Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, played to a sold-out 9:30 Club last night, pairing her ethereal voice with off-kilter indie-pop melodies full of sometimes-frantic beats and a bass sound so big it would have made Chuck D jealous. From the start of "Surgeon" to the finale of "Your Lips are Red," she had the crowd in the [...]
If it's hard to consider St. Vincent's Strange Mercy a misstep—its ideas are too strong, its resolve too robust—it's still easy enough to hear it as a failure to build on the foundations laid down on the first two records by the woman known to the taxman as Annie Clark. Maybe a little bit too [...]
Annie Clark and St. Vincent have played the D.C. area five times in the past two years, but that didn't stop them from packing the 9:30 Club last night. The highlight was the encore, featuring a solo rendition of "Paris Is Burning" and a noisy, chaotic version of "Your Lips Are Red." Setlist and more [...]
When that is the most common thing one hears said about a concert, it would seem to indicate that something was left to be desired. It was a stroke of PR genius to make this year's version of the Virgin Festival completely free, after it became clear that the lineup was not going to live [...]
Bobby's got the recap, here it is in photographic form. My only verbal addition is that this show, while very good, reinforced my impression that the Black Cat is a terrible place for quiet music. If I enjoyed Annie Clark and company's show last year at the Rock & Roll Hotel more, it [...]
Annie Clark of St. Vincent has two stage presences: she is either wide-eyed, with an expressionless, impenetrable stare or releases her limbs into a musical collapse, swaying in unity with her guitar but being someplace else entirely. Her set Friday night at the Black Cat oscillated between these two energies, delicate stoicism and cathartic commotion.
Saturday
Dead Rock West. 8 X 10. $14–$17.
The Bakerton Group, The Wino Band, King Giant, Earthride. 9:30 Club. $15. All ages.
Sängerfest. The National Building Museum. $25.
The Ruins, Farmdoubt. Bangkok Blues. $7.
Bonnie Prince Billy, Ned Oldham. Birchmere. SOLD OUT!
Juan Maclean, The Field. Black Cat. $13. All ages.
Tommy Cecil (Bass). Blues Alley. $25.
Hank Williams, Jr. Calvert Marine [...]
Ghostface: "Message From Ghost"
Ghostface gets tender here, turning in one for all the struggling ladies out there. His sentiments are right on, but his metaphors are another matter. "Your last man had you mad open like a pap smear, but that's the past dear," raps Ghost. In a word, yuck.
St. Vincent: "The Strangers"
Sure, there [...]
You haven't had enough of the lists yet, have you? Good. Here's one more quick one: my list of favorite shows of the year, mostly in D.C. but also ranging north to Baltimore and south to Charlottesville (links all lead to photos):
St. Vincent at Rock & Roll Hotel, February 26
Nels Cline Singers at the [...]
