On Sunday, Nov. 5, chill indie rock pervaded Anaheim’s House of Blues and brought a relaxing end to the weekend for Beach Fossils’ sold-out show promoting their newest album, Bunny. 

Priming the crowd first was Provoker, who mingled a prominent bass and beat rhythm with electronic synths and the smooth vocal verses reminiscent of R&B. Often coupled with darker one or two-tone lighting, the Bay Area post-punk act also lent a grittier sound to a more dreamily atmospheric lineup. Frontman Jonathan Lopez was active onstage and efficiently dealt with the limited audio-technical issues they experienced during their set.

The last opener, Turnover, was a significant draw to the venue that night, judging from the volume of the crowd. While they kicked off their performance with their less grounded, more electronic work in 2022’s Myself in the Way, most of the love unwaveringly remained with the tracks off of their most popular album, 2015’s Peripheral Vision, which made up half of the entire setlist.

As soon as the opening notes of “New Scream” filled the air, fans cheered, and the last three songs were all nostalgic classics for many back-to-back. Incredible enthusiasm also met “Super Natural,” the catchy and more upbeat love song off their 2017 album Good Nature. In performance, Turnover took attention away from their band members as individuals and created an atmospheric visual and aural experience–mellow vocals and dreamy, layered instrumentals were paired with a shifting projected backdrop that drew their members into light nearly as much as they delved into shadow, all ultimately working toward creating an image beyond just themselves.

Backdropped by a simplistic tapestry similar to Bunny’s art, Beach Fossils took to the stage with the performance of the first release of the album’s singles, “Don’t Fade Away.” Even for a melancholic track, its soft, elongated vocals and shimmering guitar work made for a bright contrast against the darker tones that their openers had taken on.

Between tracks, the three at the forefront–Dustin Payseur (vocals, guitar), Jack Doyle Smith (bass), and Tommy Davidson (guitar)–exchanged easy, candid banter that broke up the hypnotic sound of their music in a way that was welcome and not disruptive. They communicated personally with the crowd and one another, obviously comfortable in the intimate venue after hitting the road with Post Malone over the summer at sizable stadiums and with less receptive crowds.

Breaking out a slower song that typically didn’t have a slot on the setlist, Beach Fossils introduced more prominent keys with the song “Social Jetlag” off of 2017’s Somersault. The crowd swayed to the track’s more instrumental, muffled lo-fi beats and the softly longing lyrics.

Just before the encore, Beach Fossils dedicated the track “May 1” to Turnover and Provoker, as the friends mentioned in the song about being on tour. Fans sang along to one of the band’s most popular pieces that featured a fun instrumental interaction of an alternating guitar and bassline until they merged together to backdrop the rest of the track.

The band ended up wrapping up their set with one of their earliest works, “Daydream,” released in 2010, an homage to their roots and the band’s longevity–still going strong and even better than ever after nearly a decade and a half since their inception. Ultimately, Beach Fossils’ time spent in Anaheim made for an excellent place to appreciate both the band’s past and present casually and to have a safe, ethereal space to escape one’s worries–which was disappointing only because it had to end eventually.

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