CHRISTOPHER OWENS at Virgin Mobile Mod Club, Wednesday, October 1.
Christopher Owens has never been known as a particularly engaging and outgoing live performer, which might explain why the former Girls frontman drew an unexpectedly small crowd to the Mod Club. That’s unfortunate, as he seemed more comfortable onstage than ever before, and actually looked like he might be having fun for a change. Kicking heroin has been good for him.
It also helps that he’s touring with a more stable band than ever before, including quite a few former Girls members. He mostly focused on the gospel and country flavours of his latest record, New Testament, which made for a much more effective live show than the pastoral folk and flutes of his last tour supporting his previous solo album Lysandre. He’s still a very introverted performer, but his intensely cheerful and constantly dancing backup singers kept the mood light and the energy high, despite the half-empty room. At one point, Owens even started dancing while ripping a guitar solo. He almost looked like a rock star, but only for a moment, before shyly smiling and hiding behind his long, blond hair again.
