St. Vincent at the Royal Albert Hall

St. Vincent

Heartworms

Royal Albert Hall, 1 June 2024

It's been 10 years since I last saw St. Vincent live. It's not because she hasn't been making great music, but I definitely didn't feel as connected to her more recent albums and more theatrical stage shows, where it was no longer Annie Clark the musician but rather St. Vincent a rock star persona. There is nothing wrong with that of course, Clark is an artist and it's amazing that she continues to evolve and try new things, but I can't deny I was very excited when I heard her more rock-sounding new album, All Born Screaming, which encouraged me to take the plunge and check out what her live show is like these days. And I'm happy to say I'm glad I did.

I've been to the magnificent Royal Albert Hall quite a few times in the past but I've always had a seat. For this show, the area in front of the stage was standing, and I nervously decided to see if I could brave the barrier to get a more intimate experience than being seated way back. I must say, despite the grandiose surroundings, if you are down the front at the Royal Albert Hall it does feel like a much smaller venue and I was afraid I might be the oldest person standing but there was actually a good range of ages including, of course, lots of the obligatory older dudes. I did wonder though how many of those around me saw Annie Clark playing the tiny backroom at the Hoxton Bar & Grill back in 2009 as I did. I knew she was going on to bigger and better things but still it's impressive to see her sell out (or so it says, there was a lot of empty seats on the side) the legendary Royal Albert Hall 15 years on.

Opening for Annie tonight was an upcoming band from London, self-described (on their t-shirts) as "gothic, post-punk". It's a pretty good description, and they certainly look suitably dark and goth, with tiny singer-guitarist Jojo Orme, wearing a floor-length black coat and sporting a Les Paul guitar. The show gets off on a shaky start when she stops the first song because her guitar isn't working but they quickly move on to the next track.

Orme has a big presence on stage, with an intense stare and, a sometimes whispery and sometimes soaring voice. She sometimes shreds on her guitar and other times drops to her knees screaming. I liked the fact there was another woman in the band playing bass, but it turns out she's not a full-time member (she's an actress in a BBC TV show I see), which is a shame as the pair had great chemistry on stage. 

They end with a song where Orme chants "look at me I can fly, that's the way it's happening" and for a new band playing such a huge venue, they certainly soared tonight. Looking forward to their debut album after this.

When the roadies rolled on white arches on wheels, it was clear there would be some theatrical elements to the St. Vincent show, but true to form, the show began with Annie Clark emerging from one of these arches singing new song Reckless, light beaming from behind her, like an alien being appearing from its spaceship. It's without doubt a pure pop star move and looks super cool, but thankfully she also had a traditional full band behind her, made up of drums, keyboards, guitar (Jason Falkner, no less, from Jellyfish and the Grays!) and an even more alien-looking bassist (Charlotte Kemp Muhl, a model and musician who is also Sean Ono Lennon's girlfriend in real life).

Clark is then handed one of her custom Ernie Ball guitars and it's clear this is very much the rock show I had been hoping for. Wearing a black belted jacket and mini skirt, she looked super smart and very chic. But it's when she has that guitar strapped on that she really looks cool and she brings back some of the biggest sounding songs from her fourth album, Masseduction, such as Fear The Future, Sugarboy and Los Ageless. This is more than fine with me as I never saw her on that tour. 

Big Time Nothing, from the new record, sounds like it could have been part of her collaboration with David Byrne and sees her doing little dance moves between guitar licks. In fact it's the songs from All Born Screaming that excite me the most. She precedes the song Sweetest Fruit by dedicating it to all of us who love music and ends it shredding on her guitar, proving once again why she's considered one of the best guitarists in the world.

The song Flea fills the whole Royal Albert Hall with loud guitars and has Annie playing in front of huge screens filled with her doll-like face, while Broken Man sees her come out from behind her guitar to scream and throw herself around the stage like a punk rock goddess. 

Older track Krokodil, is equally frantic and punk, and even more exciting as she jumps from the stage and grabs people's hands and almost dives into the audience, only held back by the security (she later says, she promised that she wouldn't stage dive but it's the next best thing).

She also runs into the audience when she croons the much-loved New York, shaking adoring fans hands and even running up into the seats by the stage and hugging a fan as she sang (she even kissed her hand, it was incredibly sweet) as the crowd sang along.

For the song Pay Your Way In Pain (only one of two songs from the previous record, Daddy's Home, funnily enough), she was followed around by a guy with a camera, the images he was recording live projected on the screens at the back of the stage, ending with Annie dropping to the floor as if passed out before expertly leaping up again!

Although she didn't speak loads, this was a way more down to earth Annie, who spoke passionately and told funny stories and didn't seem in character. The performance was still pure art (Candy Darling, for instance, was performed stripped down, standing in a lighted arch, with Falkner and Kemp Muhl leaning on either side, singing back up vocals) but she reminded me so much more of the Annie I first saw all those years ago than the rock star persona she appeared to have been inhabiting in recent years and I can't deny, I loved it so much more.

She ended on the hopeful sounding title track, All Born Screaming, which built into a crescendo of harmony vocals and building guitars and keyboards, with a suitably effective light show. And then, without a word, she was gone. No encore (which you know I love), just a perfect show, that left us completely satisfied. I'm definitely glad I got to see St. Vincent one more time.