St. Vincent at Hoxton Bar & Grill
St Vincent
Hoxton Bar & Grill, 21 April 2009
After the well-rehearsed bands of my previous two gigs, it was a surprise to see Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) take to the stage alone, particularly since she honed her craft as part of the elaborate bands of Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree, and given the intricate, big sound of her two solo albums. But then, despite being a favourite of many music blogs, St Vincent is still pretty much still a cool little secret and even now is playing a venue that's essentially a hidden room at the back of a trendy bar. But it turns out Ms Clark is well able to command the small stage on her own, looping her guitar and using some samples and vocal effects but essentially filling the room with her pitch perfect voice and superb guitar playing. It's actually refreshing to see a girl who is so adepth on guitar in fact, playing intricate parts while singing, occasionally breaking out into a solo or a loud guitar riff: she may be strikingly lovely but the very friendly Annie Clark is not just a pretty face, she's also immensely talented it seems.
The set is short and sweet and filled with songs from the new album. She widens her eyes in surprise when the crowd whoop and cheer when she announces the first new track, The Strangers, before quipping "I'm suspicious of some of you!" (the track was actually offered as a free download by her record company) following it with a stripped down version new single Actor Out of Work which she jokingly calls "the Brian Eno version".
After the well-rehearsed bands of my previous two gigs, it was a surprise to see Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) take to the stage alone, particularly since she honed her craft as part of the elaborate bands of Sufjan Stevens and The Polyphonic Spree, and given the intricate, big sound of her two solo albums. But then, despite being a favourite of many music blogs, St Vincent is still pretty much still a cool little secret and even now is playing a venue that's essentially a hidden room at the back of a trendy bar. But it turns out Ms Clark is well able to command the small stage on her own, looping her guitar and using some samples and vocal effects but essentially filling the room with her pitch perfect voice and superb guitar playing. It's actually refreshing to see a girl who is so adepth on guitar in fact, playing intricate parts while singing, occasionally breaking out into a solo or a loud guitar riff: she may be strikingly lovely but the very friendly Annie Clark is not just a pretty face, she's also immensely talented it seems.
The set is short and sweet and filled with songs from the new album. She widens her eyes in surprise when the crowd whoop and cheer when she announces the first new track, The Strangers, before quipping "I'm suspicious of some of you!" (the track was actually offered as a free download by her record company) following it with a stripped down version new single Actor Out of Work which she jokingly calls "the Brian Eno version".
The rest of the show is heavy on new songs, all of which bode well for the new album Actor and there's only a few examples of her debut Marry Me (Jesus Saves I Spend, Marry Me and Landmines). Because there's no backstage at the Hoxton Bar & Grill she explains she can't wander off the stage to pretend to wait for an encore and instead takes requests, most people calling for Paris Is Burning, not surprisingly, which she smiles and plays willingly, ending the show on a high note.
Next time she'll be playing a bigger venue no question.
Btw, sorry for the crappy photos! They were taken on my mobile phone as you can probably tell but they still give an idea of the intimacy and atmosphere of the concert.
Btw, sorry for the crappy photos! They were taken on my mobile phone as you can probably tell but they still give an idea of the intimacy and atmosphere of the concert.
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