In between songs is the ideal time for a front-woman to hydrate onstage. With the heat of the lights, the stench of sweat from the crowd, and hollering into the mike about relationships that you wish would just work themselves out, a girl's gotta drink. Throughout Beach Bunny's sold out Secret Group show last night, lead singer Lili Trifilio and her bandmates uniformly drank the canned hard seltzer classic that is White Claw in between selections from their new album Honeymoon. Perhaps they've assumed a White Claw spokesperson role. Maybe they were avoiding consuming Houston water. Drinking onstage is what rockstars do, right? Whatever the reason - just like Trifilio's hot pink hair - it was a good look.
Given her introverted stage presence, there was nothing covert about Trifilio's performance booming out of the speakers. Her voice took full charge of her songs' humor, well channeled anger, and punk rock attitude with performances more musical than the younger skewing audience might've noticed. They were too busy taking Leap Day literally — moshing, stage diving, and crowd surfing to songs that, despite their heartbreak-laden lyrics, could be associated with Spring or Summer. Trifilio didn't mind, though; many times, she encouraged it.
During set highlight "6 Weeks," a song about 'replaying the same song for six weeks, trying to find a piece of your heartbeat,' Trifilio instructed the audience to squat down to ground level until they heard the song kick in, at which point they could continue their pogo stick routine.
Lili Trifilio of Beach Bunny, drinking White Claw at Secret Group in Houston, TX.
Photo by John Amar
To be fair, this wasn't a Travis Scott rager where limbs can fracture with a single misstep. Instead, the audience accommodated the seven or so repeat offenders (who either love to surf or just really enjoy the thrill of placing their spines' well being in the hands of strangers) and kept things friendly, guiding them through the sea that was Secret Group last night.
A large part of the spirit of Beach Bunny's live show is rooted in this barrier-free artist to fan interaction. Seeing fans so close to the stage that they bump Trifilio's microphone stand mid-song ("Prom Queen") or warrant a round of group high fives is refreshing. Sure, the band is on an upward trajectory and the larger stages they're destined to play in the future might not warrant such intimacy. But based on last night's show, Beach Bunny crowds perhaps will continue to raise hell in their own little way, and Trifilio and Co. might very well still be singing tunes of unlucky love, sipping White Claw in the process.
Set List
Promises
Cuffing Season
April
Rearview
Ms. California
Colorblind
Dream Boy
Cloud 9
6 Weeks
February
Boys
Sports
Prom Queen
Painkiller