In a lounge-like setting at Lincoln Park’s Park West, the music performed by Beach House and Grizzly Bear created a daydream ambiance amid melodic instrumentals and soothing voices.

Beach House opened last Wednesday’s concert with their girl-boy style of soft, crooning, lovesick rock that relies on the rippling keyboard and Nico-like vocals of front-woman Victoria Legrand. Her band mate Alex Scally works the drum machine and offers swelling slide guitar and slow melodies that complement Legrand’s keyboard. Coming from a fledgling Baltimore music scene that touts bands like Animal Collective and the Dan Deacon-helmed Wham City artist colony, Beach House has made a name for itself among the quiet hipsters who listen to their music before sleeping and lay in bed wondering if “that Beach House chick” is as hot as her voice lets on.

Indeed, if one scanned the room during Beach House’s set one would notice a number of people dozing in and out of sleep or drifting into daydreams. With some bands this would be discouraging. But for Beach House, it meant they were at the top of their game. The shimmering “Saltwater,” which sputtered into existence with a muffled 4/4 drum machine beat (as all their songs do), evolved into a yearning song in which Legrand repeatedly states “You couldn’t lose me if your tried”. With Legrand’s atmospheric voice floating over her beautiful keyboards, what could one do but romantically daydream?

In an unusual moment of excitement, Beach House closed its set with its catchiest song, “Master of None.” With her head bobbing above her keyboard, Legrand, for the first time of the night, rocked out despite performing for a silent and seated audience. It was an exclamation point at the end of a daydream.

Grizzly Bear’s live shows relentlessly maintain their beauty. The Brooklyn band’s two guitarists and principal songwriters, Edward Droste and Daniel Rossen, complement each other perfectly, as Droste’s ghostly vocals careen off Rossen’s high pitched ooh’s and aah’s in the midst of his calculated guitar playing. Christopher Bear, percussionist and keyboardist, provides melodic counterpoint on the drums and Christopher Taylor supplies the sonic backbone on a number of instruments including clarinet, accordion and flute.

Hailing from an illustrious indie music scene in Brooklyn, N.Y., that includes names such as TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Les Savy Fav among dozens of other well-known and side-stage Pitchfork acts, Grizzly Bear have quickly become one of the workhorse acts of the indie-music biz, touring for almost the entirety of the past two years. Their terrific album Yellow House, released in September 2006, pushed the band into the spotlight as it was named one of the top albums of last year by The New York Times and Pitchfork.

Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. Photo by Muzikspy/ Licensed under Creative Commons.

Grizzly Bear’s songs feature lyrics sparsely spread across landscapes of long instrumentals. Their songs take determined paths through quiet introspection to brawny chorales to lush guitar chords. “Little Brother” epitomized this journey as it evolved from Rossen’s single guitar into a loud, almost raucous, refrain that involved the entire brute force of the drums locked in with bass and shimmering, full-bodied guitars.

The gorgeous “Deep Blue Sea” featured Rossen’s quiet, raspy voice and fine guitar playing over Droste’s autoharp. And the band demonstrated its virtuosity as they patiently performed an extended version of “Fix It”. What began with simple snapping and clapping by the end had evolved into a stunning wall of voices, cymbals, flutes and guitars.

Fans hoping to see Beach House and Grizzly Bear play their brands of atmospheric rock got what they wanted Wednesday night. And at least one critic does not regret pausing In Rainbows for just a few hours.