The mid-week slump typically associated with Wednesdays was nowhere to be found at The Met this week as crowds of fans – appropriately dressed in red – eagerly rushed to see Norwegian singer and songwriter girl in red (moniker of Marie Ulven) on her Doing It Again World Tour.
The tour comes on the back of her freshly released sophomore album, I’M DOING IT AGAIN, an indie-pop record about love, heartbreak, mental health, and humor, as exemplified in her sarcastic album opener, “I’m Back.” The album came out less than a week ago, but fans had already memorized the lyrics to all of her new songs, ready to sing along and match girl in red’s contagious energy, which was no small feat.
The opening band, Momma, did a great job of getting fans in the mood. The California indie-rock band played a mix of softer, shoe-gazey songs before building into louder rock songs. It was impossible not to nod your head along, preparing fans for all the head-shaking to come.
Before too long, the lights dimmed again and the crowd went wild as girl in red bounded on stage, opening the show with her album’s title track, “DOING IT AGAIN BABY.”
“The new album is really fun, but we gotta get to know each other with some old shit first,” she explained, right before jumping off stage to interact with the audience and crowd surf during her next song, “bad idea!” She gave fans no time to catch their breath before returning to new songs from her album.
The crowd’s energy took on a whole new level when shrieks of happiness filled the pit. “Someone just got engaged!” yelled a voice, causing girl in red to stop her set and interact with the newly engaged couple. She called the happy couple on stage and stumbled through a fake wedding officiation, yelling “congratulations my gays!” as they kissed, and officially dedicating “we fell in love in october” to the couple – congrats Ella and Marissa!
Perhaps even more memorable than the fake wedding ceremony was girl in red’s playful and down-to-earth demeanor throughout the show, talking to the crowd as if with close friends. She shared tidbits about the inspirations for songs such as “Did You Come?” – “This song is about cheating,” and “A Night To Remember,” which girl in red introduced as her favorite song from the new album. “It’s about the night I met my girlfriend. It sounds like butterfly wings, like summer and attraction.”
Fans were in for another treat at the end of the show, when girl in red threw her microphone into the crowd for an audience member to sing Sabrina Carpenter’s part in “You Need Me Now?” and again when she jumped into the pit to mosh with the crowd during “i wanna be your girlfriend.”
The night was equal parts hilarious and touching, with slower, heartbreaker songs such as “Pick Me” and “midnight love,” balanced with upbeat songs like “Serotonin,” “I’m Back,” and “New Love,” all intermixed with her dry humor and funny segues. “I’ve gotta keep you on your toes,” joked girl in red, “We’ve had the depth and now we’re on the trajectory of fucking craziness.”
Throughout all the craziness, girl in red’s sincerity shone through, making the night one to remember.
