Best Coast @ Mr. Smalls - 8/15/16

Photo by Sam Suter.

Bethany Cosentino is everything you want out of a frontwoman. Her sassiness, charisma and honesty give her effortless grace and completely capture the attention of anyone in her audience. Though she has mixed feelings towards being in the spotlight, she magnetically attracts it, becoming the center of attention the second she takes the stage. 

Though Best Coast is primarily Cosentino singing and playing guitar and guitarist/producer Bobb Bruno, the two are joined on tour by a bassist, drummer and guitarist/keyboardist rounding out the group to a robust five members capable of reproducing the band’s surf rock-inspired, complex guitar layering. 

The band played a diverse offering of tracks spanning their three-album discography. While hits "Crazy for You" and "California Nights" were (of course) crowd pleasers, deeper cuts like "Our Deal" and "When Will I Change" were met with the same enthusiasm and a plenty of the sold-out show's crowd knew every word to every song. 

Cosentino spent the entire show drinking La Croix and seemed to comment on it between every track. Apparently she had made a $200 bet with her boyfriend that she couldn’t go a week without drinking alcohol. She implored the audience to tweet at him as evidence for her side of the bet. Though Cosentino’s stage banter was unique, the show’s most memorable moment came before the group’s first hit, "Boyfriend."

Cosentino mentioned that usually before performing "Boyfriend" she makes a point to tell the audience that she now hates the track. Before the band’s prior show, however, the mother of a 10-year-old girl had tweeted at Cosentino, mentioning that her daughter suffers from anxiety and listens to Best Coast whenever anxiety strikes. Cosentino makes no secret that she also suffers from anxiety, so she pulled the girl onstage for her favorite song, "Boyfriend." Before jumping into the track, she thanked the girl for making her enjoy the tune again. 

At their engaging, enthralling Mr. Small's show, Best Coast proved that they're a great band performing great music and having lots of fun with it.