Note: This will be a pictureless report. I’ve yet to order additional WordPress image storage space.
It had been several dreary and uninspiring months since I was last able to experience the grandeur of Girls Don’t Cry live on stage. I had to miss their recent Bitter End date, so I was craving their Knitting Factory appearance. They were due to begin at 7PM. But I didn’t want to miss the rare opportunity to take pictures of their descent from the heavens. So I got there at 4:30!
5PM came. No Girls. 5:30PM. Still no Girls. 6PM. Where are the Girls? 6:15PM. Oh my God, did they change their start time? Maybe they’ll play at 11PM! I’ll be dead by then!
Five minutes later, the Girls pulled up. They were cutting it close! Heaven apparently doesn’t want to let go of its goddesses too easily!
Downstairs, on stage, they began with a thorough sound check. I was glad to see that. The sound board has sometimes worked against them (I’m looking at you, Pianos!), narrowing the range of their audio splendor. They could be doing their best playing, but if the sound board hasn’t been set correctly, their talent is sabotaged, trapped somewhere between their instruments and their amps, depriving us of the full measure of their exciting electrons!
That wasn’t the case at The Knitting Factory. The board was set properly and aside from a few live adjustments by Sora (who is finicky about her sound — and she should be!), everything went damned well. The music flowed smoothly and freely from their fingers directly into our ears. It was hot and sizzling Direct Current!
It was Liz Kelly‘s birthday (Happy Birthday, Liz!) — but instead of us plying her with gifts, she gave all of us a gift: her most inspired drumming ever! She beat the hell out of those drums! By the time the Girls were done, those drums were smoking and asking everyone what convoy of trucks had hit them! If those drums had been a cow, the audience would have been eating cooked hamburger after that set!
Rachael did her delightful keyboard magic — and then the cowbell for Cobain. Hannah did her energizing foot-stomping and guitar work. Caitlin couldn’t resist breaking into a little bit of bass guitar jazz during a quick break, luring Liz into doing the same on drums (I think they are plotting an overthrow of the group into Girls Do Jazz!). Sora did her trademark hair camouflage routine because she just has to look so exceedingly cool on stage.
The Girls debuted a new song! (At least it was a debut for New York City; they’d actually premiered it the previous night for those undeserving Long Islanders.) Called American Boy, Rachael did the lead vocal, shaking the room with the power of her voice. This put — oh my God! — Hannah on keyboards!
Their final song was Sora’s: their cover of the Violent Femmes’ Add It Up. Sora always drives the audience wild with her routine during that, and it was even moreso at The Knitting Factory.
And then it was all over! What?!!? It seemed as if I had just gotten there, sat down, and now it was finished?
As it turned out, the Girls — and the audience (but most importantly me me me!!!) — were cheated by The Knitting Factory. Their bartender was late, so we weren’t let in until about 7:15. The Girls started playing within five minutes after that. But instead of being allotted their full hour, The Knitting Factory deducted their bartender’s lateness from the Girls’ time on stage! The next band was to start promptly at their assigned 8PM time. Bastards! I would have asked for a refund of half my money, but I was too glad to hear the Girls at all.
It was an incredible performance. The Girls were hot. They rocked. They were vibrant and alive and sent tremors throughout the city that made earthquake sensors send out false alerts! The audience loved it, I loved it. All of us who witnessed their greatness came away with an energy, a glow, and a painful hunger for more more more!
Their incredible Bitter End set now has a companion: this appearance at The Knitting Factory! The Girls again showed everyone that they are destined not just for mere stardom, but mega-super-stardom!
All of you who weren’t there, you have my abject pity. Your ordinary lives could have experienced their magic, but you missed it. But they’ll be doing more. So don’t miss their next time on stage! If you continue to do so, there will come a time when you’ll have to pay a seedy, unwashed scalper several month’s worth of rent for a ticket to see them. And you’ll be glad to do so!
In the meantime, check out their new redesigned website!
Previously in this blog:
Girls Don’t Cry category
Posted by mikecane 
Mike Cane's Blog 