Guitar Gear Forum

St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark & band) played downtown in an open plaza here as part of the large Hopscotch music festival.

I've seen video clips, so I sort of knew what to expect, plus she has had several years of touring with David Byrne and her own band to refine the presentation of music that is quite eccentric. A bonus for this night was that Hopscotch brought in the amazing See Factor company for lights and sound - top level staff and gear, VERY nice. It helped, too.

I was honestly amazed by the quality of the performance we saw. Her music is not easy to pull off live, even IF much of it is knitted together in Ableton Live, the sheer number of transitions and changes is a real bitch to execute. Lots of stuff I assumed were synthesizer riffs or fills are actually Annie's Albert Lee model guitar, heavily mutated. She sings wicked complex melodys over spazzed out rhythms and plays precise 16th note runs while doing it.

She's not your normal shredder, but fuck me, AC can play. In the middle of a noise-scape that would make Vernon Reid twitchy came a few clear, singing guitar notes with Larry Carlton vibrato. She hybrid picks savagely. She is fast, accurate, and marvelously weird. Her voice is fantastic live. I don't know how she does that on a regular basis. It's HARD material to sing.

A few times I was reminded of the Moody Blues or Brian Eno. The electronica angle is super, I love synths that are naked and sizzly and there is LOTS of that. A few times I was reminded of Prince because the band can groove very hard. I have no idea how the drummer counts his way through those songs.

I think and hope that St. Vincent is just getting up to cruising speed and has a long way to go yet. Annie Clark works her skinny ass off for your concert dollar, and if you are a fan AT ALL, I recommend seeing them if you can. Money well spent !

Great review man! Awesome band.
I AC
you are spot-on with the critique of the music, too.
Glad you had a good time.

damn i want you to review on of my shows, for the adjectives alone!

ive yet to see her but would like to. she's coming this christmas with the black keys, they've been advertising it on the radio since like....last christmas fuck that.

I think for the most part you're going to notice that the audience is there to see St. Vincent because they are big fans. There were several people/groups having frantic nano-raves through a tightly packed but well behaved crowd.

AC has received a lot of reinforcement that she is on the right track, and at this point I think she's willing to try out almost anything in a live show. She's very confident about what she can do. If she ever gets to a Pink-Floyd scale (or even a Pink scale ) the show will be epic.

where do you live, RE? i'm half serious about getting a show writeup from you someday. or even a review of some properly recorded material, should i get some.

a friend of mine did one recently, and i was stoked to read it, but it turns out his reviews are more abstract accounts of an evening, with vague references to bands that played in them. which is cool, as an art form, and cool as a first writeup, but not necessarily the best in the "look at me!" category which is useful in its own way. i was looking for more of something like you posted above.

I live in NC, but I could see flying out to Austin for a weekend sometime. I haven't checked the scene out there, and I'd definitely like to. I've got some airline miles stored up. PM me some details and we'll talk it over. I'm replacing a totalled vehicle right now so I'm a little budget conscious (or I have bought that damned Madryan Jubilee already ! ), but I could do it sometime a bit later.

Gotta Carpe those Diems whenever we can, right ?

haha right on. if i can this show lined up how i want, nov 22 could be a good one.

Never listened, but descriptions intrigue me.




This is really lulzy/gear related though
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyBWjxTzkE[/video]

She is the real deal! Wildly inventive and a solid player. Great review.

She's my favorite thing going right now man. She absolutely shreds.

She doesn't use a pick most of the time too.

She knows tones, rights cool weird songs, and is a monster player

She's outstanding.
Amazing Live.
Cool rig
great playing
hot looks
great songs
great voice
she's the entire package.
she makes me want an Albert Lee Musicman

spawnofthesith wrote:Never listened, but descriptions intrigue me.




This is really lulzy/gear related though
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyyBWjxTzkE[/video]

That reminds me of the "would you look at that?" guy

who knew where we would agree in this world would be on st vincent? good job fellas!
and those AL musicmans look cool, but need a different looking headstock to match the 60's import style body, and the price is laughable.

I forget everything else about that guitar every time I see that boss ass rosewood neck

It looks soooo awesome to play

Is the AL model an unfinished *** BARE NEKKID *** rosewood neck ?
That would sort of put a whole 'nother dimension to Annie's playing.
'cause she's wrasslin' that thing. I done seen it with my own eyes. [faints]

I'm hoping she'll do some GREASY performance at Warren Hayne's fest or something with
Billy Gibbons. I'd love to hear her put some stank on it. I know she can. Hell, I heard her
cop the solo to Kid Charlemagne. I couldn't stand up for ten minutes.

Yeah man!

Look at this thanggg

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AlbertLeeBk

I'm not a massive fan but I would see her live.