Christopher Owens at the Magic Bag, Ferndale MI Jan 16, 2013

For my first live show of the year I was very excited to see Christopher Owens formerly of one of my favorite bands Girls.
He has a newly released solo record,  Lysander, and I assumed would be spreading his creative wings as a solo artist.
Well, as they say, that's what you get for assuming. Not only is Owens' studio album relatively monotone and boring. His show was so low key I nearly fell asleep. There were none of Girls signature rave ups or dramatic moments. Instead it was a tightly interwoven tale of a failed relationship played out in quiet tones.
I would not say that the new album or the live show were terrible. Rather, I would suggest that Owens would have been better served having this new music counterbalanced by the input of additional bandmates.
Let's hope this is a minor step backward for an artist I had such high hopes for.