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Though Vivian Girls played here back in April, opening for Black Lips at the Trocadero right after their new album Share the Joy came out, this was my first time seeing them in over two years since they played the Barbary over two years ago in supporting of their second album Everything Goes Wrong. Since I missed that show, I was psyched that they were playing here again and headlining my favorite club (a more intimate setting than the Troc) to boot. They did not disappoint.
This was also my first time seeing them with new drummer Fiona Campbell, who gives singer/guitarist/songwriter Cassie Ramone and bassist Katy Goodman room to stretch out their ever-increasing skills. This along with improved songwriting, musicianship and stage presence contributed to what was by far the best Vivian Girls live set I’ve ever seen. Before the show, I wasn’t sure how the slower, much less frantic material on Share the Joy would sound alongside the older, faster, more punked-out material. The answer, it turned out, was just fine thank you. Opening with “Never See Me Again” from their self-titled first album, their hour-long (no encore) set highlighted some of the best moments of each of their 3 Lps and numerous singles. Their first single A-side “Wild Eyes” (introduced by Katy as “an old song” though it’s only 3-4 years old) sounded fine alongside newer material like Share the Joy‘s 6-minute plus “The Other Girls” and Zombies-like “I Heard You Say” (complete with gorgeous 3-part harmonies on the intro). In between these was material from Everything Goes Wrong like “Out for the Sun,” “Survival” and “Out for the Sun” along with the plaintive, beautiful “Before I Start to Cry”. There was also a rarity (“I Won’t Be Long”, “I Heard You Say”‘s B-side) thrown in, too.
All in all, though this show was underattended due to bad weather and being on a Tuesday night, I suspect that no one left disappointed. The rush to the merch table after the show along with fans taking photos with band members confirmed this. For instance, after their set, the soundman (who told me he’d never seen them before) told me he was really impressed and I can’t imagine he was the only one.
Opener Widowspeak played an intoxicating and occasionally hypnotic mix of shoegazer-ish dream-pop that called to mind Mazzy Star and other similarly-minded artists. I missed the first band Ninjessa because I got there too late.
Thanks to Gabriel Angemi for allowing me to use his photos of the show.
