Horsegirl at Bowery Ballroom — 8/10/22
Horsegirl wrapped up their First U.S. tour at the Bowery Ballroom in New York on Wednesday night.
I saw Horsegirl at SXSW in Austin this past March, and was excited to see them in New York. Back in Austin, they played a show at Seven Grand, but had the unfortunate placement in the SXSW program of being slotted immediately after Wet Leg, who had packed em in like sardines at the British Embassy venue. Wet Leg was one of the buzziest bands to hit SXSW, so EVERYONE packed the joint solid. I managed to aggressively squirm out of the place so I could high-tail it over to Seven Grand several blocks away. I was one of just a few people in the place when Horsegirl fired up, standing inches away from the trio.
I was impressed by Horsegirl. They packed a lot of wallop for three young women, and I wrote them up in my “Top Performances at SXSW 2022”
Their song “Billy” picked up a fair bit of airplay on Sirius XM and other outlets, and Rolling Stone magazine put their album “Versions of Modern Performance” in their “Best of 2022 So Far” award list. I also like their song, “Anti-glory”. They have a relaxed, comfortable style. Their drummer Gigi Reece belts the skins hard, while Nora Cheng and Penelope Lowenstein are solid guitarists.
Here are my favorite Horsegirl tracks:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2ON1zvoDmyF0xPCH3pmKIA?si=eRGPay6hTOW2wPe2-feTZQ
Their set in New York was not as impactful as the set I heard in Austin, but was a steady, consistent presentation of their songs. I enjoyed the set, but am hoping for more from the trio in their future work.
Horsegirl was supported by a Dummy, a wall-of-sound band from LA that reminded me of Just Mustard, whom I’d seen in Austin and before Fontaines DC. A bit less polish, but a good overall sound. Here’s a sampler of some of their stuff:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1RMnqRgweny9lWjRuSsg3M?si=hGZ5bvs4RBSH9SKMjjPKkA
The opening act was Lifeguard, another band from Chicago. This trio featured drummer Isaac Lowenstein, who happens to be the brother of Penelope Lowenstein from Horsegirl, although has much longer and curlier hair. He had a ton of energy, and the other guys seems to rely on him for leadership. Their set was spirited, but sounded like a high school garage band (which maybe they are). Here’s a sampler of their material:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4nMaWE9rwV6XT1c1ApLGtg?si=ZeeylwnzQC6BAOwfjESNZw
Horsegirl’s gig in New York was a a fun, family affair for them, and I was happy to see them celebrate a major milestone in their young careers.