Beabadoobee stepped on stage surrounded by her army of stuffed red pandas. A different colored guitar hung over her shoulder with every song. With her utter charm and recognizable songs, she captivated the audience.

Professionally known as Beabadoobee, Beatrice Laus is a star. As part of her Beatopia tour, Laus visited Republic NOLA on Nov. 5. She danced as her delicate voice cooed her sweet yet alternative songs, eliciting ecstatic screams. After releasing her critically acclaimed album, “Beatopia,” Laus is on the rise now that she will join Taylor Swift on her upcoming Era Tour. Laus deserves all the recognition between her TikTok-famous song, distinctive sound and Filipino-British representation. 

However, I want to talk about Beabadoobee’s opener, “Lowertown.”

Lowertown, consisting of Avshalom “Avsha” Weinberg and Olivia Osby, use their unforgiving punk aesthetics to evolve bedroom pop. Weinberg and Osby met in high school before forming a duo and performing around Atlanta. The two signed with Dirty Hit before graduating high school. Their new album, “I Love to Lie,” continues their exploration of mortality and loneliness. 

Weinberg’s instrumentals dominate the tracks and Osby layers her raw voice and poetic confessionalism lyrics on top. Together, they create an alternative, indie sound but contain punk, electronic and classical influences. Having followed them on Instagram and having the pleasure of interviewing them, my anticipation of their performance grew — I was not disappointed. 

Weinberg stepped onto the stage, unblinking, as pure energy coursed through his body. Throughout the performance, he would drop to his knees and rail on his guitar, unable to support his weight while he unleashed the energy of his performance. Both artists harness a seemingly sleep-deprived mania that powers their energetic performances and sexual tension. 

Osby commanded the stage and the audience, coming up to the barricade to pet heads and lure people in with her siren eyes. The crowd roared for the up-and-coming band, giving into the heavy guitar shreds and Osby’s growling lyrics. There was even a small mosh pit as the room joined in to sing “Bucktooth,” a collective shout of “I can’t handle any more guns.” 

“I love playing hard music because, I don’t know, I personally just love feeding off crowd energy and the same people just go crazy,” Osby said. “It’s just like a fun moment to let loose and not be so stiff when playing the songs which is so refreshing for me personally.” 

Another standout moment came when Weinberg led the vocals for “At the End.” 

“I think honestly using the contrast of my voice, a woman’s voice and a male voice between different songs is a super cool dynamic that not a lot of people do very often,” Osby said. 

Speaking about the song, Weinberg noted how hard it is to reserve his voice against the crowd’s excitement.

“I’m still learning how to acclimate myself to the energy of a live performance,” Weinberg said. “So, how to keep my voice kind of reserved when I need to not to get too excited, which I think is the biggest thing when performing live.”

However, the beauty of Lowertown is its lack of restraint. They give into angst, like when Weinberg kicks his guitar at the end of a set, or the poignant simplicity of their lyrics, like “Why won’t anybody look me in the eye?” in “Scum.” 

Between Osby and Weinberg, Lowertown has the skill, stage presence and swagger to thrive. Check out “I Love to Lie” and get ready to brag about knowing Lowertown before they were huge.