Words by: Kyle Fortinsky | Images from: myspace.com/stvincent

St. Vincent :: 02.08.10 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA

There’s something to be said for a 75-minute set of music that allows the audience to leap through a gamut of feelings and cascade down a breadth of wonder. Cohesion is everything. The venue, the crowd, the songs – this flowing, cyclical trifecta is what makes a show memorable. It’s what causes one to actually “feel” the mysterious and often-elusive artist/audience connection – one where banter and smiles are exchanged while mutual appreciation is shown through respect and understanding.

Everything was in place for such an experience on this misty Monday night, as the alluring madness of Annie Clark and her group St. Vincent brought in a sold out crowd to San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. Packed in at 8:15 p.m. (an hour before the band’s scheduled start time) the crowd aggressively, but politely, nudged and pushed for a clear view of the stage. Swedish openers Wildbirds & Peacedrums catered to the organized chaos with a short set of impressive, experimental, drum/synth combinations and bellowing, powerful vocals from Mariam Wallentin.

As the lights dimmed at exactly 9:15 p.m., Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” continued to play over the PA system while Clark and co. sauntered nonchalantly out onto the stage, chuckling about something we’ll never discover. Throwing her guitar over her shoulder, nodding her head to Cube’s final verse as she looked out into the whooping crowd, her four-man touring band assembled and tuned their collection of drums, basses, violins and woodwind instruments (most notably the flute and clarinet).

“God, I love this place,” quipped Clark.

Annie Clark – St. Vincent

With little more than a glance to one another, St. Vincent launched into “The Strangers,” the lead track from 2009′s critically acclaimed Actor. The soft yet upbeat initial two verses were interrupted by a volcanic, building guitar riff before dipping down again into the clarinet-led chorus. Leaving about five seconds for applause, the band then drove into Actor‘s second track, “Save Me From What I Want.” By now everyone was bobbing, finding some minimal elbowroom and completely transfixed on Clark.

“Laughing With a Mouth Of Blood” followed – soothing and coating in the way the first spoonful of ice cream sometimes feels off a plastic spoon. Then things got loud with the guitar-distorted, horn-driven “Actor Out Of Work,” seeing Clark get substantially frantic behind the microphone for the first time of the evening. Being slightly partial to this aspect of her style, along with what seemed like many in attendance, these actions consistently resulted in the crowd’s loudest sounds of approval.

Throughout the night, each time Clark retreated from the microphone for a similar guitar jaunt, her mannerisms reflected a low-voltage electric shock. Choppy abdomen jolts and dipping neck snaps complimented her oft-closed eyes during these explorations. “Jesus
Saves, I Spend” and “Just The Same But Brand New” allowed for more of this craved, edgy showmanship, before the group slowed things down on “The Bed.”

Following this segment, Clark’s band left the stage for what would be her only solo offering of the show, “These Days.” While she tuned her guitar under dim, blue lighting and amid a churning dry-ice machine, the crowd reciprocated with complete silence, staring at Clark as if she held the answers to everyone’s life-altering questions. Clark took this opportunity to express her admiration for the city of San Francisco.

“You know, I always see the most interesting things here,” she began. “Last year, there was a gentleman, um, sitting down on the sidewalk, and… he was picking his scabs and eating them,” she said with a laugh, as the crowd clapped and chuckled as if to say, “That’s nothing!” Clark continued, “And yesterday, I saw another, ah, fine gentleman peeing on a tree in broad daylight by City Hall. That’s why I love this city – those are the flavor crystals.”

“These Days” concluded its crooning sentiment and the band returned to the stage for the ferocious double shot of “Black Rainbow” and “Marrow.” All aspects of St. Vincent culminated in these two songs – harmony, volume, instrumentation, oddity and variation. Again showing her command and versatility, one moment Clark was nearly punching the
guitar’s head and slashing at the fretboard during “Rainbow’s” dramatic, song-ending build, and the next she was poignantly standing at the microphone, swooning the first ambient verse from “Marrow,” a sound worthy of any vocalist’s admiration.

St. Vincent

Set closer “The Party” brought the entire experience together, the song’s choral crescendo mixing perfectly with the thick, red lights. As Clark strummed and leaned to her left towards the frets of her guitar, the crowd subconsciously leaned to the right, ears nearly touching their shoulders – perhaps the closest an artist and their audience can get to harmonic convergence. Following the song’s abrupt ending, flowers were given to Clark from the front row and the band appreciatively exited the stage.

An emphatic, resounding round of cheers and foot stomping beckoned St. Vincent back out for an encore. They answered the call with a blistering, downright demonic version of “Your Lips Are Red.”

With two albums of material (Actor and 2007′s Marry Me), a St. Vincent setlist won’t catch you off guard. Compensating, however, is the ease with which any of the 22 released tracks translate to the live setting. The band seamlessly satiates with a contrasting mix of mellowness and horn-driven grunge, no doubt a testament to extensive touring the past three years.

“I just love coming here and playing the Great American,” said Clark late in the set. “I think it’s my favorite venue in the country… well, the world actually.”

You’re welcome here anytime, Ms. Clark.

St. Vincent :: 02.08.10 :: Great American Music Hall :: San Francisco, CA
The Strangers, Save Me From What I Want, Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood, Actor Out Of Work, Jesus Saves I Spend, Just The Same But Brand New, The Bed, These Days (solo), Black Rainbow, Marrow, The Party
E: Your Lips Are Red

St. Vincent Tour Dates available here.

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