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photos by Vincent Cornelli, words by Andrew Frisicano
"Smith westerns just pissed all over our backstage floor." - Girls
The second NYC-area stop on the Girls/Real Estate tour, after the Nov. 2nd kick off at Maxwell's, happened Friday, November 6th at Bowery Ballroom. Girls frontman Christopher Owens and bassist/album producer JR White took to the Bowery Ballroom stage with their new guitarist and drummer (after their former axeman quit during their recent European tour) for Girls' biggest NYC show so far. The show was sold out.
And so what began as a coronation became an exercise in the lowering of expectations, in a performance that was, for the most part, frustratingly inert. Mr. Owens, his hair matted with sweat or some other adhesive, meandered through most of "Album," along with some new songs and a blissful cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End." He sings in a mottled, nasal quaver that demands a sort of reverence to ingest fully, but the quiet in the room wasn't of the good kind. Regardless, Mr. Owens, Mr. White and the two members of the touring band, Ryan Lynch on guitar and Garrett Godard on drums, plowed on with the ease of a campfire singalong. (Mr. Godard sang harmony on many songs, a welcome jolt of energy.) [NY Times]The Smith Westerns were reportedly in the house. The Girls/RE tour continues to wind back to California. More pictures and a video of Girls single "Lust for Life" from the gig, below...
Real Estate....
Girls...
Girls -- Lust For Life @ Bowery Ballroom, 11-06-2009
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ahem - Real Mehstate
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 1:35 PM
mMEHeh
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 1:38 PM
their show really suffers without john on guitar.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 1:40 PM
S DUBS IN THE HOUSE!
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 1:48 PM
The Smith Westerns were acting their age in the crowd. Pushing up to the front and responding to protests with "Shut up! I'm friends with the band" and being general tweenage novelty drunks.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 2:18 PM
real estate were great
girls were good but the lack of back up vocals hurt
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 2:24 PM
Smith Westerns are awesome plz relax yall
Girls just got a new guitarist, didn't blow my mind but whatever
Real Estate killed it despite douchebag bros screaming 'Girrrrls!' at them mid-set
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 2:45 PM
@2:45 I like their music, but they were being immature, drunk and annoying. This could have all been fixed if they were being immature, drunk and funny. It's all about dialogue and body language, not context.
What the fuck am I talking about...
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 2:57 PM
Adrian Grenier was there too
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 3:40 PM
Too bad Real Estate is associated with this shit. Such is the price you pay, I guess
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 3:57 PM
Real Estate!
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 4:04 PM
Girls suck.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 4:23 PM
Girls were good. The audience was terrible and completely ruined the experience. People who talk during concerts should permanently have a dick in their mouths. Probably the same lowlives that constantly leave "_____ sucks" comments on BV. Why not go to a fucking bar and avoid paying for the ticket if you want to drink and chat?
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 4:47 PM
Girls were great. So was Real Estate, and Tough Knuckles had its moments too. The NY Times writer has it wrong: I noticed no awkward silences or unreceptiveness in the crowd at all during the Girls set. Everyone around me was excited as hell and completly invested in the show, singing along and glad to be there. Out of curiosity, who the hell consistently reads New York Times writers for their coverage of rock bands anyway? The tone is always off, much too arch, detached, brow-raising, grandfatherly.
Posted by Twigs | November 9, 2009 5:51 PM
^ these words are all true.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 6:03 PM
Girls were confident and awesome. The worst part about the show was John Norris' new hairstyle.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 6:05 PM
The NYT article may have been off when it came to their music, but the way the author described Christopher's prancy stance was so totally right on: "At points he would hike his right knee out 90 degrees in some sort of primal, squeezing-out-the-pain tic, his head angled downward as if he might not be able to hold it together for long." That was kind of hands down beautiful.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 9:53 PM
Their new guitar player seemed more concerned with his looks than how he sounded.
Posted by Anonymous | November 9, 2009 11:18 PM
how fucked up was Girls? John Norris is the new Matt Pinfield
Posted by Anonymous | November 10, 2009 10:41 AM
Girls were...fine. It was a classic "new band show," i.e. not a lot of material and what they did play sounded just like the album with very little variation. Luckily, I love the album, so whatever. If they're any good, the shows will get better with time.
The Times was right about the "prancy stance" though.
Posted by pedantic redcoat | November 10, 2009 12:12 PM
The Smith Westerns, while their music is rad, are a trainwreck waiting to happen. What usually happens when a bunch of young spoiled brats get too much too soon? Ask Nate Williams. Ask Todd Bridges. Expectations gonna meet reality and shitty attitudes soon
Posted by Anonymous | November 10, 2009 1:18 PM
singer from girls = dave pirner
Posted by Anonymous | November 22, 2009 2:45 PM