Photo: John Beil

Beach House is captivating live. But when their set consists mostly of tracks from their near-perfect, third full-length, Teen Dream — an album that’s sure to appear on many year-end top ten lists — perhaps excellence is nothing short of expected. Friday night at Black Cat, Victoria Legrand’s lilting, ethereal vocals were pitch-perfect and hypnotic. On this, the first night of Beach House’s North American Tour, Legrand was sufficiently aloof, even impatient. She asked blankly and to no avail to have lights dimmed and for the room to be as dark as possible. Her partner, Alex Scally, seemed more enthusiastic with the crowd. “You complete us,” his said near the end of their set, and minutes later, graciously, “This is, by far, our best D.C. experience.”

One-woman act Bachelorette opened and, while endearing herself to the audience with her New Zealand accent (“Gonna play a slow one and end awn a rookie [rocky] one”), did little to distinguish her music from any number of similar acts who might be sadly shuffled into the “Lapflop” category. Her songs are composed of looped vocals and samples, which quickly become monotonous. There were a few exceptions, mostly in the form of her up-tempo numbers like “Mindwarp,” and that last “rookie” bit, whatever it was.

After unveiling some props and hanging some banners, Beach House stationed themselves inches from the sold-out crowd. Legrand, commanding at center, perched behind her keys, golden chains low around her neck and bangs obscuring one eye. Scally set up to her right with his guitar and a sampler-laden briefcase. Behind and flanking them, a tinsely background out of some tattered octahedral pep rally.