LIVE REVIEW: Girli at the Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA, 2/22/24

Photos and Review By: Grace VanBuskirk

From the moment Amelia Toomey, better known by her stage name, “Girli”, appeared from the wings of the Troubadour, the adoration from her fans was palpable. The audience – adorned in every shade of Girli’s signature pink – was screaming before her bleached hair had even whipped fully into view. The energy remained high throughout the hour-long set, much because Girli’s own energy never wavered. She bounced, jumped, screamed, and danced her way through each song, throwing herself fully headfirst into the music. 

It was not lost on me that much of the exhilaration from the crowd came not just from the music, but from Toomey as a person. Her warmth and openness, both in her lyrics and in her banter with the audience, made it clear that for the duration of the show, the Troubadour would be a safe place. “This is going to be the year I stop apologizing for having emotions,” she shared at one point between songs. The crowd responded with cheers of agreement and enthusiastic heads nods. At a Girli show, the relationship between artist and audience is a two way street. She feels as accessible to you as your closest friend. She understands you. And the fans, as I gathered from all the head-nodding, seemed to understand her, too. 

The title track from Girli’s newest album, Matriarchy, speaks to the same feeling of defiance that has underlined Girli’s career. It has a deceptively innocent tone and the catchiness of a child’s tongue-twister, but with a dash of NSFW attitude: “while we touch we fuck to fuck the patriarchy”. For hours after the show, I found this phrase rattling around in my head the way how much wood would a woodchuck chuck might. 

Lyrics like this are a commonality in Girli’s music, and as I listened to her perform them, it struck me as incredibly clever. She writes lyrics that will empower those who identify with them, and act as subliminal messaging for those who don’t. Even your most devoted misogynist would find themselves singing along to: “body hair in places boys don’t like, touch me in the places they can’t find, we know what it feels like on the outside…” Perhaps Girli is counting on that message actually sinking in – or she just wants her and her fans to feel seen. Either way, a Girli show is destined to stay with you.