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 palm of her delicate hand.

Additional photos from the set can be seen here.

Strange Mercy aims to follow suit, but Clark's success rate is suddenly off. There are times—starting with the clattering, buzzing coda to opener “Chloe in the Afternoon”—where you half-expect her to leap up like a mad scientist from her lab and throw a curtain across the room while screaming, “Don't look at it! It's not ready yet!”

Then again, boilerplate St. Vincent can still be delightfully surprising, as is the case with “Cheerleader.” (It deflates retroactively thanks to the subsequent “Surgeon,” which is unfocused and wiggy, serving almost as chillout reprise). “Cruel” could be a dance song, kinda, sorta, maybe, if you had legs sprouting from your sides at 90-degree angles. Clark dumps out what seems to be her entire bag of tricks all at once in “Northern Lights,” and it's hard to appreciate any one of them when they're all happening simultaneously.

It's not until midway through Strange Mercy that the machinery fully kicks in. That's when Clark unleashes the gorgeous title track, which has the same deliberate, measured approach (and not a few of the sonic strategies) of Kate Bush's The Sensual World. From that point on, Clark seems like she can do no wrong, even when, for instance, her voice clunks right up against the bottom of her range before the first verse of “Champagne Year” is over. It sounds great on her, vulnerable and calming rather than unnerving and passive. If it also sounds like Jenny Lewis singing “Hallelujah,” Clark still manages to take it in new directions. The same holds true for “Dilettante,” which is like “Bennie And The Jets” with a drier one-two clomp and the closing keyboard freakout transferred to guitar and repositioned to crash through the chorus.

More than anyone, though, it's Bush that St. Vincent most resembles at this point in her career, even when Clark doesn't sound like her, or anyone else. When Strange Mercy works, it borders on stunning; when it falters, it's simply an ambitious whiff. “It's not a perfect plan,” sings Clark at one point, “but it's the one we've got.”

St. Vincent performs at the 9:30 Club on Nov. 1. $20.

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 photos after the jump and at the full gallery.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums, whom we've recommended in the past, opened:

Full gallery here.

St. Vincent Setlist:
The Strangers
Save Me From What I Want
Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood
Actor
Jesus Saves, I Spend
Just the Same But Brand New
The Bed
These Days (solo, Nico cover)
Black Rainbow
Marrow
The Party
—–
Paris Is Burning (solo)
Your Lips Are Red

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 up to the standard set by previous years. So while there was a lot to complain about on Sunday, from the bizarre decision to turn pavilion seating into a free-for-all to the fact that, well, Blink-182 were the headliners, hey – it was free. And in this case, concertgoers got much more than what they paid for.

Public Enemy (pictured above, Flavor Flav) drew by far the biggest crowd to the festival's secondary stage, and delivered a set worthy of the distinction. I enjoyed a few other sets here and there, particularly over on that second stage (St. Vincent, Girl Talk, The National were all fun), but really, Public Enemy alone would have made the whole thing, um, worth the price of admission.

The full set of photos is forthcoming, but check out a few teasers after the jump.

Weezer:

The National:

Franz Ferdinand:

St. Vincent:

Wale:

The Bravery:

Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson handing out free beers:

Fan early in the day at the pavilion stage:

More to come.

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 was probably in large part thanks to the much rowdier, less intimate atmosphere this time around. If I wanted rowdy I would have gone to Maryland Deathfest (I did, but that's a different post).

More photos (full gallery here) and a setlist after the jump.

Setlist:

The Strangers
Save Me From What I Want
Now, Now
Actor Out of Work
Marry Me
Oh My God
The Bed
Laughing With a Mouth of Blood
Black Rainbow
Marrow
Just the Same But Brand New
The Party
Your Lips Are Red

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.

Clark opened the set with "The Strangers," a track from the new St. Vincent record, Actor (4AD), released two weeks ago. The new songs are characteristically Annie Clark's, lush, poppy melodies fit inside moody and eerily enchanting structures. The songs pulsate with a chorus of her own voice and shake fists with fuzz-affected breakdowns. The album has more woodwind lilts and symphonic twirls than her last. She told Rolling Stone that in preparation for the album she watched Disney films like Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and Beauty and the Beast for inspiration. And indeed several of the tracks from Actor unwind like a whimsical fairy tale score.

Bringing some of the eclectic album sounds to the stage, She brought  McKenzie Smith, saxophone/flute and Paul Alexander, clarinet/violin, along for this tour. While not recreating the flood of otherworldly orchestral sound on Actor, Smith and Alexander added trills and guided melody to the otherwise minimal output.

High up in the set was "Marry Me," the self-titled track from her 2007 debut album on Beggars Banquet. She said the song was about "a syndicated television series that could find on your Fox listings," referring to the now defunct Arrested Development.

