Poolside @ the Teragram Ballroom on 12.28.18

I’m going to wrap up 2018 with some Poolside love. These Los Angeles locals and their self-described “daytime disco” graced the Teragram Ballroom last Friday. It’s been a good long while since they’ve toured … something like four years. They’ve done some one-off performances here and there, a few festival slots, etc. But going out in full support of new material just hasn’t happened. Even when they surprise-released their sophomore effort “Heat,” it took a year for things to fall into place. So its with open arms and ears that we all welcomed Poolside back to the touring stage for a sold-out L.A. show.

These guys are like the ultimate summer party band, serving up lounge-y cocktails of sun-drenched disco beats, super-groovy, laid-back, and full of good vibes. Never mind that it’s the middle of winter in SoCal. You wouldn’t know it from this show, since Poolside’s tunes tend to transcend the seasons, swapping out chilly sensations for radiant rays of melodic warmth and carefree optimism.

Poolside’s been around since 2011, begun as an electronic-based recording project in a converted backyard pool house. They started as a duo, comprised of DJ Jeff Paradise and Filip Nikolic, later expanding to a full six-piece outfit. Through their evolution, they’ve progressed into a fully percussive, guitar-based groove machine, still retaining their organic electronics, lush melodies, and upbeat vocals, while quite literally turning up the heat.

Their Teragram show was essentially an outdoor summer party moved indoors. Everyone was their to imbibe the good vibes and dance to their disco-flavored grooves. Not a bad state of mind to be.

Tunes were concentrated on last year’s “Heat,” adding a bit of umph to the more relaxed bits. I’m really digging their single “Everything Goes.” It stands tall along anything from their debut album “Pacific Standard Time,” which they also played a fair selection from. And live, it’s got a lot of sax, which also featured through most of the show. I can go either way on the sax, but Poolside seems to know what to do with it. So it’s cool.

Curiously, they skipped over a few of the popular oldies, like “Next to You” or “Slow Down.” Personally, I missed those. But a couple of covers from remixes they’ve done helped make up for it. They gave us their renditions of Laid Back’s “Fly Away” and Miami Horror’s “Leila,” the latter beat-mixed between “Do You Believe” and “California Sunset” for a 14 minute continuous show opener.

I really hope Poolside returns in the new year for an outdoor spring/summer show. That’s ultimately their perfect venue. And if you could put it on a beach, even better. For now, the Teragram will have to do, which is nowhere near a bad thing. Check out the clips below to experience Poolside’s sunny, groovy, chilled, disco-fueled disposition. Enjoy!