St. Vincent woos Shepherd’s Bush

I am 110% in love with Annie Clark, of St. Vincent. That means I could backtrack 10% and still be completely in love with her. The woman knows her way around a guitar and what more do you need? The live tone is sensational, probably the best I’ve ever heard, and it suits her manic little riffs absolutely perfectly. The solos (and there are plenty) seem essential to the message of the songs instead of the normal ego-inflating wankery. The atmosphere of it ebbs and flows and it never gets close to dull. The rest of the band does their job, but it is all about Annie Clark. Tonight’s gig is her biggest ever UK headline show but that doesn’t seem to faze her. She runs the stage. Her whole performance is just captivating. After one song I noticed the drummer picking up drums, but I have absolutely no idea how they were knocked over, because I couldn’t take my eyes off Annie Clark.

The setlist is complete gold. A front three of ‘Surgeon’, ‘Cheerleader’ and ‘Chloe in the Afternoon’ is just unstoppable, and the huge grin they produce never leaves my face throughout the show. ‘Actor Out of Work’ has always been a masterpiece and that doesn’t change in the live arena, whilst she manages to make me fall in love with a track I was never a big fan of in ‘Dilettante’. Cruel is probably her poppiest moment, and it’s great fun live. I was humming the chorus riff most of the way home. ‘Strange Mercy’ is the best song about police brutality in the history of the Universe (sorry N.W.A.) and ‘Marrow’, whilst introduced as a ‘dance song’, is her at her most angry and intense and works really well. The encore is fantastic. ‘The Party’ stripped down to just one synth and vocals is beautiful, and then ‘Your Lips Are Red’. It’s probably my favourite St. Vincent track on record, and the rearranged live version is even better. It’s a fantastic end to a fantastic gig. It’s by far the best gig I’ve been to this year, and I really can’t imagine it being beaten. Top notch.