St. Vincent

Hello internet.
Sorry it's been awhile. I've been going through some personal stuff and wasn't really in the mood to write. But today I woke up and thought it was time to get going on a new post, even if three weeks too late. And what I love most about this blog is that it's about music. Something that can never let you down, something that doesn't wake up one morning and decide that it's "not interested in your relationship," anymore. If anything music takes that and says, okay, now here's a list of songs to get you through your stuff. Listen to how many people have been in your shoes and have written a killer song and come out okay. Music is proof that everything is going to be alright. And so for this post, I wanted to write about a very special experience for me. It happened when I wasn't going through stuff, but it still changed my life.
Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent, played at The Pageant in late May. I got to the venue excited, and stressed about my spot in line, not really knowing what I was about to see, but knowing that it was going to be like no show I had seen before. I had read many articles about her live performances and even watched her do a version of "Rattlesnake" on Letterman, so I was very excited to actually witness one in person.
I always knew she was beautiful, but for some reason when she walked out and the lights hit her, she seemed almost ethereal and unreal. I stood second row, right smack dab in front of her, and it felt like I was looking at something so much bigger than myself. Like she was literally shining on me.

The performance started, robotic and electronic. Her and her keyboardist, another rocking female, did choreographed movements to the songs while they weren't playing. And then they would lose themselves in their guitars and the entire place would go mad. Annie Clark is very seriously one of the best guitarists I've ever had the privilege of ever seeing. By far the best female, and she could definitely hold her own for the top ranking ever. Her fingers flew across the neck faster than I could even process, and yet everything was precise and fluid. She didn't even look like she was holding her fingers down half the time, she would just flutter her fingertips and the guitar would do her bidding. It was beautiful to watch. And awe inspiring, as a female, to watch her command the stage.
I've seen a lot of shows in my day, of course I've seen Paramore three times, I've seen Metric, I've seen Tennis, I've seen other female led bands, but it's a rare thing. And none of those females ever really played anything besides keys. To see a woman shred a guitar, and look so feminine was one of the most incredible things I've ever witnessed. I almost got emotional at one point because it was just so cool. Especially for a person who has always tried to be in a band. As a female, it's really hard to make it in music. I've tried and decided that I'm going to have to do it all myself. So to watch a woman do that for herself and win a Grammy and be incredible...it made me proud to be a woman, and it motivated the hell out of me.

She played every song I wanted to hear except one, but I figured she wouldn't play it at all, so it was no big surprise. There was even a moment where she messed up the beginning of a song and laughed and started again, screaming "You gotta love live music," into the mic. Her set wasn't perfect, it was raw and loud and rollicking and a rock show. There was a point where she threw her guitar into the crowd, and then proceeded to faint on stage. An interesting dynamic between choreography and improv dueled itself the entire hour and a half.  It was all fantastic.
I walked out of The Pageant, holding my new St. Vincent shirt (of course) and knowing that I had just witnessed something very special, and very important.