St Vincent Digs a Pony in Brooklyn
For the past couple weeks, bands St Vincent and Foreign Born have been caravanning across the USA driving pink Camaros, and stopping at gas stations to blast Huey Lewis & The News, while they tilt their sunglasses forward. At least thats how the adorable Annie Clark described it, before she blew away her audience with a phenomenal solo cover of The Beatles classic Dig a Pony. Stamping her feet to create a beat, while she shredding her guitar into pieces, it was hard not to fall in love with her. Clark was once just one of the many, many members of Polyphonic Spree, always doing a great job of standing out, but now shes proving that she has what it takes to be an indie rock star on her own, with St Vincent. Shes totally cute and has a genuinely unique charisma that is hard not to love, and when she plays shes pretty angelic.
For all but her cover of Dig A Pony, Clark was joined by a backing band, mainly playing songs from her debut album Marry Me. There was also at least one new one. Many of the songs were given different treatments than on record, with the rocking version of Your Lips Are Red standing out as another major highlight to the performance at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. And when Annie so sweetly sang the words Marry Me Jon, it was hard to hold back from approaching the stage and answering to her proposition. Of course I then realized that Im not the right Jon, and stayed back with the crowd allowing my heart to beat along with the music.
Californias Foreign Born has had the role of opening band for the extent of the tour, but after another tremendous performance last night, theyre surely on their way to being a headliner. The last time I saw them, they were on a tiny little stage of the basement of The Delancey. The songs were there, but the sound system wasnt. This time, everything hit with an extra push. Theres no denying that this band sounds like underrated 80s bands like Echo & the Bunnymen and The Church, but at least those influences havent been sucked dry by every band under the sun. The early U2 influence is also there, so itll be no surprise when Foreign Borns songs grow into something more epic. Introducing a slew of new songs, their sophomore album promises to expand upon where they left off with their debut On The Wing Now. Closing with the handclapping sing along Union Hall, they proved that even when the guitars werent blazing, they could make an epic song.
Interestingly, The Music Hall of Williamsburg continues to have amazing shows that dont sell out. Bowery Presents has been booking bands for 2 nights, with 1 at Bowery Ballroom, and 1 at Music Hall. While the Bowery ones always seem to sell out, the Music Hall ones usually have a good turn out, but are far from packed. This is has only added to my love for the venue. The sound is always good, the sightlines are great, and theres never that overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia that I feel so often at other venues.
St. Vincent and Foreign Born will be at Bowery Ballroom tonight for their second of 2 nights in New York. Tonights show is sold out, but if you can get your hands on a pair, itll be worth it.
St Vincent
St Vincent
St Vincent
St Vincent
Foreign Born
Foreign Born
Foreign Born
Photos by [Jonny-Leather]