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Caught the second half of her set at electric picnic this weekend...yeah, i'm not buying it. I can see why some would love her, but it's she's reaching far and not getting there at all to my mind. It's all very affected and pretentious, if she just left the theatrics out and played the songs, it might be interesting. 2/10
Well, I certainly don't think any of it is pretentious -- that's absolutely the wrong word -- but it is theatrical and affected. That's the point. She's spoken openly about wanting to do something more staged and theatrical for this tour. She didn't do so in the past, and who knows if she'll do it again. But that's what this tour is all about.
Which is not to say you have to like it, but it seems weird to criticize it for being exactly what it's designed to be.
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 12:35 am Posts: 35567
She has the very best (aka 'coolest') A&R/PR people available in Europe. I'm usually allergic to anything the tastemakers push on us via radio or media. She's probably suffered because of that, here at least. She's almost entirely supported by the hipsters and wannabes. (the most fickle audience of all.) She's divided opinion entirely.
As to the theatrics, we have a Bjork. We don't need a low rent copy. Not to be unkind, but her antics really got in the way of the music. It didn't work and that the tent she was in was half empty by the end of her set, bears that out. She wasn't even clashing with anyone major, Beck was mainstage 30 mins later.
_________________ god, it’s like you took my bottom twenty pearl jam songs and added last exit
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 12:35 am Posts: 35567
The Irish Times disagrees with me...no surprises there
Picnic highs: St Vincent - all you can do is worship Peter Crawley
Stylised opera: St. VincentPhotograph: by Andrew Benge/Redferns via Getty Images) Artist: St Vincent Venue: Electric Arena
Date Reviewed: August 31st, 2014 5 stars “You could review this as theatre,” says the guy beside me - and he’s a playwright. It’s one hell of a show. St Vincent, or Annie Clarke before she was canonised, arrives to her stage in a stylised opera and rattles through a series of songs - none simple, all transfixing - with a precision choreography. Without the elaborately zany stage devices of last year’s appearance (such as David Byrne), her set looks a little austere this time around, but she and her band fill it with her favoured animatronic motion, stunning gestures for stimulating sounds. Clarke is an unreal guitarist - actually, her guitar sounds unreal, transformed through an array of tech into something otherworldly. She claims affinity with the freaks, which the nasty strut of Marrow and drifting, stuttering lines of Surgeon affirm. And if the theatrics of Cheerleader or Birth in Reverse suggest that all these wild fireworks are the consideration of a control freak, her utterly fearless last acts - letting the crowd bash at her axe like a piñata, before returning - somehow - wearing a lurid Lucha Libre mask, have a thrilling edge. All you can do is worship. In Three Words: Something completely different.
and a regular punter on boards.ie's response to my review above:
Love the music, have two of her albums and the one she did with David Byrne. I found her set totally sterile and devoid of life, if you'd seen it on tele from Glastonbury or any of the other gigs she's done lately then you've seen this and it's choreographed to the milisecond. Gave up and just left. I don't mind affected or pretentious if it's part of an act and makes sense in the act but this was overly polished and soulless which is a pity as she's such a talent, a bit of roughing up the stage act would go a long way for her.
then
I think she's amazing and absolutely love the music. The theatrics were interesting the first time I saw her and wasn't expecting it, but would be happy to see her dump them for future tours. Her little speech to the crowd was a bit cringe worthy too. However the music more than makes up for that, I loved it.
I left after she made a speech. Was just disinterested.
Oh God…I forgot that. That was the second most cringeworthy moment of the weekend, Outkast girl obviously being the absolute winner in that category.
Disappointment - St Vincent. Self-indulgent and sterile I thought.
So disappointed in St Vincent, she was in my top 3 to see and it was all a bit meh. Not awful but not great but that was probably the only low point.
_________________ god, it’s like you took my bottom twenty pearl jam songs and added last exit
Last edited by dimejinky99 on Tue September 02, 2014 11:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Joined: Wed February 26, 2014 12:08 am Posts: 3085 Location: the afterlife...
dimejinky99 wrote:
Caught the second half of her set at electric picnic this weekend...yeah, i'm not buying it. I can see why some would love her, but it's she's reaching far and not getting there at all to my mind. It's all very affected and pretentious, if she just left the theatrics out and played the songs, it might be interesting. 2/10
What was the speech she made that was so cringe-worthy?
When the new album came out and she started doing the talk shows, I was VERY turned off by the "robot-isms (for lack of a better term)" ... It was too distracting from her amazing sonic assault with an electric guitar. I'm over all that now, and think it's a pretty cool (but hopefully temporary) peek into her personality.
She IS Mad as a Hatter!
Last edited by Iholdthepain on Wed September 03, 2014 4:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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