SHOW REVIEW: girl in red
THE GREEK THEATRE | LOS ANGELES, CA | MAY 29, 2024 | BY TABITA BERNARDUS
Photo by Nicole Ditt
Having returned from a two-year hiatus, girl in red is back and better than ever. Marie Ulven, a Norwegian pop-rocker who performs as ‘girl in red,’ might truly be on a new level (and inflammable at that) in the best way. Fans who attended the first Los Angeles night at The Greek Theatre for her Doing It Again tour witnessed an out-of-the-ordinary set that others on the run won’t get the chance to see. A few technical setbacks combined with the usual charming banter and palpable adrenaline from Ulven made for a spontaneous, irreplicable show that long-time fans could only dream of.
Ulven has reached huge milestones in her young career, opening for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour last summer and releasing her sophomore album I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! this past April. Each project she puts out is stamped with the girl in red touch– witty, introspective, personable, and visceral.
At 9 pm, the stage glowed in her signature red while the anthemic album title track “DOING IT AGAIN BABY” exclaimed her entrance. As if Ulven could not embody the definition of “cool” any further, she strutted down the stage sporting a pantsuit while nonchalantly belting lines like “Lookin’ like a rockstar from the seventies” and “I’m loving this new self-esteem.” Her bandmates, dressed in matching black jumpsuits, exuded an infectious energy that perfectly complemented Ulven’s electric charisma.
After roars echoed in the amphitheater during crowd favorites like “bad idea!,” “girls,” and “New Love,” Ulven’s set took a bit of a detour due to technical difficulties. While some artists might have collapsed under the cracks of a disjointed set, Ulven owns it by slipping into her comedically timed comments– “I’m keeping it cool and collected. Nothing ever gets to me when I’m on stage” she joked. Her ability to quickly adapt and shift the setlist for the rest of the evening led to improved jingles about their equipment malfunctioning and spontaneous deep cuts like “dead girl in the pool” and “4am.” The crowd was even treated to an intimate, acoustic rendition of “I’ll Call You Mine.”
Everyone remained patient and supportive, shouting encouragement and song recommendations at Ulven. Clearly, fans were still having a good time as long as she was behind the mic. “Literally the entire show is falling apart right now. What is happening” she expressed at one point in a British accent, bringing out a chorus of laughter. It was unplanned moments like these that made the night even more special. A rigid, flawless performance often lacks the space for an artist to create the real magic that can unfold during a live set.
“We’re back! I’m relieved as hell right now” Ulven suddenly shouts into her mic after being given the go-ahead to resume the planned show. She jumps headfirst into “Body and Mind”– an existential track with sinister-sounding keys from her debut album if i could make it go quiet where she sings about grappling with the dissonance between the mind and existing as human beings.
For the bitingly confronting track “Ugly Side,” she explains the inspiration behind the song as “Not feeling like you’re a good person but realizing you can have good and bad qualities and still be a wholesome person.” Its rich, jazz-like bass tones bounced across the open-air venue as the crowd bobbed to the rhythm in unison.
It was difficult not to be entranced by the set design and overall care put into the production’s details. Inspired by Italian lamps and hidden pianos, a sense of play was found in her textured, geometrical visual backdrops and primary-colored stage props. At one point, she disappears only to be seen seconds later on top of an elevated red block that towered over the stage for “Phantom Pain.”
As the night neared an end, Ulven’s reference to the show Euphoria for her song “Rue” ignited a roar of cheers– “I’m trauma dumping on you guys today” she playfully sings. “I started watching Euphoria and was like, oh my god, this character right here feels like me.” While “Rue” carried a darker overtone, “A Night to Remember” brought a light and giddy approach to feeling sexy to someone, which Ulven prefaces is not “Sexy to Someone” by Clairo, a song she has been obsessed with recently.
With the final mic drop came high-energy closers like “You Need Me Now?,” a crisp, guitar-heavy track paired with Ulven’s raspy vocals and demanding drum hits. “Sabrina Carpenter isn’t here tonight… but that’s alright” she screams as a backdrop of a room set on fire flickers on– the perfect illustration for a song about an ex-relationship creeping back into her life.
After graciously thanking her bandmates, team, and the crowd for hanging around amidst the unprecedented evening, Ulven explains how she normally ends the night with a mosh pit to “i wanna be your girlfriend.” However, the nature of the venue’s layout prompted her to adjust one last time by storming through the crowd and giving people handshakes instead. The sight of Ulven rushing towards the back of the amphitheater singing an evocative, angsty track felt like a proper fever dream.
Ulven rolled with the punches like a champ all night, and the boost of serotonin each song injected made for a fix only another visit to see her live could satisfy. The one and only girl in red is back and doing it again baby, and I cannot stress this enough!