The Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Masonic Lodge is an odd place for a concert. Even if the building wasn’t surrounded by the decomposing bodies of (among others) Cecil B. Demille, Rudolph Valentino and half the Ramones, it’d still be a weird venue thanks to the kooky Masonic imagery–hey look, it’s the triangle eye thingy from the dollar bill!–and random ’70s movie posters.
On the other hand, the quirky, offbeat, slightly creepy vibe of the lodge was a perfect match for the quirky, offbeat, slightly creepy music of singer/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist St. Vincent, nee Annie Clark, who played to a tiny crowd there last night in preparation for her upcoming album release and tour. Save for a violinist who guested on two songs, she played the whole set solo, letting an array of guitar effects, samplers and drum loops do most of the heavy lifting accompaniment-wise. In interviews, Clark has said that the colorful orchestral arrangements on her new album, Actor, were partly inspired by the scores to Disney’s Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Last night, she looked like some kind of manic fairy godmother herself, deftly manipulating pedal after pedal and gracefully tapping at a sampling machine with a drumstick, magic wand-style.
The short, eight-song set comprised mostly songs from Actor–Clark’s debut album, Marry Me, was represented only by its title track and a stripped-down, jerky take on “Jesus Saves, I Spend.” The new stuff sounded a bit less rehearsed, but nonetheless awesome. While Marry Me‘s snarly, fuzzy freakout “Your Lips Are Red” was the album exception, it seems like Clark’s crazy guitar goddess side is going to be out in full force on Actor, and that can only be a good thing. Songs like set opener and first single “The Strangers” juxtapose delicate woodwinds and strings with jarring, abrasive riffs. A disaster in someone else’s hands, maybe, but she makes it work. Even the quietest, most subdued new song (“The Bed”) still sounded unsettling thanks to occasionally discordant piano accompaniment and eerie violin harmonics.
Clark ended her setlist proper with “Marrow,” a gloriously spazzy stomper that promises to be an Actor standout; then, taking advantage of the intimacy of the venue, she perched on the edge of the stage with an acoustic guitar to play “Oh My God”, a new B-side. The room fell completely silent (well, except for the bloggers adjusting their camera shutters), allowing her soft, loungey voice–think Feist minus the smoke–to cut through. In terms of Raw Emotional St. Vincent Moments, it wasn’t quite up to par with her amazing “Dig A Pony” cover at Coachella, but it was a close second.
All in all, this tease of a show served its intended purpose: to get St. Vincent fans totally stoked both for Actor and for the May 28th show at the El Rey, where she’ll be playing with a full band. I can’t wait.
SETLIST
“The Strangers”
“Jesus Saves, I Spend”
“Black Rainbow”
“Actor Out Of Work”
“Marry Me”
“The Bed”
“Marrow”
“Oh My God” (B-side)
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