St. Vincent - Carriageworks, Sydney - 17/6/2018
I almost feel bad for only going to gigs for big artists. As if I’m not a real concert goer if I don’t support my local scene. Whatever, our next big hitter is St. Vincent!
I hold her as an important figure in expanding what I thought of the musician’s role is as an artist. I first discovered her music as a YouTube suggestion for something else, maybe a 4AD music video. 'Digital Witness - St. Vincent’. Interesting. The lady in the thumbnail had wild curly hair that shot up and outward as if lightning had struck it white with shades of lavender. Curious, I clicked on the link and have been obsessed ever since then.
Starting with her third album 'Strange Mercy’ in 2011, Annie Clark has created new aesthetics for her alter-ego, crafting new costumes, choreography, stage designs, music videos, and visual languages to enhance each album and turn the St. Vincent experience into an event with gravitas and mystery. Though she’s not the first and certainly takes inspiration from glam rockers and pioneers such as David Bowie and Nick Cave, she’s the first artist to make me think about how you can expand upon a single element and adapt it into many forms to provide a journey and elevate your art form. Adding importance and mystery is definitely something I’ve tried to instil into my design and artwork. The next step of the 'MASSEDUCTION' experience was to see her live.
I arrived in Sydney a day early to hang out with the friend I was going to see St. Vincent with. As tourists to the city, we walked in and out of the city all the way into the last night of Vivid. I met some of her friends and we had a wonderful time. It was so much fun that we didn’t really do anything to special to prepare for Sunday night. Lazing around at her grandma’s house, we watched Queer Eye season 2, a lot of Michael Jackson music videos and walked around the neighbourhood until it was time to go. Not the way I would have imagined the day going but it’s how it happened! I had stayed here the night before and it was an interesting experience being in another person’s home. Like Borat in the Jewish bed and breakfast or like the whole film Get Out. We decided to have dinner at home with her nan around 5:30 and made our way to the station around 6. It was odd hearing a grandma talk so vividly with her granddaughter. They would be super sarcastic towards each other and complain about topics in a conversational way super foreign to me. My culture doesn't really foster relationships with parents further from their inherited parental responsibilities and roles. There was little hierarchy to the three of us in that house. For example, my friend's nan didn't hesitate to roast me for a few mistakes I made throughout the weekend. Something that would have remained seated in judgement in an asian family maybe. Very interesting.
We rolled into Redfern station and proceeded took a 10 minute walk towards the Carriageworks. The biting cold made it feel like longer, slowing down our pace. Luckily as we pulled ourselves closer towards the venue it was a relief to find that it would be enclosed. A former trainworks station, the Carriageworks large industrial pillars and bare concrete flooring serendipitously made for an excellent pairing with new-age hipsters awaiting St.Vincent’s cutting pop art performance. Beers, beards, and brickworks.
We had about 45 minutes to pass until the short film that Annie Clark directed for 2017’s 'XXX’ -a horror anthology featuring female only directors- screened as a 'support act’. I bought a drink and chatted with my friend for what felt like 10 minutes until something started. It was the first time I had been able to chat through a wait at a concert. Usually things get dull enough that I have to remark on the background music, so this was great. Put me in a great mood to see St. Vincent.
The short film was titled 'The Birthday Party’ and centres on the moments before a young child’s birthday party in a rich near-future suburban neighbourhood. The main character is the child's mum who discovers that her husband has overdosed on his medication and alcohol and goes through some hijinks trying to remove his body. It was a funny way to watch a short film, standing with a huge crowd fixed to a screen. Seemed Orwellian. It’s shot well and has a great stage design reminiscent of the aesthetic for her latest album. Without stating it outright, the film clues in audiences to the type of society the short film is in from the hair styles, decor, and conversation topics. It’s probably the smartest part of the film. Unfortunately the movie fails to convince the audience of a genuine threat nor terrifying consequences. The mum’s attempts to hide the body are comical and if the husband’s body were to be uncovered, it would be mildly uncomfortable at best to watch the mum try to explain her motivations for moving his body all over the house.
Throughout the movie there’s a party planner that helps to keep the child happy and the party on schedule. She’s posed to be a suspicious character and at one points comes close to uncovering the big secret. I feel like more tension and intrigue could have been created by giving the party planner sinister motivations, revealing that she killed the husband and the wife then uncovers the reason why, maybe pitting her against the party planner. I don’t know. Anything could have been added. I wouldn't mind seeing more from St. Vincent, hopefully this experience will improve future projects! The average short film didn’t take away from the power of her actual performance though.
Monents after the short film ended, the lights went down and the left partition of the curtains pulled back. St. Vincent emerged into the spotlight with the iconic pink latex bodysuit, fluffy armbands, and a microphone clutched in both hands. She seduced the whole crowd with a soul-bearing rendition of 'Marry Me’ backed by string based orchestral redux of the original that stunned the crowd. A man with a black beanie pulled over his head rushed in from the left to pass St. Vincent her guitar as the sing ended. Throughout the set either he or women dressed up in black suits with holes cut out to expose their butts and taped up nipples would step out of the shadows with neon pink heels and hand St. Vincent her guitars. The dominatrix roadies were pretty cool!
After she performed two songs from the first album, the curtains pulled back further and St. Vincent took position in a second station and rocked through two songs from that album. I was super happy she played 'Actor Out of Work’, a thumping mental descent of a song that I was obsessed with when I first discovered her music. I was also ecstatic to hear ‘Birth in Reverse’ in person as I had tried to learn that song for ages on guitar and was finally able to see it done by the pro herself.
After wrapping up one album she moved onto another station until she had run a neat splice of her back catalogue, curtains closing to signal the end of the first part. On returning, St. Vincent changed into a flashy green tights with elastic green arm warmers and proceeded to play her new album in full and in order. From having listened to the album so many times, this last part felt like it went by so fast! It was nice knowing that some of the outliers from the new album would be played such as ‘Slow Disco’, ‘Smoking Section’, and ‘Happy Birthday, Johnny’. These slower pieces showed off her wonderful singing voice and provided nice breaks in the set.
‘It’s not the end’ cried out across the venue, an ironic line to finish the concert on but it was the right one, stripped back of her guitar and backed only by a slow beat and some strings, it was like a veiled message saying that there is always more to come, whether in the now of the concert, or in life. The moments you remember aren’t usually the concert but the in, around, before, and after. Despite waiting four years for this concert, down the line I may only remember the conversations of that weekend, the sights we saw, and the moments alone by myself in a stranger’s home.
After the show ended, my friend and I turned around to leave the venue and a young lady behind us looked at me and said ‘I was looking at you dancing throughout the set and was really impressed! You were really getting into it!’. Things like that are incredible.
Setlist
Marry Me
Now Now
Actor Out of Work
The Strangers
Cruel
Cheerleader
Strange Mercy
Digital Witness
Rattlesnake
Birth in Reverse
Intermission/Costume Change
Hang on Me
Pills
Masseduction
Sugarboy
Los Ageless
Happy Birthday, Johnny
Savior
New York
Fear the Future
Young Lover
Dancing With a Ghost
Slow Disco
Smoking Section