Girl In Red & Holly Humberstone Invigorate the Crowd
Photos and review by Rebecca Ackerman
By the time the doors of the Metro in Chicago opened on March 25th for Girl in Red (stylized girl in red), the line was around the block. This was the second night of two sold out shows. Fans, excitedly chatting, were covered in glitter and carried pride flags. Several were talking about being at her show the night before. That’s when I knew I was in for something special.
Norwegian singer-songwriter, Marie Ulven, is the brains behind girl in red. Her debut album If I Could Make the World Go Quiet, is a culmination of emotions she experienced throughout 2020. Her album, meant to be released in October 2020, was delayed due to COVID-19, but that didn’t stop her from making this album release as big as she could.
The show started with British singer-songwriter, Holly Humberstone. She began her set with “Overkill.” Switching between guitar and piano, Humberstone is phenomenal live. As the only person onstage during her performance, she created her own backtracks. Her talent extends well beyond her age, and her brutally honest and emotional songs are something that people resonate with. It’s reminiscent of singers like Lorde and Olivia Rodrigo. The crowd was getting into the set by her second-to-last song “Falling Asleep at the Wheel.” They clapped along to the beat as the lights pulsated and cheered loudly when she finished.
Humberstone will be supporting the Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour tour starting April 26th.
Now back on track with the release of her album and tour, Girl in Red took complete control of the stage from the second she stepped on it. She came stomping out with her first song “You Stupid Bitch.” It completely electrified the crowd. She continued her set with “Body and Mind” and “girls.” With each song, the screams and singing from the audience got louder.
About halfway through the show, she took a break from the heavy guitar riffs, jumping, and head banging to serenade the crowd with an acoustic version of “I’ll Call You Mine.” This change of pace showed Ulven’s range of talent. Not only can she excite a crowd with her energy onstage, but she can also stop and display her strong vocals and musical talent. This versatility separates her from many popular artists.
This musical talent shone through in various ways during her show as she played little guitar riffs in between songs, including Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.” She even teased an upcoming music video for “hornylovesickmess” coming out around the anniversary of her album.
I can’t make it through this review without talking about “Serotonin,” the first song I heard by Girl in Red. It’s an incredibly cathartic song that touches on sensitive topics no one really wants to talk about. That song is an outlet for so many people, and that was made clear as the crowd went wild screaming the words as loud as they could back at her. At the end of the song, she leaped into the crowd.
My favorite type of performers are the talkers. The ones who spend a good portion of the time in between songs to say whatever’s on their mind and interact with the crowd. Ulven certainly fits into this category. She discussed the different tourist attractions she wanted to visit while in Chicago and Taylor Swift’s music video for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version).” Her stage presence was incredibly endearing.
To top off her wild and energetic show, she finished “i wanna be your girlfriend” and went crowd–surfing again. I’ve never seen an artist crowd surf more than once, but it was the perfect end to a can’t miss show.
The North American tour continues through April with the last stop in Phoenix, Arizona. She’ll also be performing at Coachella before continuing the Make it Go Quiet tour in Scotland.
