I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: August 2, 2022] Girl in Red

After seeing Girl in Red earlier this year, I didn’t think we’d be seeing her again.  But then my daughter’s friend invited her to go along to see Girl in Red at the Rooftop at Pier 17.

I was glad I didn’t have to drive as getting there was a hassle.  But getting into the venue was cool.  I enjoyed the way the whole place was designed (ads for the show on every floor as we escalatored to the roof).  And then the rooftop itself was really quite lovely.

There are excellent views of the city and the camera crew did some excellent editing, occasionally splicing up Marie Ulven’s face with the crescent moon that was hanging in the sky.

We both really enjoyed the show at Union Transfer and assumed that another show would be equally go.  We didn’t really consider that an outdoor show would be any different.  The setlist wasn’t really, but the stage production was much bigger.

She had three screens and even had smoke machines late in the set!

At our show, she had a big soft background comforter type thing behind her.  It was 3-D and looked neat.  But at this show, she had a giant video screen behind her and she projected cool images behind her during the songs.

Like last time she opened with “You Stupid Bitch” and everyone bounced and sang along with the bright as the bright video behind the silhouetted the band.   “Body and Mind” had a giant space helmet looking thing projected behind her.  And then the cameras started projecting the band onto the screens, which was pretty great since we were pretty far back.

Everyone bounced for “Girls.”   The background of fields with flowers was the same for “Girls” and the mellow and strangely titled “.”

The set had been exactly the same as at Union Transfer, although for this show, she left out “I’ll Die Anyway” and jumped right to “We Fell in Love in October” with the sweet, romantic live action video.

Marie talked about how great it was to be doing a show for herself and her fans rather than as part of a festival.  Festivals are great and all, but it was nothing compared to a crowd full of fans singing along to every word.  She also talked about how much she loved being back in New York City.

Things slowed down for “I’ll Call You Mine” with more neat background videos of a them in front of a desert.  And when the song was ready to ramp up she said, “I know this ain’t a festival, but let’s fucking go” and everyone jumped along with the beat.

In the meantime, I took lots of pictures of my daughter and her friend lit up by the stage lights, which was pretty cool.

The band left and Marie went to a keyboard where she played a quiet solo version of “hornylovesickmess.”  She then sampled some new song lyrics that she’s been working on.

The band came back for a ripping version of “Serotonin.”  I really like her band.  They weren’t as visible as they were in Philly, but I assume it was the same bunch of guys.  In Philly I took a picture of her guitarist in silhouette and almost managed the exact same picture tonight.

The smoke machines came out during “Serotonin” (or was it “Bad Idea?”).  I am always surprised by what other people find popular.  It seemed to be that people were far more into “Dead Girl in the Pool” than “Serotonin” which I think is one of the catchiest things she’s done.  But again, I’m not her demographic.

Things slowed down for the moody “Midnight Love” (complete with projected stars), but ramped back up for the raunchy “Did You Come?”  This song has one of my favorite dis lines

I can’t forgive, I can’t forget
I should have known you’re full of it
I’m not upset, I’m fucking pissed
I spelled it out, you’re illiterate

I genuinely do not like the image from her album.  The face that she painted creeps me out.  It was used a lot in the video for “Serotonin” and for “Did You Come?”

Things quieted down for a solo guitar version of “Rue.”  She then threw in a few more lyrics from a forthcoming song

Why you gotta lead me on
your love is like a roses’ thorn
i wish i never met you in the first place
my life would be much easier today

She ended the show with “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend.”  And it totally rocked.  The band jammed the song out for a long time and then Marie announced a wall of death.  In Philly she stage dove.  But here she did a wall of death.  The crowd parted and she ran all the way to the back of the crowd.  We encouraged the girls to get over to the wall and I THINK that Marie ran right by them, but they couldn’t quite tell what was going on so they missed it.  But it was still a fun experience.

And that was that.

The girls had a great time and it was fun to have experienced the show with them.  And thanks, Mike for driving!

It’s also fun to see a musician change after a few months and Girl in Red has definitely changed into a bigger performer–those Festivals will do that to you.

My daughter and I agree that we’ll definitely see her again if she comes around next year–hopefully back at Union Transfer, and we’ll arrive much earlier.