My first show of 2012 was no small affair. It was a lethal bill consisting of King Krule, Real Estate, and Girls at Terminal 5. You can call it an indie rock invasion. A good one at that.
First you got a young band just emerging from the breeding grounds of True Panther. Another is a band that seems to be rising every given moment, making New Jersey very proud. Finally you got Girls, a band who have come a long way since 2009, selling out one of the bigger venues NYC has to offer, and doing so with relative ease.
King Krule played a solid set that included “Out Getting Ribs”, a song that Archy recorded back when he was known as Zoo Kid. Real Estate may have stolen the show with a performance heavily dedicated to their new album Days. It also included their stunning cover of Felt’s “Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow”. They may have sounded even better than at their own Bowery Ballroom headlining show. It just points to their well deserved achievements in 2011, and points towards even more acceleration in 2012.
Here’s a recording of their Felt cover:
Girls didn’t blow me away, but they were just as good as I could have hoped. Chris Owens came out in a jeans skirt, perfectly ready to entertain. They hit both albums hard, opening with “Alex” & “Honey Bunny”. They then preceded to sprinkle bits from both albums with relative ease and enthusiasm. The biggest hits for me were “Vomit” & “Die”, the latter turning out to be an absolute powerhouse live. Who knew that I’d see mosh-pushing at a Girls show. They ended their show/encore with “Morning Light” which is one of my favorite tunes by them. However it never quite hit it’s stride, failing to capture that mesmerizing shoegazing bite that the recorded version has. It should have been the best ending to the show, but it left me wanting more.
For the last two years I’d missed many opportunities to see the band, and maybe it would have been better to see them at a smaller venue like Bowery or Music Hall Of Williamsburg. But that’s neither here or there. I witnessed Girls capturing one of their biggest audiences to date, and it was a great moment to see. I don’t think it was their best performance or anything, but it was worthy enough for me to finally say “I’ve seen them”.
Check out photos and both Real Estate/Girls setlists below:
Real Estate:
Green Isles
It’s Real
Wonder Years
Out of Tune
Municipality
Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow (Felt Cover)
Easy
Fake Blues
All the Same
Girls:
Alex
Honey Bunny
My Ma
Heartbreaker
Laura
Substance
Love Live a River
Broken Dreams Club
Lust for Life
Hellhole Ratrace
Die
Vomit
Magic
Darling
Encore:
Jamie Marie
Saying I Love You
Morning Light
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