LIVE: St. Vincent, Frannz Club, Berlin

 
A concert review straight from Annie E. Clark’s current European tour. Scribbled by a true “heart-core” fan, so do expect some overt emotions there. However, they just add a final touch to what could be summarized as one excellent evening with the divine St. Vincent.
 
A maddeningly good show!
 
The club itself was ideal - small, intimate, with great sound. Two small hiccups though (nothing major but just to give the full story of the show): First - just after the keyboard player started the intro to “Save Me...”, the drummer jumped out from behind the kit and yelled 'stop stop!'. Apparently there was an electrical outage that only affected him. He wore headphones the whole time so I guess he was plugged into some board which went out. Annie seemed a little embarrassed but managed to stay composed, saying in effect “this is live, folks...do you have a 9 volt battery, anyone? Well...now would be time for a clever anecdote, or a joke...” and then looked to the rest of the band for one, to no avail, which made the crowd chuckle. After a few minutes, the problem was solved and the band launched successfully into  “Save Me...”.
 
The other thing, which based on what I've seen online seems to be a common challenge at her live shows, is that the mix sometimes isn't adjusted right and so her guitar during solos doesn't come through as forcefully as one would like. This actually happened in a couple of songs, too. There are some great chaotic guitar cuts and jabs that she does on some of the newer tracks and they didn't shine through all the time. It's a minor detail but worth noting. I was hoping the solos to be 'ear bleeders' but they only provided a low bass-y tickle.
 
Aside from those two things, the show was excellent. She was cool, glacial to be precise, in her feathery yellow cardigan & sleek dress, and she has this really confident, disarming stare at times where she seems to be looking at you, directly into your eyes (or into someone else's in the audience for that matter...) and - she holds that stare for what seems like forever, leaving you even more in awe of her ravaging beauty... Damn her!
 
Her voice was sublime and incandescent was her stage presence. Her guitar emitted liquid fuzz and was handily abused by her lithe fingers. O what it must be like to have six strings...
 
One final punctuation mark: for the last song before the encore, she took her abusive guitar antics to us. Jumped down from the stage and jerked and jived halfway into the crowd, firing distorted sound. I was unfortunately too far away to make contact, so I was unable to pick up and deliver those several kisses that one absent admirer requested to pass. Maybe next time!
 
Beauregaard Mason
 
 
Opening Act:

Cate le Bon - Welsh gal, coolly reminiscent of Nico... It was just her and her electric Gibson; also sang back-up for Annie during the main set.
 
Setlist:
 
1. Surgeon
2. Cheerleader
3. Save Me From What I Want
4. Actor Out of Work
5. Chloe in the Afternoon
6. Dilettante
7. Cruel
8. Just the Same But Brand New
9. Champagne Year
10. Neutered Fruit
11. Strange Mercy
12. She is Beyond Good & Evil (Pop Group cover)
13. Year of the Tiger
14. Marrow
 
Encore:
1. The Party
2. Your Lips Are Red
 
St. Vincent, Frannz Club, Berlin (2. 12. 2011)