Up until last Tuesday, I'd never actually seen Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent live, although I'd been listening to her debut album, Marry Me, sporadically for the past 6 months or so. I had zero expectations when it came to her live show, I had no idea what her setlists looked like, what her stage presence was like, or if she even had a live band with her, but I knew that I couldn't pass up checking it out for myself. Some songs on the album were very epic, orchestral pieces about a dissolving relationship (Landmines), but on the contrast, she had these very visceral, raw songs where she really let her guitar shine (Your Lips Are Red). She's so damn versatile, I love it.
Her background is really all over the place, going from being the background guitarist for Sufjan Stevens, to being in the epic uber-band The Polyphonic Spree. Who knew what she'd bring to the stage? Turns out, she brought it all, every side of her that Marry Me hinted at, she fleshed out in a live setting. There were sleigh bells, a very capable string player, drum kits, keyboards, synths, little hand bells, and her trademark guitar shredding. The opener, Foreign Born, was okay. Thats all I have to say about that. Mind you, I wasn't really paying them much attention, I was focusing on the group of people behind me who were busy comparing life in Ohio to that in DC, and adequately lost it when Foreign Born did a song about Cleveland. I love free entertainment, I really do!
So, Annie came on the stage, soundchecked a bit, set up the "psychedelic forest" ("We are all giants in a psychedelic forest", she proclaimed when asked why there were plastic trees on stage.), and launched into a very awesome version of "Now, Now", going back and forth between the special mic she had set up which distorted her vocals, and the regular one. She went back and forth between album cuts and extended instrumentals, even managing to throw a pair of well recieved covers in there. Talking with her afterwards, she proclaimed that this was "the most fun they had on tour thus far". I'd have to agree that this show was super fun, and I highly recommend her.
Setlist:
Now Now
Jesus Saves, I Spend
All My Stars Aligned
Ring My Bell (Anita Ward cover)
Human Racing
We Put A Pearl Into the Ground
Landmines
Dig a Pony (Beatles cover)
Marry Me
What Would Your Mother Say?
Paris Is Burning
Your Lips Are Red
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What Me Worry
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All of the above pictures are courtesy of Joel at KingpinPhoto.com
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Here are some downloads you guys should check out, two of them are from her live show in Denton, Texas in 2007, at her first headlining gig. If you like what you hear, please check out her MySpace, or buy her album from Amazon. Her next gig is a scheduled performance at Coachella! Whoo!
These Days (Nico cover) [zShare]
All My Stars Aligned [zShare]
Your Lips Are Red [zShare]
Landmines (live from Denton, TX) [zShare]
Your Lips Are Red (live from Denton, TX) [zShare]
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