Tag Archives: St. Vincent
From Haiti to Williamsburg
January 25th, 2010Haiti Benefit – Music Hall of Williamsburg – January 23, 2010
Zach Galifianakis
In the wake of the earthquake that devastated the people and capital city of Haiti, individuals and organizations have responded with an outpouring of humanitarian aid. Telethons, tweets and texts have raised millions of dollars. However, a sustained effort on the part of global citizens is necessary as Haiti continues to recover and rebuild. Toward that end, The Bowery Presents and Brooklyn Vegan teamed up to assemble an incredible group of comedians and musicians for a Haiti benefit on Saturday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The full lineup consisted of Zach Galifianakis, Britt Daniel (of Spoon), Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver), St. Vincent, Janeane Garofalo, Wyatt Cenac (of The Daily Show) and the live debut of John Shade. While each performer did an abbreviated set, the night featured some hilarious jokes and breathtaking songs.
Musicians and comedians alternated their sets with Leo Allen and Bobby Tisdale acting as MCs. Jokes ranged from Cenac making fun of PETA to just about every comedian ragging on Williamsburg hipsters. “This used to be a good neighborhood,” yelled Galifianakis during his show-stealing performance. The slovenly and unkempt comic kept the audience off-kilter with a barrage of absurdist one-liners. He even pulled off the difficult task of bringing satire to the night’s cause when he joked, “I was doing Haiti benefits before the earthquake.”
The musicians in attendance provided a bevy of incredibly heartfelt originals and covers. Daniel appeared with White Rabbits drummer Jamie Levinson and opened with a stripped-down, guitar version of John Lennon’s “Isolation.” His distinctive falsetto and off-the-cuff vocals also colored my favorite song on Spoon’s new album, Transference, “Who Makes Your Money.” St. Vincent followed with Jackson Browne’s “These Days” and the National’s “Mistaken for Strangers.” All stood transfixed by St. Vincent’s soft guitar work and lithe vocals. Vernon joined in for her song “The Party,” and the two collaborated on a crowd-pleasing rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” For all in attendance, the event showed an outpouring of support and a gracious display of talent. —Jared Levy
Photos courtesy of Jen Macchiarelli | www.jennylow.com
St. Vincent – Webster Hall – May 20, 2009
May 21st, 2009
Remember Annie? The redheaded rapscallion who sang about bottom dollars? Annie Clark is not that Annie. If “The sun will come out” Annie is high-fructose-corn-syrup sweet, Clark, doing business as St. Vincent, is a whiskey sour: smooth and sharp with plenty of bite. Opening with “Black Rainbow,” off her just-released album, Actor, St. Vincent spent the night bouncing back and forth between a two-headed microphone, each giving her a different “voice.” This was perfect, because she’s got a full-fledged Dr Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde thing going on. One moment the music was polished and arching, dominated by Clark’s vocals and then, without warning, as it was during the opener, it explodes into a cacophony of guitar shredding. Yes, she still shreds.
From there Clark went through most of the album, including a solo stint on “Oh God,” referred to jokingly as a “deep cut.” At times things were a bit rough. It’s apparent that the chemistry between St. Vincent and her band—featuring four guys playing everything from bass guitar to clarinet—is still in development. It’s just the second show of the tour, so expect some growth.
My question is where did all these people come from? It’s like some stop-motion flip book: One moment you’re standing in an empty Mercury Lounge in wonderment at the music coming out of this diminutive woman, then flip, flip, flip you’re at the back of a packed Webster Hall, craning to catch a glimpse of her Gibson. Unfortunately, the energy from the stage often dissipated in the room before it reached me.
The encore was easily the highlight, ending with a retooled “Lips Are Red” that was the pitch-perfect blend of Jeckyll and Hyde. In the end, you may not want to adopt lil’ Annie, but with her lips so red, skin so fair, voice so bold and guitar so fiery, another show at the end of the tour would be nice. —A. Stein
Photos courtesy of Gregg Greenwood | www.gregggreenwood.com
