, beabadoobee has been touring to promote the release of her latest album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves.
After her opening song “California,” beabadoobee played a few older songs, including “Talk,” “10:36,” and “Charlie Brown.” A white tarp covered the back of the stage, with a few props like a ladder, a fruit tree, and a bookshelf. The tarp would light up different colors, and during a few songs, would go pitch black as a single spotlight lit just beabadoobee.
She also played a handful of songs from her most recent record, with singles “Take A Bite,” “Ever Seen,” and deeper cut “Post.” The first half of the set was higher energy, and as the band started to play her newer songs, images of nature played against the tarp behind them as the modern look of the first part of the set dissolved into waves.
As the images started to change to darker colors, beabadoobee started a slower, more acoustic section of the set where she played songs such as “Glue Song,” “Coffee,” and “Girl Song.” During “Coffee,” the entire crowd sang so loud that beabadoobee’s voice wasn’t audible. “Girl Song” was a strikingly tender ballad, with lines such as “Just a girl who overthinks about proportions or her waist/The creases on her face/Day like no other, and just another bad day,” that beabadoobee sang with just her and a piano.
“This is by far my favorite tour. It’s been so much fun. I did not drink. Not even a tiny drink … I’m pretty proud of myself,” beabadoobee said towards the end of the show. “That will all end tonight. Because I deserve it,” she then laughed.
The tarp fell to show greenery behind it, and beabadoobee performed an encore of two acoustic songs, solo with her guitar: “Coming Home” and “the way things go.” Then beabadoobee addressed the crowd one last time saying, “But truly from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You are all so special to me. I love you all … we’ll see you soon!” Her band joined in to close out the show with “See you Soon,” a fittingly emotional send-off to end the night.
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