After Bill DeVille introduced Beabadoobee, the London rocker and her band wasted no time ripping into a set of power-pop songs that had the audience captivated from the first downbeat. During the third song, the audience were singing so wholeheartedly they could be heard belting out the lyrics to “Care” from backstage. None other than Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney made her way to the wings to snap a smartphone photo of the band in action. The set comprised tunes from Beabadoobee’s 2020 album "Fake It Flowers" and this year’s "Beatopia," as well as from the intervening year’s EP Our Extended Play and 2019’s Space Cadet.

Beabadoobee quieted things down for a bit when she gave a solo acoustic performance of “Coffee” before ramping up the energy again with the dynamics-hopping “Sorry.” The next song, “She Plays Bass” had the audience completely engrossed in singing and dancing (save for a bit of playful distraction from a supersize beachball making its way among the crowd). Beabadoobee seized a moment during “She Plays Bass” to introduce bassist Eliana Sewell, as well as drummer Luca Caruso and lead guitarist Jacob Bugden. (Bugden’s cool glasses and shock of bleach-blonde hair lent him a resemblance to Chris Collingwood of power-pop icons Fountains of Wayne.)

A moment of drama ensued during Beababoodee’s self-declared favorite song from Beatopia, “See You Soon,” when Caruso’s drum shield collapsed into his kit. After a scramble by the quickly responsive stage crew, the group closed out the set with a string of rockers given extra punch with the drum shield now gone, the audience hanging on to every last beat, lick and lyric.

Songs Performed
00:00 Worth It
03:51 Together
07:13 Care
11:16 Talk
14:10 He Gets Me So High
17:01 Coffee
19:04 Sorry
22:43 She Plays Bass
26:40 See You Soon
30:50 Back to Mars
32:55 Last Day on Earth
36:49 Cologne

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