Recently I got the chance to go see Beach Bunny perform at the Roxian Theater with my friends, Nina and Faith, and our moms.
If you have never heard of Beach Bunny before, they are a power-pop band that the singer-songwriter, Lili Trifilio, started in 2015 in her bed-room. Jon Alvarado, and Anthony Vaacaro joined later in 2017. They are releasing their third studio album, Tunnel Vision, April 25.
We got there around 7 and waited in line for 15 minutes. This was my first time going to the Roxian, so I was a little nervous about how everything would go. Om the inside of the theater, there’s basically three floors: the balcony, the pit, and then an open area for the bar, merch stand, and a VIP sitting area reserved in the front.
The merch for sale consisted of two tee-shirt designs, two tank top designs, a poster, a tote bag, two of their vinyls, and a few trinkets. I got a concert tee, a tank top, and a poster. The total was $95, but I regret nothing.
My plan was to stay in the open area, but my friends convinced me to leave our moms so we could go to the pit for at least the opener. We managed to squeeze into the middle with an alright view. At eight o’clock, the opener started their half hour set.
Before the show I had never heard of the opening band, Pool Kids, so I didn’t know what to expect from them. However, I was not disappointed at all when they started their set. The band consisted of four members: Christine Goodwyne, Caden Clinton, Nicolette Alvarez, and Andy Anaya. I couldn’t hear many of the lyrics because of the crowd, but I still enjoyed the music. My group was blocked by tall people, so we really couldn’t see the members very well, except Andy, who was really fun to watch head bang (there was a lot of head banging). In the middle of their set they had two fans come up with them and had a surprise proposal which was very sweet. I added a few of their songs to my playlists.
After the Pool Kids’s set, they started to set up the background for Beach Bunny. It was a recreation of the bedroom on the Tunnel Vision cover. I thought it was incredibly cute and creative. My group agreed that the drums were gorgeous.
At nine o’clock, Beach Bunny started their set with their most popular track, “Cloud 9,” before going to “Ms. California.” I absolutely love this song and went a little crazy whenever they started playing it. Near the end of the song they replaced California with Pennsylvania which, I’m not sure if they’re doing that in every state, but I thought it was a fun thing to add.
They then played a new song, “Mr. Predictable.” Trifilio asked everyone not to spoil anything about the new songs, so I won’t say much except that Tunnel Vision is going to be an amazing album.
After “Big Pink Bubble” was my favorite song of theirs, “Weeds.” Before they started to play it, Trifilio taught the crowd the outro to the song. She was incredible at interacting with the crowd which made the concert more lively.
During “Oxygen,” they started a mosh pit. I promptly ran out of the pit with my friends. While moshing does look fun and this one was definitely calmer than most, I would have HATED being in it. It was also nice to take a break from all the people for a couple of songs.
We went back to the pit when “Nice Guys” started, but we got a better spot than we had before. It was by the wall on the left side of the stage with not many people around us. We had more room to dance and jump around, plus we got a clearer view of the stage. My friends and I screamed to the rest of the songs(Especially during “Good Girls(Don’t Get Used)” and “Sports”.)
The main show ended after 18 songs(5 of which were unreleased) and the band left the stage. They were only gone for a few minutes before the crowd started cheering for an encore. Trifilio came back on by herself and sang a guitar-only version of “6 Weeks” and the crowd put up their flashlights.
The rest of the band rejoined her on stage to finish the concert with “Prom Queen” then“Pain Killers.” There was one final mosh pit, the wall of death, where the crowd divided into separate sides before running back together. I didn’t participate in the mosh pit once again, but did join in when everyone started jumping.
This concert was a blast! I’m very grateful that my friends convinced me to go into the pit with them. Beach Bunny put on an amazing performance that made me completely forget about whatever anxiety I had. Trifilio’s voice is so unique and sounded even better live than she does in the studio recordings.
Thank you once again to Jordan Montgomery for getting me the tickets!
Definitely giving the show a 10/10!
