Best Coast live at Rio Theatre

by Irene Lo | photos by Ian Mawson

“Do you like Seinfield? Do you like cats? Do you like sweaty bitches in leather mini-skirts?”

Whatever you might think of fuzzy buzzy band Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino is a performer at heart, interacting with a crowd that undeniably loves her, at least the ones in the front who gave her presents galore: a bouquet of flowers (“they smell beautiful”), a card (“‘P.S. Bruno is excellent’, no he is not. J-K L-O-L, J-K L-O-L, J-K L-O-L”), and a baggie of the green, which she responsibly handed to the sound guy. She apparently can’t perform high, which is surprising, considering that high-ness is one of the recurring themes in their catalogue of song. No, she did not play “Sun Was High (And So Was I)” because it stinks. Her words, not mine.

Best Coast was at Rio Theatre this Monday night to support The Only Place, which dropped a year ago, but they gave sneak peeks of an EP they will be releasing this September titled Fade Away. “I Want to Know”, “This Lonely Morning”, “Fear of My Identity”, “Who I’ve Become” and, of course, “Fade Away” were new tracks the band performed. They are tracks filled with the depression that one expects lyrically from a band known for making catchy songs to do with infatuation and insecurity, while musically, the direction takes us further down the turn The Only Place has been taking us – less fuzzy, more rock-y.

Because the venue was a theatre, and because the show was all ages, most of the older kids were in seats while the underage went bump up in front. Best Coast appropriately starts with “The End”, switching from songs off Crazy for You and The Only Place. Following tracks like “Crazy for you”, “Summer Mood”, “Last Year”, and “The Only Place” were played mid-tempo and didn’t energize the crowd as much as they could have. Breaks between the songs were mildly disruptive, as Consentino peered down to gather bearings or whatnot, and then there were a slew of slow songs that were great for the people sitting in their seats.

Somewhere between Cosentino wiping herself down with a towel which led a guy to shout “I want your fucking towel”, they played “When the Sun Don’t Shine”, which was awesome live. Cosentino has a voice that keeps on going, so when she goes on and on without a crack in sight, it’s ear candy, especially when the vocals just fit those lovely three-chord melodies. The last songs from the set list were examples of this: “Our Deal”, “I Want To”, and “When I’m with You” were exciting because Cosentino sang spontaneously, going high and long, hitting low, and then stopping short. It was pretty.

“Each and Every Day” was the encore where they riffed on guitars and did intense hair-shaking.  And then Best Coast peaced out half an hour before midnight. It’s been real but…these all age shows, you know.