Everyone is obsessed with HEALTH in Los Angeles

June 8, 2010, at the Echoplex

By Avalon Jeffrey
Published: June 12th, 2010 | 12:00pm

When HEALTH returned home to Los Angeles after an extensive tour throughout Europe, the band’s sold-out show at the Echoplex marked their first trek across the U.S. in support of their recently-released second remix album, appropriately titled DISCO2 (Lovepump United). Supporting HEALTH was a noteworthy lineup consisting of L.A. natives Best Coast, Texas' proudest gems Indian Jewelry, and the UK’s Gold Panda.

Indian Jewelry nonchalantly entered the stage and singer Tex Kerschen set the tone for the set by stating, "It's a real treat for you all to get to see us." Indeed. Indian Jewelry’s performance was loud, noisy, and experimental—so much so that some audience members were unsure of how to react. “Are you guys not clapping because you don't know how to react to our music from the 25th century?” Kerschen asked.

Best Coast’s set was perhaps the most anticipated by the crowd. The band has been the indie world’s buzz act the last few months, even though their full-length debut won’t be released until late July. Lead singer Bethany Cosentino had no shame representing the West Coast throughout the night—her mind focused on the NBA playoff game between the Lakers and the Celtics. "Lakers won bitches!" she exclaimed as audience members shouted in agreement, “The west coast is the best coast!” Best Coast certainly displayed their best effort throughout the night with dazzling numbers like “When I'm with You" and “Something in the Way,” for a set full of dreamy, California beach pop—and a complete contrast to headliners HEALTH.

HEALTH ended the night with a solid set that offered newer material as well as old favorites. The band turned out a performance that exceeded expectations—they were more coordinated and more aware of their surroundings than ever before, and even the way they moved onstage was more contagious. Yes, even though HEALTH is “noise,” they dance—especially bassist John Famiglietti who continually compels the audience to have a kind of visceral reaction to HEALTH’S music.

Even though HEALTH seems to have discovered added structure for their performance, in no way were they predictable or boring. Each musician enthusiastically played their instrument without holding back, the drums (provided by BJ Miller) giving everyone a consistent beat to anchor the complexity of songs such as “We Are Water” and “Nice Girls.”

The band ended their set with their newest song “USA Boys,” from DISCO2, an interesting departure from the rest of the numbers with its fresh disco take, before they returned one last time with an encore that offered the song “Courtship.” By the end of the night, the entire audience looked like they had run a marathon—but it was all in good HEALTH for a band who clearly has a long run ahead of them.

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Indian Jewelry MySpace page

Best Coast MySpace page

HEALTH official site

HEALTH MySpace page

Lovepump United