Seraphina Lotkhamnga on September 28th, 2012

1

Igniting a large room like the Wiltern would be a daunting task for dream-pop novices, but Baltimore’s Beach House refused to allow Wednesday’s capacity crowd to experience anything less than dizzying and surreal. As the spotlight shined down on lead vocalist Victoria Legrand only to show her silhouette during the opening measures of “Wild,” it foreshadowed a romantic evening.

The fiery affair that Legrand, Alex Scally and Daniel Franze pursued throughout the second of their two-night stand at the Wiltern made for a passionate seduction that left fans swooning. As the trio swept the audience back in time with “Gila” from 2008’s “Devotion” and “Walk in the Park” from 2010’s “Teen Dream,” the mood was also set in place by the extravagant light show which dramatically changed from a sensual red to a radiant green to lush purple and finally a twinkling dark blue.

• ||| Photos by Kelsey Heng

But the core of this medium of lovemaking was Legrand’s role as a true siren. With her vocals carrying the arching melodies in songs like “Other People” and then cracking to almost a whisper on tunes such as “Silver Soul,” Legrand demanded the audience cling to every word. Whether fans knew all the words or only paid attention to Scally’s beckoning guitar riffs, these were knee-buckling love stories unfolding, and the room was love-drunk.

With four giant striped and slatted boxes, which included slow-motion industrial fans, the setting stripped any of reality’s harshness while the lights swept across the stage and swelled with the music’s crescendos. The stage, which was momentarily draped in shadows may as well have transformed into a cloud, perfectly cushioning the fans whom were in a pleasant limbo between a floating dream and their actual feet on the ground.

Although much of “Bloom” was used to keep the fire burning, Beach House continued to dip into their prior album with “Norway” and “Zebra.” And these fan favorites were enough for the audience to snap out of their melancholic daze to roar with approval, a reaction the band appreciated and took to caressing their admirers with “Take Care” and “Myth” before they walked off stage.

The band returned to the stage to briefly reminisce with “Turtle Island.” The final goodnight was said with the rocking “Irene” (the closing track off “Bloom”).

Guitar virtuoso Dustin Wong, who played with Beach House in a Baltimore Café eight years ago, opened the night.