St. Vincent hit the stage this weekend with an energy that had us all on the edge of our seats, while she clung onto the edge of The Met.
At the top of her set were back to back songs from Masseduction. In “Los Ageless” she asks the question, “how could anybody have you and lose you and not lose their mind too?” This felt like an important precursor for the rest of the show, where it almost felt like we were watching her psyche devolve into more and more madness.
St. Vincent | photo by Danielle Ciampaglia for WXPN
In “Pay Your Way In Pain” a camera operator joined her on stage, in typical paparazzi fashion. The camera feed was projected behind her like we were watching TMZ get filmed in real time. At times he got so close to her, we could see the veins of her neck flexing while she sang.
It was during “Krokodil” that things took a turn. Mic in hand, she walked toward the edge of the stage, where the wall connects to some balcony seats. She tried to climb up, but upon realizing she can’t grip the wall and hold the mic at the same time, she gave up, but not for long. Yelling “fuck it!” she ripped off her mic pack, and much to venue security’s chagrin, climbed the wall of The Met Philly. Once her hands made it to the balcony, she started dangling. There was a group of security on the floor ready to catch her, but she got pulled up and sat next to a very excited family for the remainder of the song.
St. Vincent | photo by Danielle Ciampaglia for WXPN
Watching her struggle to get up while every spectator was on their phone filming it, was kind of the point of the whole show. St. Vincent is the spectacle, and we were just there to watch.
Opening the night was experimental Miami artist Yves Tumor, who started their set with a track so ambient it was disorienting. Shrouded in fog and red light, the stage was nearly impossible to see. I kept looking around at other photographers to see if I had missed a cue, feeling like I was losing time.
This kind of stage presence feels better suited for somewhere more industrial, and less operatic. All of the empty space at The Met made it easy to step out of the world Yves Tumor was creating once you stopped focusing on it.
Yves Tumor | photo by Danielle Ciampaglia for WXPN
They played tracks off their most recent release, Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds). Songs like “Echolalia” and “Operator” stood out to the most, with the synth player talking through what sounded like an intercom to add haunting background vocals.
Whether onstage performing, or scaling the venue walls, St. Vincent’s Annie Clark is someone who effortlessly emanates cool. She plays complicated guitar riffs with ease while singing vocally challenging songs. She’s willing to risk it all, even the potential to break a leg or two, to put on a damn good show.
St. Vincent’s tour continues Tuesday September 10th at the Paramount in Brooklyn; find her full tour dates here and see more photos from The Met Philly below.