I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 25, 2015] St. Vincent

I’ve enjoyed all the St. Vincent records–each one more than the previous one.  This past year Bob and Robin from NPR both claimed that the St. Vincent live show was the best that they saw that year.  Since then, I have been hell bent on seeing her (she played NY right after they raved about her but it was sold out).  She has been touring Europe for a while now so I never expected to see her anytime soon.

And then it was announced: St. Vincent AND My Morning Jacket, another band that I’ve been dying to see, would headline this years XPNFEST.  As with last year’s fest, we considered going to the all day show–again, $45 for a 3 day pass (and when I found out that kids can get a day pass for $5–jeez!).  So maybe next year if we don’t like the headliners, we’ll go for the day (I wouldn’t keep the kids up till midnight watching headliners).  But as we saw this year, the venue is shaded, there’s lots to see and lots of free stuff (which the kids love) they even have a Kids Corner section, so next year, if there’s some good bands like this year (Calexico, First Aid Kid, Fly Golden Eagle), it would totally be a fun day out.

But never mind that, we were there for St. Vincent.

And what an unfortunate time we had before the start.  I looked at the tickets which said 7PM.  I should have looked at the website which said she went on at 8PM.  We got there super early, planning on parking in Philly and taking the ferry over to Camden.  But with the show starting at 7, that made it really implausible.  So instead, we drove to Camden, eschewed the $30 parking for the $25 parking (where we parked for Neil Young, and yes we complained then, but were happy about it tonight) and headed over with plenty of time.

And then realized we were there 15 minutes before the gates even opened.  Jeez.  So instead, we hung out at the waterfront which was quite lovely.  We weren’t allowed into the Festival area (even at 6:45 PM with the festival almost over).  But we could hear Delta Rae playing (whom I don’t particularly like, but which was nice enough).   We sat looking at the boats and checking out the tattoos.

Then we got into the stadium and found my other bad news.  I thought I had scoped out really good seats, but they were quite far to the right.  Close, indeed, (row R) but not in the middle like I thought (how did I mess that up?).  It was especially maddening because the show hadn’t sold out (What?) and when St Vincent started there were prime seats right in the middle still open.

But then she came on and all was well.  It was superb in fact.  Annie Clark is mesmerizing on stage (even from that far away).  I don’t usually mention what people wear (although I will for Jim James too), but she came out in this sort of body suit with crescent moon cut outs from ankle to shoulder.  It was quite arresting.  Made only more so that her keyboardist/guitarist Toko Yasuda was wearing the same thing.  So when they did synchronized moments (which they dis many times) it was very cool indeed.

She opened with “Birth in Reverse,” one of her more robotic-sounding songs, and she displayed the kind of robotic motions that is utterly mesmerizing.  She stands absolutely still–no expression, and with limited movement.  She does do some random arm motions–slow and robotic again–but otherwise seems strangely disconnected.  Except that she is fully engaged with the audience at the same time.  And she plays that shredding guitar with precision.  Her fingers (when I could see them on the big screen) are fascinating to watch–really long and thin and she plays some wild chords and fast notes.

The show was very heavy on songs from the new album (which was great).  When she and Yasuda did those cool synchronized movements–St Vincent skittering on small steps backwards and Yasuda doing small steps forward (both looked like they gliding) it was very cool.  At one point they moved toward each other and rested heads against each other (against in a very controlled way) while they jammed away.

I also loved at the end of the second song when she allowed the roadie to place the guitar on her (again, very robotic like).

I think she won everyone over with her amusing local comments:  “Hello, Camden, New Jersey slash Philly” and before “Marrow” saying how you look around Philly and assume you are seeing local celebrities like Questlove or Benjamin Franklin.

The only ornamentation she had was a pink three tiered platform.  She climbed up onto it to sing “Prince Johnny” and “Every Tear Disappears.”  From where we were, she looked like a statue on top of the platform.

And when they lit her up (the lighting was terrible for photo taking but great for making a surreal image) she looked (and sounded) otherworldly.

As I was checking over the setlist and seeing just how new-album centered it was, I remembered how much I liked her  previous album too (Strange Mercy) and that I would have loved to hear more from that (but I wasn’t disappointed by any song she played).

Later in the set after a rocking version of “Surgeon” she climbed back on to the lowest step (after the song was ostensibly over) to do a screaming and wailing sol (that reminded me of Prince at his more blistering).  It went on for a while and she was just incredible.

And a word on her guitar playing.  She plays some of the most unusual chords–every close up on the big screen was her playing weird chords and it was very cool.  [Although, a word to the video projector guy–when Annie Clark starts doing a crazy wild solo or some other totally interesting thing, CUT AWAY from the drummer.  It is nice that you show him and the second keyboardist from time to time, but I don’t need to see a closeup of the drummer chewing gum while Annie is shredding].  And then listen to her play with echoes and other effects or just doing really fast and unexpected solos, it’s very cool..  She really is an amazing guitarist.

I was super excited to hear her do “Actor Out of Work” (when she sings “I think I’m fucking mad” and gets really into it.  Actor was the first of her albums that I got and it’s still great.

There’s no doubt that Annie Clark is an unusual person, what with the stage persona (although her hair which had been dyed shock white is now back to black) and the outfit, and that she spent some of her precious little stage time giving us an amusing reading of this:

“Your favorite Hall and Oates quote goes like this,” she said. “‘Now there’s no use you resisting / This is the Cradle Thief insisting / I think you better let me have it my way / Fool around with me, come on mess around with me.’”

The only gripe I had with the whole show was that she was only on for a little over an hour.  I know she was the opener (when I thought the show started at 7, I thought maybe she’d get a whole set), but I just didn’t want her to end.  I’ve seen on other shows that she usually plays about five more songs (including encore).  I would have loved to hear “Your Lips Are Red” the song that really got me into her in the first place, but she saves that for the encore (which she didn’t get).

Rather, she kindly prepped us for My Morning jacket and then apparently flew right back to Canada.  I was checking out her tour schedule.  On the 24th she played a show in Edmonton, then came out to Philly and then next night was in Alberta–but she totally brought it for us).

I will absolutely catch her next time she swings by to get the full show (with better seats and hopefully in a smaller venue where we can see everything up close.).

Sarah, who didn’t really know her at all, was blown away by her set.  And that’s as good an endorsement as you need.

Setlist:

• Birth in Reverse (StV)
• Rattlesnake (StV)
• Cruel (Mercy)
• Marrow (Actor)
• Cheerleader (Mercy)
• Prince Johnny (StV)
• Every Tear Disappears (StV)
• Actor Out of Work (Actor)
• Surgeon (Mercy)
• Regret (StV)
• Digital Witness (StV)
• Huey Newton (StV)
• Bring me Your Loves (StV)