Photos By: Francesca Tirpak
By: Evan Klein
Best Coast vs. Wavves
Summer is Forever II – Observatory North Park, Friday, March 4 2016
Best Coast vs. Wavves
The big banner pits these two against each other, but we know this is just cute. SO CYUTE. They are companion bands, and should tour together in perpetuity for the rest of time. SoCal teens get their make-out on during Best Coast and their dry-hump on during Wavves, and they love it.
Bethany Cosentino commenced the proceedings with “The whole world is craaazzyyyy…” and didn’t look back. Bethany and Bobb Bruno are pros. And the touring band adds more pros. And the result is a tight mix of surf pop. The bottom bass end was pumped up and Bobb’s guitar just floated out over the crowd like a warm, fuzzy blanket with Bethany’s soothing vocals finishing off the pleasant sonic cocktail. Her vocals were spot-on. Every band member was poised and even and on it. You cannot shake them, they will prevail.
They played all the songs I know and love, and then they made me a fan of the couple songs I don’t know. She was cordial with the crowd, but not over-the-top. Pro. Controlled. The kids got their crowd-surf on, bobbed their heads & SNAPPED SOME PICS. They revved up the joint for 45 minutes and closed out with Boyfriend, Our Deal & When Will I Change, and said “PEACE OUT!”
Smoke break for smokers, drink break for drinkers, medical break for the girl who fell out, and the lights dim and the music is back.
Starting up with Sail to the Sun and Linus Spacehead, Wavves established their differences with Best Coast from the get-go. Tempo & DRUMS. The Wavves drummer is amped and ripping shit up, and the crowd is responding. The tempo is working em into a frenzy, and lead singer Nathan Williams is happy to keep it going. “MOVE THIS MOTHERFUCKER!” And the pit obliges and destroys itself to the new tune My Head Hurts. Security got in a serious back workout.
Then Nathan announced he had gifts and chucked out a bunch of alien body inflatables. He hopped down to crowd level and got up close and personal with bodies floating right up to his grill. Dude knows how to entertain his fans.
And the fans were varied for this double-bill. Mostly young as shit, but I saw some people who were happy to make use of the seating areas. Saw a fifty year-old with his shirt off. Saw some people who will wish they had about 4 drinks less today as I’m writing this. Oh, you can booze all over the Observatory now, in case you missed the email. Might make it a bit more tolerable if you’ve lived more than a couple decades.
The sound was rad for both bands, which you would hope would be the case since this was their penultimate show of the tour. Wavves did blow an amp during Demon to Lean On, which must have just been from exhaustion, cuz that jam doesn’t scream amp-killer. But, they remedied that shit and closed up loud with King of the Beach and Green Eyes, and the people were back on the streets by 11:15. Wonder if anybody took Nathan up on his offer for burritos at the taco shop later.
