Beabadoobee (or Beatrice Laus) came to Brighton on a UK tour for her third studio album, ’This Is How Tomorrow Moves’. It was the first big concert at the Brighton Dome that I have attended. And it won’t be the last. The light display announced her imminent arrival and the crowd was set alight with screams. Each band member came out and played as Laus joined them, jumping straight in with ‘California’, a great opening song from her new album. What I didn’t expect to be on the set-list were the songs ‘Cologne’ , ’10:36’ , ’She Plays Bass’ and ‘Coffee’. But having no prior experience with large pop concerts, maybe it’s normal for artists to play other songs from different albums?
She surprised me with some of my favourite songs, though the live sound of the band is quite different to the recordings. I felt like some of songs were more instrumental in places and more dramatic, especially the kick drum and bass. Bea’s voice never fails to impress me though, it sounded almost exactly the same as the recorded version even though she was moving around and performing. In some cases, this can make artists nervous or not perform as well, vocally or physically. That being said I think Beabadoobee’s stage presence was amazing and made up for an awkward technical difficulty, and it helped the crowd join in and feel at ease.
During ’10:36’ she motioned for everybody to get down right before the last chorus then leap up. It worked perfectly, throwing everyone into jumping around and having fun singing (or more like screaming) along with the lyrics.
Her technique with getting people to sing along, or crouch down, made the audience ecstatic and involved. Quite a few people yelled out to Beabadoobee and she talked back and interacted, kindly and with humour; even if a fan was interrupting what she was saying. Although I did wonder if what I saw was her stage persona rather than the real Bea, but it doesn’t matter much to me as she looked really happy and like she genuinely enjoys what she does. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to perform in front of thousands of strangers, so it’s to be expected.
I was astonished at the amount of guitar changes, it seemed as though each song required a different guitar. It was fascinating to see the instruments brought out sometimes even halfway through a song! The drums were cute too, featuring a photo of baby Beabadoobee’s face!
Something else I took note of was that the crowd seemed to be made up mainly of teenage girls and young women. Apparently that’s the case nationally as it’s been mentioned in other reviews. I guess it could be that the lyrics speak about the troubles of girlhood or that Bea is just a really cool female role model that girls can relate to. But in my opinion Beabadoobee’s music can be for all, her taste is diverse and you can feel and hear it in her music. Each song leans towards different genres of music, but of course always with that Beabadoobee twist to it.
Bea was born in the Philippines and moved to the UK with her parents when she was three. She apparently grew up listening to original Pinoy music, 90s pop and indie rock artists. She said she was inspired to make music by hearing Kimya Dawson and the Juno soundtrack, and started out playing on a second-hand guitar at the age of 17. She got help learning how to play through YouTube tutorials while drawing on her previous experience playing the violin. Since then she has taken off, released several EPs and albums, and has grown a huge fanbase internationally. She even opened for 12 shows on the US part of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.
Hearing the song ‘Coffee’ was a trip back to 2020! It was Bea’s first single and the first song she wrote on guitar. She joked about releasing it under the name Beabadoobee as it was her finsta name at the time because Instagram wasn’t accepting any of her names. Canadian rapper Powfu used it in his single ‘Death Bed (Coffee For Your Head)’ which went viral on TikTok in early 2020. That’s actually the first time I heard any of Beabadoobee’s music or the song ‘Coffee’ (even though it was released in 2017). The song inspired the audience to hold phone torches up and wave them as if it’s a national anthem of sorts.
‘Girl Song’ made the audience almost silent as Laus stood up on stage with only a spotlight and a pianist and sang this meaningful song about self-doubt and insecurity. Everyone just sung quietly along or held their phone torches aloft, it was a very vulnerable moment and Bea sang beautifully.
This was an invaluable experience for me, I really hope I get to do it again some time. Getting to see someone – whose music I’m just discovering fully (and love already) – perform live. Listening and watching with many others who enjoy Bea’s music equally felt almost like a bonding experience in some ways. Looking out across the crowd and seeing people taking pictures or laughing and singing felt as though I was part of a community. I didn’t realise how many others loved the music I do, I even got a bit emotional! Thank you to my uncle for this wonderful experience!
Beabadoobee, Brighton Dome, Tuesday 19th November 2024
Words by Eva Bailey
Photos by Tommy Davis
