Following on from their January UK tour, Vivian Girls ended their thirteen date stint with 2 London gigs in 2 days concluding in Hoxton Square. Being my debut appearance at the fantastically named Bar and Kitchen (formally ‘Bar and Grill’) I was surprised and felt in some way a tad ignorant, to find out it was actually still a restaurant with a venue out back. Making the venue instantly unique.
Taking to the stage at approximately 10pm following support acts Blue on Blue, and Veronica Falls, they compiled a 40 minute set mixing tracks focusing from their 2 fantastic albums, 'Vivian Girls' and ‘Everything Goes Wrong', with one or two new songs thrown in for good measure. The Brooklyn trio consistently mesmerised the packed capacity crowd throughout with much of the set being performed at their usual fast tempo.
For me notable highlights were ‘I Believe In Nothing’ which as much as I love the recorded version I felt came across even better on stage than it does on record. However, the ultimate stand out was the gorgeous and out of the blue a capella the 3 piece sang together. The title of which is still unknown to me sounded as stunning as some of the 60s girl groups the Vivian Girls are affectionately influenced by.
Sound wise, the guitars and drums came across well to the audience and the vocals are often drowned out in parts due their distinctive lo-fi sound, but came across more so on stage. Although this may have varied depending on where you were stood.
The one disappointment for me was the lack of interaction between the band and the audience, which was a common feature when I previously saw the trio perform at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound last year. Although, I can understand this was possibly due to tiredness from their constant touring.
All in all most people left the venue happy with what they saw and heard. The lack of encore I felt was a wise decision as it would have come across strange given the stage setting, and also lets be honest. What is the point of encores anyway?
Words by Freddy Rothman
Photography by Mark Ashby.
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