Well, back from St. Vincent's performance. Annie Clark and her partner-in-music, Daniel Hart, were simply brilliant. I would have led the standing ovation had I not been trying to take pictures as she was leaving since getting a picture was so hard with the eagle-eyed personnel who were making sure they'd approach anyone who were taking photos to tell them to not do so. So firstly, I didn't expect such a lithe and tall singer as Annie Clark strode in and with all the equipment lying around, I thought she had a band tagging along with her, but was surprised to see only Daniel.
We were greeted with a simple hello and she proceeded with The Strangers. Seeing her go all jangly and fuzzy with the electric guitar, while at times strumming wistfully was an odd juxtaposition to Daniel's masterful performance with the violin. One would have expected a reversal of roles in a more 'traditional' or stereotypical pairing, but the duo were anything but. I couldn't help but notice that both of them had an array of whatnots they had to fiddle with, be it the pedals, knobs etc. What was in front of us, or rather who, were two immensely talented people, vocally led by Annie Clark. As the night wore on, she warmed up to the crowd, engaging us with ease. Definitely treating us to a wonderful performance, she displayed such finesse on the guitar, almost seeming like a dancer as she moved back and forth 'tap dancing' on the pedals. It takes two to tango, and tango she did, not only with the pedals but Daniel too. His violin a perfect foil to her guitar, almost antithetical, as haunting strings moulded a perfect atmosphere where these two take centrestage and shine.
Introducing Just The Same But Brand New, she recounted her inspiration for this song, where her friend told her about an elderly New York socialite who wanted her new home renovated, BUT all the furniture has to be exactly the same as that of the old apartment. To much laughter from the audience, she said she liked the story for 3 reasons, the first being it was absolutely cool, the next was that the woman must have been bonkers, and the last was something I can't remember. Turning to look at Daniel almost conspiratorially, they burst into smiles. As she sang, with such exquisite panache, I was left thinking that I didn't want the night to end, as did many others I'm sure.
When she set down her guitar and sat herself at the piano, it only served to remind us how wonderfully talented this woman is, as she broke into "marry me john, marry me john, i'll be so good to you". A love song yet a lonesome ballad, she croons "I'm as fickle as a paper doll being kicked by the wind/when I touch down again I'll be in someone else's arms". Reaching the part where she goes "We'll do what Mary and Joseph did/Without the kid" there was yet more laughter, to which she paused and quipped that she likes it when people giggle instead of awkward silence, kinda shows that people get it. It's instances like these, that she endears herself to the audience and makes the performance all the more fantastic. She indulged us in a couple more songs and just before Black Rainbow, she mentioned that it would be her last song and that she too didn't want it to end and the possibility of turning it into a slumber party. Talking to us for a few more minutes and thanking us for being such wonderful audiences (plus many other superlatives), she finally started her song. Of course, she had to come back after raucous shouts of encore and clapping, treating us to the final song of the night before bowing off stage to rapturous applause, and some standing ovations.
Beneath that seemingly fragile veneer is actually a talented woman who graduated from supporting Sufjan Stevens to making it out on her own - Sufjan must be very proud of her. St. Vincent single-handedly made our nights, the performance was worth every penny and more. Brilliant showmanship, and at times eccentric with her spasmodic movements, the ebb and flow of her music, varied by distorted guitaring/electronic violin-ing and melancholic plucking/haunting strings, her full array of talents on display and leaving everyone in utter awe of a marvellous performance.
Sorry for the poor photos, couldn't look into the viewfinder to set the photo and pretty much couldn't use flash too so I had to set for long shutter.
The setlist for St. Vincent's 7.30pm performance is as follows.
The Strangers
Save Me From What I Want
Actor Out of Work
Jesus Saves, I Spend
Just The Same But Brand New
The Party
Dig A Pony (The Beatles Cover)
Marry Me
The Bed
Black Rainbow
Marrow
Encore: These Days (Jackson Browne Cover)
