Milly Toomey aka. Girli is an absolute force to be reckoned with. Her sold-out show at Dingwalls was filled fans wearing outfits in imitation of her signature pink-punk style. The room was heaving with people in a surprisingly and uniquely accepting space that seems to only be found at gigs these days.
Her supporting act The Tuts fiercely held their own on the Dingwalls stage, animatedly singing songs inspired by “sexism, feminism, and everyday life-isms”. With their jovially angry style and strong stage presence I’d describe them as a cross between Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Kate Nash.
When Girli emerged around 9:05 with DJ Kitty she was wearing what I could only describe as a dress made out of 4-5 stacked bright pink tutus, even more of a stunning vision in pink than she usually is. Opening with her instant classic ‘Fuck Right Back Off to LA’ the audience was immediately switched on, and clearly loved her. ‘Can I Say Baby’, off her newest Hot Mess EP, received a very positive response from the audience, along with ‘Neck Contour’. Girli’s following is uniquely made up of a lively friendly crowd who have found the perfect space to get pissed off about sexist gendered bullshit. The range of people in terms of genders, ages, styles, all punching the air along to ‘Hot Mess’ and ‘Girls Get Angry Too’ was amazing. Not a single person felt out of place in that venue and I’m pretty sure that’s what she was going for.
Her brand new song ‘Day Month Second’ was beautiful and showed off her vocal range, as did ‘Mr 10pm Bedtime’, both of which harked back to 90s indie pop hits while maintaining her signature style. Girli has a striking lilting voice which comes through in her switches between rapping and singing.
Not a single person felt out of place in that venue
The night was extremely eventful with the crowd rushing the stage towards the end of the gig, Girli herself crowd-surfing, and earlier donning a Donald Trump mask, stating “this song is to say a massive fuck you to Donald Trump!” with the crowd chanting “Fuck Donald Trump” in response.
I’ve been to many gigs while reviewing for The Panoptic, but I can safely say this was by far the friendliest and most diverse audience I’ve seen. Girli is clearly a very experienced performer, drawing in her crowd to such an extent that they feel obliged to join her on stage. I would absolutely recommend anyone looking for stress-relieving pure joyous fun, follow her tour around the UK and go see her as soon as possible. Girli is an artist who is heading for the top and she’s going to get there even sooner than you think.
