Bethany Cosentino introduces “The Only Place”, her ode to the LA of our dreams, with an “I wish we were all there now” before dodging a can of beer thrown from the audience. “It’s tight” she says. But it is anything but tight.
I am as pro East Coast as you can get but at the muddy, wretched monsoons of Randall’s Island my sympathy’s were entirely with Bethany and her surf pop band Best Coast. I’ve been trying to see Best Coast for years now, I really like their poppy bummer sounds of summer and I wondered how they’d pull it off live. Well,at Randall’s Island they did the best they could possibly manage in an hour long set culled from their two albums, Crazy For You and The Only Place and a new song “The Fear Of My Identity”.
Bethany has aged, all her girlishness and romantic gooeyness has disappeared over the past four years, and while Best Coast are a good live band, at least today they don’t feel like a very inspired band with only the extended coda to penultimate song “When I’m With You”.
Still, we get all the hits, we get some sympathy and we get the only honest comment of the night as Bethany introduces a song with “This is to get you in a summer mood because this fucking sucks” before sending us through the swamps again with “Boyfriend”.
Dinosaur Jr were pretty miserable as well though they did cover “Just Like Heaven” pretty well and played an obstreperous thriller Deep Wound (their first band) with Scott Helland joining them on bass. Holy Ghost opened their set with one of the best songs of the year, “Dumb Disco Ideas”, “I need water for my summer drought ” goes the opening line! On record, the song is an extended dance track, on stage it is an inspired audience sing along with its Beatles (or is it Bowie?) “Twist And Shout” break. Polica are part of the Gayngs gang – so hot in 2011. The were pretty good with a very strong presence and lead singer in Channy Leanagh.
“It’s tight,” Bethany told us, “Go enjoy the rest of your day and stay dry and don’t take drugs, or do take drugs if you want. Do anything you want. It’s tight.” So I took her advise and went home. It’s tight.
Grade: B