2/10/2010, the El Rey was sold out. Never seen that happen, and the nicest people had the most minimalist reactions to being denied tickets at the door. Like a almost silent and somber collective “Oh-kay” was the exact same from every person no matter tattoos and medium imitation leather jacket or not. (The ticket scalpers cleaned house that night and I wonder how the merchandise did.) It was all thanks to Annie Clark aka St. Vincent, whose brand of entertainment is the first I’ve seen in sometime that is so much more than entertaining. It’s mesmerizing. The followers and fans in attendance stood in awe, like cardboard cut-out silhouettes in between multi-colored spotlights from the stage. Song after song, the content changed, the mood, tempo, instruments, genre & the perfectionism remained. I was not familiar with her work prior to this show and came late last minute. I would equate her to a Joni Mitchell and Bjork hybrid for a new generation of music fans, eager to discover their own bonafide fame monster. Openers from Switzerland “Wild Birds & Peace Drums” were also nothing short of dream-like and nostalgic while remaining a similar forward thinking audience to Ms. Clark.
“So this song is about Texas, where I’m from… the artist declares after a particularly entrancing number. (applause) It’s a land of many things, one of which happens to be Uh… Its a rite of passage to teach your 8 year-old how to fire semi-automatic weapons!” (laughter & applause) St. Vincent between songs. “Your amazing!” Yells out one enthusiastic young woman as the instruments are tuned to perfection in dramatic lighting. “I agree!” moments later by a man on the other side of the theater. (St.Vincent) “This reminds me of being on a 4th grade soccer team in the best way!” (Laughter & applause) “I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, its really good to be in Los Angeles. Statistically, you could be in a lot of places, and this is high on my list. (”You make me make art!” Screams another Silver lake supermodel…) STV: “I love how vocal this city is. Its a public forum, and thats a good thing. Really chatty.. Remember team work makes the dream work!”
Polyphonic Spree goes hard. St. Vincent will not be in Texas for SXSW this year, instead her and the band will bring their unique blend of epic folklore with musical accompaniment to Asia in the middle of March. Check her out on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic that same day. Her new album “Actor” is out now, go to
http://www.ilovestvincent.com/music/ for more info, tour dates. And if your a fan or would like to follow, visit :
Leave A Comment!