Everyone likes Girls

For me, The Paramount Center for the Arts is a weird place to see a show. For one, there are seats. Seats with cushions. The sound quality is actually good and there really isn’t a bad seat in the place. It’s typically used for plays or musicals, and it shows: the place is absolutely beautiful.

This was only the second concert I had ever been to since arriving in Boston. Having spent the entire summer seeing tiny punk shows in sweaty garages, and one other at the Paradise Rock Club, this was fairly jarring. That being said, I couldn’t think of a more perfect place to see Girls.

Girls’ brand of beautiful, melodic indie rock is perfectly suited for a place like The Paramount Center. They are a band that I have long hoped to see. After sitting through the incredibly boring Papa and pretty-ok Nobunny, I was finally granted that wish. The band came out with no fan fair, and immediately jumped the into Father, Son, Holy Ghost standout “My Ma.” From there, the band played one of the most beautiful live sets that I have ever heard.

It needs to be said: Girls frontman Chris Owens does not have lot of stage presence. He doesn’t talk much and he hardly moves around. He looks almost nervous, standing in front of his microphone, almost hiding behind his long hair. Every so often he would play his guitar between his legs. This was the extent of his theatrics. However, Owens and his band needed no theatrics. They let their performance speak for itself, and incredible it was. They sounded perfect. It was as if I was sitting at home, listening to the record on my computer.

They mostly stuck to songs from the aforementioned LP (it was released around two weeks ago), playing all but two of the album’s eleven songs. “Vomit,” quite possibly Holy Ghost‘s best track, was particularly beautiful. However, it was the two most well known songs from their debut album (simply named Album), “Laura” and “Lust for Life,” that got the most raucous reaction. “Lust for Life” in particular had the entire crowd singing and dancing in their seats.

The absolute highlight of the night came during the encore. Chris came out alone to play Holy Ghost cut “Jamie Marie.” Throughout the song, the crowd was completely and utterly silent. You could have heard a pin drop. It was unbelievable. The band joined back in for the end of “Jamie Marie” and closed with Album centerpiece “Hellhole Ratrace,” ending one of the best shows I’ve ever been to. Owens left as he had come, waving a few times before meekly walking off the stage. It was a simple end to a simply sublime concert.