girli stomped into Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, just last Thursday, finally making her return to the States as a British artist New York City holds dear to its heart, and truly, there couldn’t have been a better time for the unapologetically honest artist to visit us with Pride festivities hanging thick in the air. girli enveloped the late-night slot at the iconic venue, which meant her performance didn’t kick off until 11 p.m., yet the standing room was packed wall-to-wall. Not a single person let exhaustion get the best of them, and as the dancefloor shimmered beneath a crowd that made you feel welcomed, valued, and entirely free to simply exist, it became clear that this is exactly the atmosphere girli cultivates and her fans amplify tenfold. The audience alone was a testament to the imprint girli has left on the music scene. It was a Thursday night, even I was racing from work to make the show, but that didn’t stop anyone from screaming, dancing, and shedding whatever inhibitions followed them through the venue doors.

The London firecracker nestles somewhere in a space that fuses pop instincts with rock electricity, giving her music an accessibility that welcomes wide audiences while still carrying a pulse that makes her live performances wonderfully unruly. There is something magnetic about girli that pulls you closer and invites you to linger awhile. She’s brewed the perfect concoction for obsession, but more importantly, she’s never been afraid to use her platform for advocacy and make her voice heard, no matter how loudly she has to shout. There is an awareness woven not only through her commentary but through her songwriting that makes listeners feel acknowledged, understood, and represented, and that quality blooms fully across her recent album it’s just my opinion, which arrived early last month.

The record is anchored in candid frustration toward society, the patriarchy, gender disparity, and the ways the world continues to repeat its mistakes, all threaded through an addictive, thrashing pop aesthetic that feels less polished smooth and more beautifully frayed around the edges. It’s the perfect pairing for a subject matter this charged. girli doesn’t gloss over uncomfortable truths; she drives straight into them, forcing listeners to confront realities so often brushed aside, and that’s exactly what has cultivated such a devoted following. Standing just feet from the stage, a fan told me they adored girli because she’s a feminist who remains deeply in touch with reality, and honestly, there is no better way to describe her. girli is a necessary voice in modern music, one worth holding on tightly to.

It was no easy journey for girli to step onto a New York City stage. Traveling from the United Kingdom, she had to navigate the artist visa process simply to make this tour possible, but that still didn’t deter her from speaking openly about the political fractures within American society. girli doesn’t seem particularly concerned with who she might upset; she has something to say, and she’s determined to drive the message forward. Brooklyn marked the first performance of the run with a full band behind her, and that added instrumentation made the songs feel even more kinetic, more combustible. I genuinely cannot imagine the set unfolding any other way.

Of course, girli was going to give Brooklyn everything it came for, even in a late-night slot, and she ambitiously packed 17 songs into the setlist. Admittedly, after a long day at work myself, the weight beneath my eyes was beginning to settle in, but not a single yawn escaped me. I was completely engrossed from the opening moment until midway through the set, when I reluctantly decided to head home ahead of my 9 a.m. call time the following morning. Right before I left, however, girli delivered a statement I cannot leave unmentioned: “If your friends are transphobes, then you’re not an ally.”

The setlist naturally leaned heavily into the new redcord, it’s just my opinion, but it is always a treat when artists make the journey across the ocean, and girli didn’t overlook the importance of that. She threaded songs from her 2021 EP “Damsel in Distress,” 2024’s Matriarchy, standalone favorites like “I Really Fucked It Up,” and even a track reaching back to her roots in 2019 with Odd One Out. Fans from every corner of girli’s career left satisfied, and with each transition, the crowd seemed to lean in a little further, hanging onto every lyric as it echoed through the room.

In a city that can sometimes feel isolating despite being packed shoulder-to-shoulder with millions of people, girli created the exact opposite environment for just over an hour. The room felt lighter, louder, and somehow more honest. Whether fans arrived for the new record, the older songs, or simply because they needed somewhere to belong for a night, girli offered that space without hesitation. As the crowd spilled back out onto the Brooklyn streets well after midnight, there was a sense that nobody was leaving entirely the same way they arrived, and that’s the mark of a truly memorable performance.