Words and photos by Sarahana

Someone new to St. Vincent would think that Annie Clark’s dash of diva-ness comes from her inevitable and well-deserved fame of late, but having seen some of her earliest solo shows, I can attest that her on-stage persona has always been a little vixenish. Haven’t you paid attention to the lyrics of her previous hit “Now Now”? A refrain of “You don’t mean that, say you’re sorry” is, in the context of the song, chill-inducing scary.

Even when she says something totally modest like, “I can’t believe I’m playing here, thank you so much, you’ve been so kind, etc”, I still think she very well might be part-vampire, entirely capable of destroying me in a matter of seconds. I’m sure the devilish way in which she often pounds on her guitar is responsible for this impression.

[St. Vincent]

She was even dressed to fit my imagination last night, in a pair of laced black stockings, over which she wore black shorts matched with a black top, accented with blood-red lipstick and equally red nail polish. She was joined by a band that included a saxophone and what I think was a fiddle (if not a violin or a viola). In a song called “Marrow”, off her new album, Actor, the saxophone blared over a steady stream of flat, 80s-inspired beats, and it sounded like all seven sins were involved in the making of that tune.

Pattern Is Movement was the opening act. Other than having a fantastic band name and lovable personalities, both Andrew Thiboldeaux and Chris Ward are nothing less than champions of music. When they play, it’s almost as if they carry a torch while wearing a shirt that says “Isn’t music such an awesome thing?”, and proceed to sprint like world-record holders. They were amazing.

[Pattern Is Movement]