St. Vincent at The Civic
Occasionally a live performance will take me completely by surprise. I expected St. Vincent (Annie Clark) to be excellent, but I didn’t anticipate her performance to change my perspective on her work as a whole. From the outset the whole evening had an air of quiet confidence. The show was opened by her uncle and aunt—Tuck and Patti—who were not only charming but also brimmed with pride for their niece and former roadie. Their presence gave the night a feeling of intimacy that was very comforting. When Clark took the stage, she did so by herself, tucked off in a corner just visible through a gap in the curtain. When the curtain was finally parted the revelation was an empty stage. The point of this show was the focus on St. Vincent herself – where she had come from and her masterful delivery of her work. For the entirety of the night Clark sang and played guitar to a backing track that left her as the only musician on stage. “Played Guitar” is a massive understatement. Clark is one of the best guitarists of her generation. She makes the impossible seem effortless while singing and following her choreography at the same time. I’ve seen St. Vincent a couple of times before Monday, but this is the first show that really felt like it was exactly what she wanted to be doing. There were no compromises here. The night consisted to two sets. For the first half, Clark focused on work from her earlier records then after a quick costume change she played her newest record MASSEDUCATION all the way through. This latter half was accompanied by video and lighting schemes that matched the visual material of the new record. Clark was effervescent. When she reached the song “New York” she stepped forward to do a quick improv about New Orleans which she intentionally derailed over the impossibility of rhyming anything with Tchoupitoulas—it was relatively spontaneous and like everything else exuded the earnestness of an artist simply enjoying herself. This is one of the best shows we have had through town in some time. If you missed her on Monday, you can catch her in May out at Hangout Fest (which I’ll be talking about in great detail soon). Check out my photos of the show below.
Ella Vos at the HOB Parish
On Tuesday Ella Vos will be at the Parish. This excellent new artist released her debut record Words I Never Said last year to critical acclaim. Check out the video for “Mother (Don’t Cry)” below.
To Do This Week
Tonight The Revolution are at The Joy while the LPO plays their award winning Philip Glass program at the Orpheum. Tomorrow Diet Cig drop in at the Hi-Ho. Saturday Dead and Company play their makeup gig at the Smoothie King Center while Gramatik rolls into the Joy and the LPO reprises their Glass program. Sunday Joywave are at Gasa Gasa and Vetiver is at One Eyed Jacks. Tuesday you can catch Ella Vos at the HOB Parish. Wednesday Martin Sexton is at Gasa.
To Listen This Week
- Great new track from Girlpool via Pitchfork
- Hop Along have shared a track from their new record via Youtube
- Father John Misty has released official audio of a new song he has recently been playing live via Youtube
