Beach Weather x Phoneboy Light Up Brighton Music Hall in Allston
by Nina Rezendes Fauci, Five Cent Sound, March 2024
On March 23, indie-pop-rock band Beach Weather played the last show of the East Coast leg of their highly anticipated Pineapple Sunrise tour at the Brighton Music Hall in Allston, MA.
About two weeks before the show, Amari texted me a link to tickets to the show and begged me to go with her. She’s always been a huge fan of the band because they provide the perfect soundtrack to her effortlessly cool, island-girl, free-spirited vibe I’ll always know and love her for. We’ve been friends since high school, and have done almost everything together, from vacations in Florida to poetry readings in NYC, but we had never attended a concert, just the two of us. Once I got paid, a week before the show, I bought my ticket, and the anticipation began to build.
When the day finally arrived, it was a rainy Saturday night, which was made brighter by the excitement on Amari’s face as I arrived at her apartment in Mission Hill about 2 hours before the show. The doors opened around 7pm, and the line was wrapped around the building. Amari and I decided to wait for the rain to subside (it did not) at The Tavern in the Square across the street. We shared an order of sweet potato fries, paid, and ran back to the venue as soon as we saw the line of fans outside dwindling down.
Once we had made it through the doors and gotten past security, the show began in full swing with a performance by the opening act, Phoneboy, an up-and-coming indie rock band consisting of lead singer and guitarist Wyn Barnum, guitarist Ricky Dana, bassist James Fusco, and keyboardist Jordan Torres.
Despite hailing proudly from New Jersey, Phoneboy effortlessly masters that classic, summertime West-coast vibe. They opened with their newest track, “Ferrari”, a teen anthem that details a teenager’s inner angst about life. The song began with a fast, bouncing synth which commanded the audience to jump up and down. Barnum commanded the stage with his strong, raspy vocals as he shouted lyrics like “I never wanna be famous, I’m never coming home.” The hard and fast drumline makes you want to drive your car along a smooth and sunny California highway. Barnum’s harmonious vocals cried out the words, “I’m losing my mind / Wasting my time / Standing in line”, referring to the fact that he feels stuck in life and is waiting for something good or substantial to happen to him.
His wish comes true on the next song, “Moving Out”, which begins with twinkling, high-pitched beachy guitar strums that instantly explodes into full rhythm with accompanying bass and drums. Lyrically, it details a tumultuous relationship between two lovers, presumably—and, on a larger scale, the memories in your head as life moves fast, as you move fast, it becomes harder to see that everything will be okay. Barnum realizes that the relationship he’s in isn’t healthy anymore and that one of them is leaving, but he’s “lost track of how many times they’ve said goodbye”.
The next song, “Nevermind” was my absolute favorite. I love this guitar riff so much, and the major to minor slide is something I love to incorporate into my own songs. On this track, Barnum sings about a causal relationship, but he feels like his “drunk texts' ' have ruined it because they “keep him sober' ' , hyper aware of the mistakes he’s made. There’s an air of disparity in his voice, as he’s passionate but he’s frustrated when she doesn’t respond, he begs them not to “leave me on read like a solo cup”, and his voice falters with passion and emotion. In the last seconds of the song, the beat then goes back into hard drums and vocal harmonies. The lyrics “I want Nirvana / But nevermind'' is a direct reference to Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind, while also serving as the narrator stating they want a state of happiness through their object of affection (Nirvana) but deciding to give up on it due to complications (saying “nevermind”).
Phoneboy ended their set with “Hey, Kid!”, which reminded me very much of the band Wild Party, an indie band from the 2010s that uses that same throbbing drum that makes you want to march to the beat of life without a care in the world, kind of like a kid in high school, “driving on the backroads to the smoke spot with a view of all the city and the people, saying hey kids, don’t stop me right now”. It’s a classic anthem of adolescence, of taking risks and not getting caught. The lead guitar steps up and up the scale, creating tension like kids sneaking out the window at night past curfew.
After Phoneboy left, there was a brief intermission as the crew rushed back and forth across the stage to prepare for Beach Weather. After fifteen minutes of waiting, the fluorescent overhead lights dimmed, and “Happy Together” by the Turtles played as the band comprised of: Nick Santino on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Reeve Powers on backing vocals and bass guitar; Sean Silverman on lead guitar; his brother, Alex Silverman, on the keyboard; and Jeremy Wolda on drums, walked up the stairs and onto the stage. “Happy Together” wasn’t a song I expected to hear at this show at all, but it made me smile, and it was a remarkable walkout track.
As the Turtles faded out, Beach Weather chose their classic hit, “Chit Chat” to kick things off. It begins with guitar strums resembling Mac Demarco that fade in and out as the verse goes on. It sustains a high-energy rhythm throughout and details a flirtatious relationship but ends up being careless and empty; “I thought I told ya, I really need your sugar / A rollercoaster, I'm going supernova / Chit chat is holding me back / To you” . A percussive line dances in harmony with Santino’s gravelly vibrato; a living, breathing, singing invitation for a good time. Its infectious energy instantly captivated the crowd and set the tone for the rest of the show.
The next song, “Pineapple Sunrise” transported the crowd to sun-drenched shores with its shimmering melodies and classic California melody. As the title for both their sold-out tour and album, the band has said in several interviews that they, “like to think Pineapple Sunrise is synonymous with a spiritual awakening in a sense. A spiritual awakening starts when a person is finally able to step back and “awake” or view their life with a new sense of being or purpose. So we created a fantasy land or a “happy place” and referred to it as Pineapple Sunrise. It’s just a way of expressing personal change and growth.”
One of my favorite tracks of the set was “Trouble with This Bed”, which brought a raw intensity that reverberated through the entire venue. “Goddess”, a song from their album “Chit Chat” from 2016, played next. This song was memorable for both Amari and I because Nick Santino’s soulful vocals were on full display, and his charm was turned all the way up as he threw out roses into the roaring crowd.
As the set drew to a close, Beach Weather treated us to an encore that we’d been waiting to hear all night; the viral song “Sex, Drugs, Etc.”, which Nick Santino dedicated to the audience as “our song, and to celebrate what we’ve made the song to be”. The familiar tune brought a raucous energy to the room, with its gritty guitars and anthemic chorus that lures listeners to embrace minimal morals: “Half love, half regret / Dressing up for Polaroids and cigarettes / Socialize, romanticize the life”. It has a moody, dark Arctic Monkeys-esque sound with over-driven background vocals. As the cherry on top of an amazing night, Phoneboy came back onto the stage and danced as Beach Weather continued to perform.
Beach Weather’s set was an electrifying journey from start to finish, and every song they played added its own distinct vibes of lightness and vibrancy to the crowd. With tickets being under fifty dollars, they were a steal, and both Beach Weather and Phoneboy delivered a performance that exceeded all my expectations. They truly showcased their undeniable talent and left a lasting impression on everyone in attendance, and I’m so glad I was able to share this experience with Amari.
Although this show was Phoneboy’s last one with Beach Weather on this tour, and the last time, the setlist playlist I made, embedded below, will never expire.
A complete list of Beach Weather’s upcoming tour dates, mainly on the West Coast this summer, can be accessed here. The band will be returning to the area at the Boston Calling Festival in Allston this coming May!
