It was undoubtedly a full house at the Metro Thursday night for St. Vincent, and a genially excited crowd it was at that. St. Vincent is the moniker for the musician Annie Clark, who has previously been a member of the Polyphonic Spree and toured with Sufjan Stevens’ band. She is well known to be an accomplished musician with multiple instruments.
She came out looking beautiful in a simple dress with interesting shoulder ruffles, holding her red, white and black electric guitar (I was curious which instrument she would come out with). Her dress would at times appear black, and at other times a deep red, depending on the lighting (a very cool effect indeed). She opened with “Strangers”, the opening track off her newest album, “Actor.” For the most part it sounded similar to the album version, with its quick kick drum keeping time over other slower moving sounds, as Annie often told us to “paint the black hole blacker.” Yet she sang it in a different time, cleverly falling slightly behind or in front of the beat, yet never losing her place, which sounded pleasantly different than the album version.
She then went into the second song off her latest album, “Save me from what I want.” Again this song uses vocal stylings that don’t, on the surface, appear to match the quicker time of the music, yet this is where St. Vincent shines. She also decided to show off some of her flexibility as she employed a very cool guitar break own within the song, again something else that wasn’t found on the album version.
She seemed to be totally relaxed and in complete control over her music on the stage in front of the anticipating capacity crowd at the Metro. She at one point gave a witty explanation of why Ice Cube’s “Today was a Good Day” is one of her favorite songs, and then somewhat comically transitioned this explanation into her playing a highly emotive solo cover of Nico’s “These Days.” This song was the slow moving highlight of the evening, as she put a very personal twist on a deceptively simple song.
That being said, there were many other quiet moments within her performance that I found imprudent. I understand that Annie Clark’s voice is sultry sweet, and it’s beautiful. Yet a mellow voiced musicians playing mellow music is nothing exceptional, especially not in the indie world. But it’s when the smooth maturity of her voice, which communicates some sort of alluring disordered innocence, is juxtaposed with either gritty, intense or quickly moving sounds that her music jumps out and demands attention. This was a fact not lost on the audience. It was on her swiftly paced numbers such as “Marrow,” and “Actor out of Work” that one could really feel the energy of the room respond, as if people were saying “this is what we came for!”
Also, she was playing to a completely packed house (and therefore warm) of people standing on their feet. In this situation it is highly unadvisable to play numerous downtempo songs in succession, as happened a couple times this evening. Had we all been sitting, it might have been more acceptable. In addition, in her performance just as her album, it would have helped to space out the first few energetic songs throughout the evening instead of presenting them at once, which creates for a “come down” of sorts in the course of the performance.
Nonetheless, it was still a formidable performance, and one in which this author walked away very impressed with the musicianship of St. Vincent. She didn’t stick to the album versions of her songs, she connected with her audience, and she clearly played her heart out. Yet, should she continue to explore more so the plainly enjoyable contrast between her placid voice and her more energetic musical creations (as she did on this last album much more than the previous one), she will find her true niche and continue to positively grow. I look forward to my next encounter with St. Vincent, because I have a feeling it might be completely different from this one.
by Sean Poynton Brna.
Feel free to re-post this blog, just leave the authors name and link back to this site, thanks!
