Girls - Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY) - Friday, November 6, 2009

by Rachel Pesin
19 November 2009

Written by Herb Jue.

San Francisco’s (you-mean-you’ve-not-heard-of?) GIRLS played a sold out show on a Friday night in NYC to an expectorant crowd. And bingo, it’s a success: one person even jumped onto the stage. (Though that was balanced by one man who displayed a thumbs down during the opener, about ten feet from singer CHRISTOPHER OWENS.) (He later fist-pumped with the masses, showing that he’s not a total dick.)

“Lust For Life” was played early on and the crowd ate it up. And, if I recall correctly, that song was followed by “Laura” and then this loud buzzy song not featured on the record and I was happily overcome. Then there was “Hellhole Ratrace”, and like much of Girls’ material, it’s a downer. But wait, it’s also inspirational. And you can see the eclecticism in the band. “Laura” is a waltyz bubblegum tune that gets BACHARACH -y at the end. And according to the Village Voice, the song references LIZA THORN, an ex who is also thanked in the liner notes of Album.

REAL ESTATE was the second band of the night and they’ve got it. Location location location. And I didn’t catch opener TOUGH KNUCKLES (sorry).

Filed under concerts post-rock