St. Vincent - Dublin - Oct 20th

Peter File

Superb performance last night. The people going tonight are in for a treat.

pedrozeno

Found the whole thing a bit underwhelming to be honest. Thought it was really lacking without the band. Atmosphere was pretty dead from where I was in the circle which probably didn't help.

The new albums great so it was a shame for me!

mosstin

pedrozeno wrote: »

Found the whole thing a bit underwhelming to be honest. Thought it was really lacking without the band. Atmosphere was pretty dead from where I was in the circle which probably didn't help.

The new albums great so it was a shame for me!

Dunno, I was in the Circle and people seemed to love it. I found her riveting.

Arghus

Sort of in two minds about the whole experience. Mostly feel positive about it.

On one hand St. Vincent herself gave a great performance. It's hard to be the only one on stage all night - well apart from the balaclavad guy or guys who kept the guitars coming thick and fast - and have all that attention focused on you alone for the entire performance. She is a pretty mesmerizing performer, whenever she was cutting loose with the guitar it was glorious.

But, I did find myself drifting out of the gig at times. I felt that the novelty wore off a bit, particularly around halfway through the first half. I couldn't help but feel a little bored in places during some of the songs. While it was cool to see her and her alone, I sort of missed the spontaneity of a band, occasionally. The atmosphere in the crowd around where I was standing was pretty subdued, people were into it, but largely standing still, the only song that really got people moving was Birth in Reverse.

As much as I may have whined there I will say that I thought the second half of the show worked really well. It all seemed to work a little better, with the inclusion of the video screen and the platform. I thought the new songs sounded great, Los Ageless in particular stood out: she shredded it up. Still can't warm to New York though.

So, yeah: I found it a little underwhelming in places and then brilliant in others. I missed the realness of having a band at times, but enjoyed the focused theatricality at other times. I didn't come out of the building feeling like I'd been rocked to my very core, but I appreciate that she was trying to do something a little different.

Sandwell

Like the previous poster I wasn't overly keen on the first section. Performance wise it was really impressive with a definite Stop Making Sense feel but I didn't feel the backing track setup really did the likes of Cruel or The Strangers justice. I think having heard those songs with a full band previously left them feeling somewhat lacking for me in these versions.

However, I thought the second half was a triumph from start to finish. For all the talk of art pop and concepts, I think the new album is by far her most personal and affecting record and this really came across in the live setting. It was really emotional in places and I felt the format of the show suited the new songs perfectly. It was brave, powerful, at times heartbreaking and a gig that I'll be thinking about for a long time to come.

homerun_homer

Anyone catch her directorial debut/support slot? Was it any good?

Rothko

homerun_homer wrote: »

Anyone catch her directorial debut/support slot? Was it any good?

The Birthday Party. I thought it was funny enough. Not great but entertaining.

ngunners

homerun_homer wrote: »

Anyone catch her directorial debut/support slot? Was it any good?

I thought her framing and visual sense were really strong (either building up tension or creating a humorous image) but, strangely enough, it was her use of sound that was slightly off. She definitely has potential as a director though. I could see her making an early-almodovaresque feature with the right script. It's worth checking out if you get the chance.

ngunners

As for the concert itself, I agree with other posters who said that the solo approach worked brilliantly for the new material but was a bit underwhelming for some older songs.

Fair play to her for having the guts to finish a gig with a full album's worth of new material. Not many artists would dare to do that.

While I realise it probably wouldn't have been financially feasible, I would have liked to see her start with the new album (solo) and finish with the older stuff with a full band.

Having said that, the final song and the repeating 'it's not the end', accompanied by the great visuals of annie losing her ****, was a powerful gut punch and a great way to end the show (albeit a bit of a downer).

mosstin

Was nobody from here at the second night then?

ngunners

mosstin wrote: »

Was nobody from here at the second night then?

Yeah, I was.

mosstin

The more I listen to the new album, the more I love it.