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.

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