Bristol O2 Academy, 7th 2022
The days of music fitted perfectly to accompany a 2000s chick flick are well and truly over. The idea of pop punk powerhouses dominating mainstream teens’ daily listening, such as All American Rejects and Simple Plan, feels long outdated. But this is where Beatrice Laus, the Filipino-British singer-songwriter commonly known by her stage name beabadoobee, slots perfectly into the gap that music left behind in the current day’s music scene.
beabadoobee’s punky pop anthems, with a strong undertone of 2000s nostalgia, has truly taken the UK by storm. Her sold-out show at O2 Academy Bristol, and dedicated fans queuing around the block in torrential rain to catch a glimpse at the 22-year-old, clearly evidences her strong popularity in the alternative young people scene. Her band and herself played to the perfect epitome of the moody teenager, with a stage presence to capture and inspire many young minds in the room. Her aggressive performances of ‘fairy song’ and ‘Dye It Red’ particularly struck me as a true moment of angst and growing pains, shared by Bea, her band, and the audience.
Her second album Beatopia, named after her imaginary world from her childhood, was released earlier this year through Dirty Hit – the very label that shot The 1975 into worldwide fame. Throughout the night, she performed various hits from the album, such as the lead singles Talk and 10:36. Her performance of ‘Ripples’ a slower ballad from the album which explores ideas of loss and growth from young love, was truly an emotionally vulnerable moment from the singer, even admitting to the audience prior that it was a ‘really special song’ to her.
Most of the room came under the mid to late teens to the young adult sector, however, her music was also well-received by those of a slightly older generation; those akin to the female-led rock powerhouses such as Paramore and Tonight Alive. Bea has an indisputable ability to appeal to those exposed to the emo revolution in the mid-00s, as well as a younger generation more familiar with the Tumblr-indie insurgence of the 2010s. Other areas of her discography, with songs such as ‘Last Day On Earth’ (a song co-written and produced by Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975), and ‘Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene’ (referencing dreams of bearing children with someone you love) landed particularly well with both of these categories of people, dancing and singing coming from all four corners of the room.
beabadoobee’s Bristol performance on the beatopia tour was certainly something those in the audience will take home and sit with for a while. Her music perfectly encapsulates the experiences each and every one of us have gone through as a teenager or young adult, soundtracking the next generation’s lives. The bands and artists who cement themselves in their audiences’ lives at such a crucial point in their development, will always remain fond to those who listened to their music, and Bea is not an exception to this.
Daisy Kent – Music Photographer
