St. Vincent @ Stereo, 15/11/11
Written by admin on November 19th, 2011
There’s a seemingly endless list of superlatives to describe Annie Clark aka St. Vincent, she’s beautiful, talented and as Monoganon’s John B McKenna puts it, while playing across the lane in The Old Hairdressers after the show, “she’s dynamite on the axe”.
Tonight sees St. Vincent in a synth heavy line up whose pounding bass effects provide a big brash powerful opening.
Clark seems to be enjoying herself as she somewhat bewilderingly suggests that tonight’s audience is particularly attractive.
‘Actor Out Of Work‘ sees bursts of energy emit from the stage as Clark, front and centre, yelps at the end of the song in what seems sheer elation.
Something seems wrong tonight though, where Clark in previous visits to Glasgow came across and endearing and amusing in her onstage banter tonight she seems to be falling flat.
A spoken intro to latest single ‘Cruel‘ sets a slight dampener on the set as things seem to hit a lull and a weak mix becomes more prominent.
Having seen St. Vincent three times before there is a certain something missing, plus the synth heavy band doesn’t hold attention long and the drumming is off.
You find yourself longing for her stripped back solo set in support of Grizzly Bear a couple of years ago.
A cover of The Pop Group’s ‘She is Beyond Good and Evil’ is somewhat of a novelty and lifts the set before we head into an encore.
As we enter the last leg of the set we see those signs again of what a talent Clark is, beautifully lit she jerks and thrashes, her amazing curls bouncing as she powers through old number ‘Your Lips Are Red‘ and arguably her best song ‘Marrow‘.
There may be criticisms on tonight’s set but in terms of Clark herself I can’t speak highly enough, three albums in and not a foot wrong.
She’s becoming a rock star herself, and with the entrancingly powerful and beautiful tracks showing no sign of ending she has all the tools to do it.
Words: Iain Dawson
Photos: Aimee Fulton
