I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2024] St. Vincent

I have seen St. Vincent four times and each time was a totally different experience.

The first time was in 2015 at XPN Fest.  She was so good that I wanted to see her again on that tour (since her set was a little shorter due to the co-headline).  But she did not tour that album again.  In fact, when she toured again, it for Masseduction and that tour (in 2017) was radically different.  For the previous Daddy’s Home tour, it was 100 percent different again–with a cool stage and backing singers and a kind of narrative.

This time it was more like a rock show.

The set was more intricate than most, but there were just a couple of moving parts.  And there was a video screen that was mostly used for lights and minor projections.

My wife and I went and we were in slightly better seats than last time, but you really want to be closer to the action with St. Vincent (although, tbh, we were going to see Pearl Jam the next night and we knew we’d be standing for hours, so the seats were a nice treat).

Annie looked very different from the previous show (she was blonde then and was dark-haired now).  She also had a kind of sultry vibe going on.  She was slinky and moved her body in ways that were unexpected (she is typically kind of robotic–in a cool way).  But this new album is more aggressive and noisy–suitable for moving and screaming.

And she opened the show with a new song “Reckless,” which featured her backlit with really strong lights as she filled an archway–her shadow was projected into the crowd in a very cool way.

Then she moved back to Masseduction for two songs–less distorted but still on the more aggressive side–:Fear the Future and Los Ageless” fit together perfectly.

Then she busted out the latest single “Big Time Nothing,” which was fun to hear so early in the set.  I love that she followed it by jumping al the way back to Actor for the fsntsdtic “Marrow,” one of the first songs that got me hooked on her, with it’s weird guitar licks.

She slowed things down with the only song from Strange Mercy, the jarring but sultry “Dilettante.”

After ripping through the gorgeous “Pay Your Way in Pain” (which was definitely more fun on the previous tour with all of the backing singers, but sounded great here), she played the only song from my favorite album of hers St. Vincent, with “Digital Witness.”

Back to the new album for a while which even included a drum solo!  That was a surprise and not an especially welcomed one, but Mark Guiliana is a great drummer and it wasn’t too long.  The rest of the band was almost the same as last time with t he wonderful Rachel Eckroth on keys and backing vocals and the outstanding Jason Falkner on guitar (sometimes lead, mostly just wild sounds).  Falkner also plays live with Beck, so I think I’ve seen him perform about six times now.

Her bassist was new.  She was Charlotte Kemp Muhl who is the partner of Sean Ono Lennon and performs with him in The Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger (as well as her own bands).  Her bass sounded great and she added a cool gothy presence to the stage.

I love when she goes back to her older albums and hearing Cheerleader is always a treat.  And the way it segued seamlessly into the new (absolute rocking) song Broken Man was fantastic.

Then the band started playing one of her noisiest and most chaotic song Krokodil.  During the song, first Annie crowdsurfed!  And then she went to the side of the stage and looked like she might try to climb into the balcony.  But she thought better of it.  And then changed her mind and jumped to box seat, pulled herself up, walked across the edge of the box seats and sat down next to a little girl, all while the band continued to rock.

I had mentioned being happy we were in the seats, but Annie was so interactive with the crowd it would have been cool to be closer.  Obviously, I was happy we were seated because of the Pearl Jam show (which was exhausting), but it would have certainly been cool to crowdsurf Annie.

After the excitement of Krokodil, things settled down a bit for the quiet Candy Darling (not my favorite song).  But the beautiful simplicity of New York.

The final two songs were the electronic chaos of Sugarboy and the visceral jamming of All Born Screaming, which the band rocked out way longer than the record.

The encore was surprising because it was the rather quiet Somebody Like Me from Daddy’s Home.  Not a crowd favorite or a new song, but perhaps a thoughtful way to send us home.

I love anything Annie puts together.  The visuals were stunning, her band was great and any show she does is guaranteed to be very different from the previous one.

 

September 6, 2024	October 11, 2021	November 28, 2017	July 25, 2015
Reckless Ô	Digital Witness Θ	Marry Me ϖϖ	Birth in Reverse Θ
Fear the Future ♥	Down ⇑	Now, Now ϖϖ	Rattlesnake Θ
Los Ageless ♥	Birth in Reverse Θ	The Strangers ∇	Cruel §
Big Time Nothing Ô	Daddy’s Home ⇑	Actor Out of Work ∇	Marrow ∇
Marrow ∇	Down and Out Downtown ⇑	Cruel §	Cheerleader §
Dilettante §	New York ♥	Cheerleader §	Prince Johnny Θ
Pay Your Way in Pain ⇑	…At the Holiday Party ⇑	Strange Mercy §	Every Tear Disappears Θ
Digital Witness Θ	Los Ageless ♥	Digital Witness Θ	Actor Out of Work ∇
Sweetest Fruit Ô	Sugarboy ♥	Rattlesnake Θ	Surgeon §
Flea Ô [with drum solo]	Marrow ∇	Birth in Reverse Θ	Regret Θ
Cheerleader §	Fast Slow Disco ♣	MASSEDUCTION SET	Digital Witness Θ
Broken Man Ô	Pay Your Way in Pain ⇑	Hang on Me ♥	Huey Newton Θ
Krokodil	My Baby Wants a Baby	Pills ♥	Bring me Your Loves Θ
Surgeon §	Cheerleader §	Masseduction ♥
Hell is Near Ô	Fear the Future ♥	Sugarboy ♥
Candy Darling ⇑	Encore	Los Ageless ♥
New York ♥	Your Lips Are Red ϖϖ	Happy Birthday, Johnny ♥
Sugarboy ♥	Live in the Dream ⇑	Savior ♥
All Born Screaming Ô	The Melting of the Sun ⇑	New York ♥
Encore		Fear the Future ♥
Somebody Like Me ⇑		Young Lover ♥
		Dancing with a Ghost ♥
		Slow Disco ♥
		Smoking Section ♥

ϖϖ Marry Me (2007)
∇ Actor (2009)
§ Strange Mercy (2011)
Θ St. Vincent (2014)
♥ Masseduction (2017)
♣ Masseduction Rewired (2019)
⇑ Daddy’s Home (2021)
Ô All Born Screaming (2024)