LIVE REVIEW: Beach Bunny at High Noon Saloon

Warm shades of pink filled the room at High Noon Saloon on Feb. 16th, giving Madison many reasons to share in some post-valentines love from the Windy City.

Regardless of the Sunday night calendar slot, loyal fans who watched them blossom from house shows in Chicago basements to girl’s on TikTok singing along to “Prom Queen,” to one of Rolling Stone’s “Artist’s You Need to Know,” arrived early to finally catch Beach Bunny. Originally scheduled for Dec. 5th but pushed back due to illness, the band was eager to reveal their new project, Honeymoon, just two days after its release.

Lili Trifilio is a multi talented singer, songwriter and guitarist who first released her solo, bedroom recordings music under the Beach Bunny moniker in 2015. The group now includes instrumentalists Matt Henkels on guitar, Jon Alvarado on drums and Anthony Vaccaro on bass. Formed solely to compete in a battle-of-the-bands competition, the Chicago kids in their early twenties celebrated the release of their debut album with a sold-out crowd of 400 fans both early and new.

Trifilio is a pink-haired rockstar with a kind heart and killer guitar skills. She emerged sporting a playful, ponytail, white tennis skirt and baby-pink guitar. “I know it’s God’s day, but open up the mosh pit!” Trifilio exclaimed. Her wildly endearing lyrics of feeling plagued by a past relationship translated well to a live audience, while as a collective, the band excelled through their irresistible layered guitar riffs, catchy composition and treacly hooks.

The set commenced with, “Promises” — stark and wide-open with a driving outro full of emotion to set the tone for a propitious performance. “Rearview” narrates some of Trifilio's recurring memories as she proclaims, “You loved me/ I loved you / You don’t love me anymore, I still do.” A punchy explosiveness is present in “Colorblind,” which possesses sentiments and vocals reminiscent of Hayley Williams and Paramore, similar to a punk song from the 2000s with a softer touch. The Honeymoon portion of the night concluded with “Cloud 9,” a quick anthem about fleeting love and infatuation.

Honeymoon itself has a short runtime of 25 minutes, which left time for more fun to be had by both the band and the audience. After powering through the album in its entirety, only skipping “Racetrack,” the latter half of the set was dedicated to some certified favorites. “Boys” encapsulates the feelings nuanced after heartbreak with the repeated phrase, “All I do is think of you and cry.”

The now TikTok acclaimed “Sports” and “Prom Queen” recently amassed millions of streams and both initiated a singalong near the end of the night. For the last song, “Painkiller,” Trifilio introduced the signature “wall of death” and instructed the crowd to split in half and merge again when tension is released after the opening lyric “You’ve been such a jerk.” Dancing carried on for the remainder of the set, yet fans were still eager for more.

Beach Bunny gave a memorable performance of garage pop-anthems overflowing with youthful optimism. This show served as a great introduction for the quartet in the indie-pop world and proved the group are definitely one’s to watch after their superb debut.