Photo Review: Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti & Vivian Girls

Photos by Chrissy

With another weekend in Baltimore packed to the brim with shows, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and Vivian Girls' Saturday night gig at the Ottobar looked like a solid choice from the get go. I had a good idea of what to expect from Vivian Girls, but admittedly had no clue what to expect of the artist I am far more familiar with.

Worn Copy's spastic genre hopping and ridiculous song writing anomalies have been playlist staples of mine for a couple years, but I made no prior attempt to fathom how his taped pop gems would translate live before Saturday. Roaring and crooning through some old favorites and new material, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti were an outlandish and totally whacked out load of fun.

The photo set above speaks for itself, and I'm sure most might take notice of the pics highlighting Ariel's oral fixation with the microphone. The set thrusted along like some warped dream involving tripped out wedding singers and a time machine, but always managed to remind you what an innovative songwriter Ariel Pink has always been.

2 out of the 3 Vivan Girls got up and played with Ariel Pink for his encore, and 3/3 of the band performed a pretty satisfying set earlier in the evening. Showing off some new tunes that will be on their next LP, a few of these were more jammed out and cohesive affairs that the girls convincigly rocked with some authority. Curious to see what directions these ladies head in, all hype aside.