Brooklyn psych pop trio, Sunflower Bean played a beautiful set this past Sunday at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana. Barley out of their teens, the group has been on an extensive North American tour since March. Not just musicians, the band are also activists that use their music to raise awareness for a good cause. All ticket sales from the band’s Constellation gig were donated to the victims and families effected by the Orlando shooting. The band also donated some of that money to http://everytown.org/ to help stop gun violence. There’s no better live music than music with a powerful message; and through Sunflower Bean’s generous efforts the band made what matters to them clear.

Sunflower Bean’s set was diverse, yet full of psych rock and dream pop sounds. The band got us feeling all warm and fuzzy kicking off the set with “Human Ceremony” (also the name of their brilliant debut album). With angelic vocals from the mesmerizing Julia Cumming paired with the sprawling guitar of Nick Kivlen, Sunflower Bean had the room in a state of ultimate pleasure. Midway through the set, the chill and dreamlike vibe went out the window when the intense guitar riffs of “Wall Watcher” took its course. A circle pit immediately erupted and from then on it was chaotic in a good way.

Keeping the shoegazy/metal/punk vibes going, Julia joined the crowd and charged head-first with her bass guitar in tow, running around in the circle pit. Naturally, fans drew their phones out hungry for the perfect concert selfie with Cumming.

Closing out their stunning set, Sunflower Bean took fans on one final ride with their dream pop hit “Easier Said.” But it didn’t end there; the audience demanded an encore which they eventually received, and the end of their set became another round of chaos for two more memorable songs.

Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.

Opening up for Sunflower Bean was Los Angeles shredders, The Paranoyds. The band just released their debut EP, After You, and pummeled their way through a high energy set.

Check out the photos below!

Photography: Andrew Gomez