It’s true — Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) couldn’t have been too thrilled after her eMusic-sponsored headlining set at Central Park’s Summerstage. Sure, through songs like “Actor Out Of Work,” “Laughing with a Mouth of Blood,” and “Marrow,” she was her typical charming self, her vocals were fantastic, and she benefited from a full backing band of strings, horns and woodwinds — but the bass was turned up painfully high, the set felt shorter than her opening acts, and nearly all of her guitar freakouts were impossible to hear. It totally wasn’t her fault, but what a bummer.
Thankfully, her openers were spared the sound problems, and the whole afternoon gave three innovative ladies who often perform in more stripped-down arrangements the chance to bring out their full bands. Canadian singer/songwriter Basia Bulat opened with a four-piece group behind her, including her brother on drums, a bassist, and violin and ukulele players who doubled as backup vocalists to give her set the grandiosity of her recordings. Bulat switched between guitar and autoharp, touching on tracks like “Run” and “Go On” from this year’s Heart of My Own, and favorites like “In the Night” from her 2007 debut Oh, My Darling.
After that, Tune-Yards‘ Merrill Garbus started her set with just a bassist, but a couple songs in had a band of eight dudes behind her — saxes, a trombone, bass, guitar, and three (!) percussionists. Her voice is thick and low, and she uses it unconventionally, by way of tribal yells and shouted gibberish. While Garbus and her live show are quite out-there, she’s a fun, commanding and fearless performer worth seeing live.
Basia Bulat:
Tune-Yards:
St. Vincent:
I definitely agree with your assessment..such a sad thing that the bass was too loud or otherwise the guitar freakouts would have been so much more perfect. Great photos of Tune Yards especially here-love her facial expressions and gestures.
That’s too bad. I’d love to see St. Vincent live, ideally without the sound troubles.
I keep hearing that St. Vincent is a great guitarist. I need to revisit her last album to investigate. Is that the best place to start?
I’ve not ever been to a St. Vincent performance or consciencely heard of any of her music, but this is the third time within 7 days that she’s come across me..(and everytime it’s always positive or praising her).
I think its about time, I jump on board. =)
Thanks for this “confirming” post!
SirIndie
SirIndie.com