The Gun Show

Boyish’s new album tour ends in New York City 

“Who here is gay? Who here is a homosexual?” India Shore implored as the entire Ballroom Bowery crowd erupted into cheers and screams. 

Shore performing in NYC

New York City was the last stop on Boyish’s ‘The Gun Show’ tour, celebrating the release of their latest album ‘Gun’, which came out in September. The queer indie rock band is comprised of lead vocalist India Shore and vocalist and guitar player Claire Altendahl. The duo spent 10 days in September touring Europe before embarking on their North America tour from mid-October, culminating in their New York City show on November 6. It seemed fitting to have the tour end in New York City, as the band, which began in Boston, now resides in the Big Apple.  

‘Gun’ is a conceptual album that takes place in a surreal fictional town called ‘Gun’, and it’s about a queer love story. This project was a labor of love for Shore and Altendahl for over two years, and it was their first time working with a producer rather than producing the project themselves. They worked with Loren Humphrey for two months, re-recording and perfecting each of the songs.  

This timeless and deeply resonant record is a story of love and loss. It includes songs like ‘Jumbos’ which includes the lyrics “My Girl’s a real smoke show I’m barely keepin’ up.” The tone changes in ‘Doing It Behind The Marching Band’, which has the line, “Don’t ignore me, I showed up hours ago.” In ‘Funeral Synths’, it ends with the lyrics, “If she’s gone away, she’s all I have. If she’s gone away, she’s all I had.”

There’s something refreshing about the record alongside Boyish’s live performance; it’s raw, it’s honest, and it’s deeply queer, welcoming audiences to relate to the lyrics or even just get lost in the story. 

“Writing love songs as a queer person is so different because you love differently, it comes with a lot more consequence, it’s not always safe to have queer love, and that finds its way into our music,” Altendahl explained.  

Audiences certainly connect with the lyrics and Shore’s magnetic stage presence. In the crowd, I was surrounded by people singing, dancing, headbopping, and screaming along. 

Boyish has been releasing music since 2016, and their shows have become a safe space for LGBTQ+ fans to connect and embrace their identities. 

“There’s so many strange tropes with queer artists that start to happen where there’s queer playlisting and making queer a genre, and I feel like it [queerness] is just inherently a part of what we’re making and who we are,” Shore said. 

Photos by: Madison Paloski