"So marry me, John/Marry me, John, I'll be so good to you," she wails in the chorus. "You won't realize I'm gone. You won't realize I'm gone."

For the encore she played a complete freaked-out version of "Your Lips are Red," which devolved into Annie thrashing on the ground, into a erratic noise bout. When the chaos faded, Alexander's violin emerged from the wreckage with a tuneful pickup. The resonant bass of the hook then kicked in and Annie transformed from guitar-shaking clamorer to hypnotizing songstress.

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 Museum. $45-$55.
• Buster Brown and The Get Down. Cowboy Café. Call for price.
• Ra Ra Rasputin, The Spiritual Machine, Loxsly. DC9. $8. +18.
• Pre Summer 70’s Bash: Music by Mr. Marcus Young Featuring Blaze’, Won Beast, Lady Alize on the 1 & 2. Gee’s Night Club & Bar. $20.
• Bliss FM, DJ Maf, RA the MC, Lyriciss, Nando McFlyy. Jammin’ Java. $10.
• Jukebox the Ghost, Jenny Owen Youngs, The Winter Sounds. Rock and Roll Hotel. $14. All ages.
• The Bangles. The State Theatre. $30.
• 2009 West Virginia Wine & Arts Festival: Rolling Coyotes, Arnold Smith, the Grape Stompers, Sam Felker, the Giants of Tiny Town, Treehouse. The Martinsburg Arts Center. $15.
• Nihlitia, Domino Team, Qualms, DJs Stereofaith & Neil. Velvet Lounge. $8. +21.
• Food Will Win the War, Frau Eva, Freelance Whales. The Red & The Black. $6. +21.

Sunday

• The National (Sun.-Mon.). 9:30 club. SOLD OUT!
• Blues Jam with the Idle Americans. Bangkok Blues.
• Elliott Yamin. Birchmere. $29.50. All ages.
• John Eaton (Piano). Blues Alley. $25.
• King Soul, Colonel Josh’s Honkey Tonk. IOTA Club & Cafe. $15. +21.
• The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Free.
• 2009 West Virginia Wine & Arts Festival: Todd Coyle Band, Cam Miller Trio, Lisa Lafferty. The Martinsburg Arts Center. $15.
• Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The State Theatre. $13.
• Meeting of Important People, Lohio, March To The Arctic, Stripmall Ballads. The Red & The Black. $6. +21.
• Danny Greenwald, Caleb Stine. Velvet Lounge. $7. +18.
• NSO: Memorial Day Concert. U.S. Capitol Building. Free.

St. Vincent photo by Annabel Mehran, via MySpace.

St. Vincent: "The Strangers"
Sure, there are fluttering synthesizers and big Disney-style arrangements, but look beneath the surface and St. Vincent isn't playing it particularly cute these days. "Playboys under the mattress/ did you think I wouldn't notice?" she sings, clearly unamused. Sounds like there's trouble in paradise and a tear-streaked reconciliation doesn't sound particularly close at hand. "Paint the black hole blacker," the chimes a choir of over-dubbed St. Vincents during the chorus.

Redman & Method Man: "A Yo"
Wow, haven't heard much from these guys in a while. Sounds like not a lot has changed for Method Man, his verses are still all about blunts and cars. Redman, on the other hand, seems to have been a little more industrious with his time. "I network on Myspace real late/hoping my Apple make me another Bill Gates," he raps, snubbing Steve Jobs in favor of a better rhyme.

Akron/Family: "Everyone is Guilty"
Collectivist-rock band Akron/Family tightens up, forsaking the unfettered prog-rock of its earlier work for a soulful and somewhat straightforward afro-funk groove. These guys are hippies, though, so there are a few confusing psychedelic detours, but they're well spent on a fuzzy psychedelic guitar solo and a wistful brass break down that down throw the song's consistently sunny mood.

1. St. Vincent at Rock & Roll Hotel, February 26
2. Nels Cline Singers at the Paramount Theater, June 6
3. Tim Berne’s Bloodcount at An Die Musik, February 9
4. Amanda Palmer at the 9:30 Club, November 18
5. Wilco at Lyric Opera House, December 14
6. Salome at DC9, August 10
7. Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin at Blues Alley, March 3
8. Earth at Rock & Roll Hotel, May 4
9. Nobu Stowe at George Washington University, September 7
10. Evangelista at Velvet Lounge, April 16
11. Boris at the Black Cat, July 8
12. Škampa Quartet & Iva Bittová at the Library of Congress, April 11
13. Dälek at Rock & Roll Hotel, February 27
14. Kamelot at Jaxx, October 16
15. Woven Hand at Iota, October 17