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I had attended a Fashion Week promo show back in 2009, when L.A. favorite Miranda Lee Richards played at the ritzy Nine West Store in Manhattan. That was a drag, due to an indifferent, distracted crowd more interested in ogling the store’s new line of shoes and handbags than to watch an incredible singer plying her trade. But this impromptu gig, held on a small outdoor stage on a Meat Market side street plaza just off the West Side Highway, promoting a Kate Spade bus tour, was more my speed. Still…an outdoor show in New York, in February? Hey, if Vivian Girls are willing to risk a minor bout of pneumonia to play a few songs for free on a Friday night, I’m up for it! (Thankfully, we’ve had a relatively mild January and February of 40s and 50s temperatures, as compared with, say, Europe’s recent bone-chilling deep freeze. This show probably would not have gone down last year at this time.)
That said, the trio gamely bashed through seven numbers in 22 minutes, including new LP Share the Joy standouts “Take It As It Comes” and “I Heard You Say”, and older tunes “When I’m Gone” and “Tell the World”. Bassist Katy Goodman even took off her jacket a few songs in, playing the remainder of the set in a sleeveless white dress, and cheering giddily when she noticed a few snowflakes beginning to fall. (Singer/guitarist Cassie Ramone, shivering uncomfortably throughout, did not seem to share her bandmate’s enthusiasm for the chilly weather!)
True, such a short set is hardly worth a long review. But since this was my first time seeing the band play live (dummy me missed their opening set for Yo La Tengo and The Feelies at Montclair, NJ’s Wellmont Theatre on New Year’s Eve 2008), this brief appearance was well worth my attention. It will certainly tide me over until their next big headlining show in warmer environs.
