New York’s Vivian Girls peered mysteriously from beneath curtains of blonde, red and dark brown bangs at the Hi-Dive on Sunday. Photos by .
I didn’t want to see at the on Sunday night. I wanted to see them, just not there, high on the pedestal of a stage, too far away from the crowd to be tangible and at eye level. But sometimes bands you love get too big to play favored venues like , and they must make the inevitable shift to a larger space to give room for a bigger crowd.
As Vivian Girls made the steep three-step trip up to the stage and pensively took their places, I stared at each of their juvenile faces, imagining how hard it must be to order a drink with blatant Girl Scout-ish looks. But as lead singer/guitarist Cassie Ramone took giant swigs from her beer between “Out for the Sun” and “Second Date” and bassist Kickball Katy called for more shots of whiskey, the startling contrast of baby girl to booze tenderly dissipated.
Like a slow-grinding tidal swell, the Girls’ set built sonic layers upon itself, songs like “Can’t Get Over You” and “Tell the World” coming through with meatier hearts and sturdier legs than their handful of recorded tracks made them out to be.
Peering mysteriously from under curtains of blonde, red and dark brown bangs, Vivian Girls’ shifty eyes channeled the creepy goodness of the Shaggs while pairing their faux-visual naiveté with sludgy noise rants of total distortion. Cassie’s talent-show vocals stretched over “Never See Me Again,” sweetening the pummeling instrumental blows with sad yelps from mascara-smeared eyes.
The final song culminated into the crowning crest of Vivian Girls’ shaky wave, a surprising explosion of power bursting from their amps as Cassie dropped her guitar to the ground and began beating its delicate strings with a tambourine. The reverberation took over, Cassie rising and approaching Katy, who willingly handed over her bass.
Unflinching and unbroken, the folds of sound continued as Katy then took over for Ali Koehler behind the drums, sending Ali to take on Cassie’s abandoned guitar. Vivian Girls stayed strong in their new roles for a few dazzling moments before cutting off the switched-up track, cleanly closing the great show.
Whether the bigger crowd was a mark of success, hype or a combination of both, the milestone for Vivian Girls was a big, well-deserved deal. The threesome’s torrential performance Sunday night was something to be shared with the world, and couldn’t have come as more of a gratifying surprise.
Appearances can be deceiving, so don’t underestimate your little sister’s middle school clique. They might listen to the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Ronettes and be in a gloriously battering band called Vivian Girls.
Bree Davies plays bass in , writes about her obsessions with Iggy Pop and Lil’ Wayne in and repeatedly fakes her own death at . She is also a self-proclaimed addict.
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
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