St. Vincent with Foreign Born - Wexner Center, 2/24

It would have been a colossal waste of talent if Annie Clark, who goes by the stage name St. Vincent, had been content to remain in her support roles for the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. On Clark’s 2007 solo debut, Marry Me, she showcased a knack for crafting orchestral pop that’s a bit too trippy for an iPod commercial--St. Vincent is perfect for those who like a chanteuse more quirky than Feist but not as operatic as My Brightest Diamond.

Not coincidentally, those two artists played the Wex recently, but Sunday night St. Vincent topped them both on the Mershon’s black box stage. It surprised me. For some reason I never gave Marry Me much more than a cursory listen last year, but hearing and seeing Ms. Clark live was mesmerizing. In a black dress that starkly contrasted her ghost-white skin, ruby lips and cherry red guitar, she was a beautifully striking presence onstage amid what she referred to as a “psychedelic forest.”

Clark’s slightly dorky sense of humor made her all the more endearing; she used adjectives like “pretty radical” and told embellished stories about blaring Chicago in a touring caravan of Chevy Camaros. Like her wide range of theatrical facial expressions, Clark’s exceptional voice took surprising twists and turns, all the while retaining its smooth overtones.

But what was most impressive about the show was Clark’s virtuosic guitar skills. She kicked off the set with an extended harmonic intro riff to “Now, Now,” and throughout the night deftly and effortlessly carried or accented the tunes with inventive six-string arrangements. She silenced the room with quiet finger-picking on the encore’s Jackson Browne cover, “These Days,” and filled the stage with distorted dirtiness on “Your Lips Are Red.”

The rest of the band--violinist, drummer and bassist/multi-instrumentalist--provided ornate landscapes that were sometimes noisy and sometimes lush but almost always worked well with each song. Programmed background loops added another layer, but for the most part the four-piece filled the sound themselves. It was all highly orchestrated yet still left plenty of room for spontaneity.

For a few tunes the rest of the band left the stage while Clark entertained the crowd on her own. Her solo version of the Beatles’ “Dig a Pony” was a surprisingly inspired choice; somehow she made the song sexy. It also gave away her love of a great pop hook, which can be heard most clearly in “Marry Me,” probably one of St. Vincent’s catchiest songs. The band extended the song live with a handbell intro that for some reason reminded me of that “Little April Shower” song from Bambi. But before I could conjure up more of my childhood, the song kicked in with sparse drums and Clark on piano. “Marry me, John, I’ll be so good to you. You won’t realize I’m gone,” she sang, then later revealed more of her intentions: “Oh, John, c’mon, we’ll do what married people do… We’ll do what Mary and Joseph did without the kid.” How very un-saintly.

The Mershon stage wasn’t nearly as full as the previous week’s Vampire Weekend show, but hopefully Clark sticks with the solo career. She was made to be a front woman.

Los Angeles band Foreign Born played the support slot pretty well, its set getting better as it went along. The sound was jittery, foot-stomping indie pop led by singer Matt Popieluch and his strummy acoustic guitar. The four bearded fellows used prerecorded loops, as well (creating a background choir to nice effect), but the most prominent part of the set, unfortunately, was a piercingly loud electric guitar. At a quieter volume it would have provided nice counter melodies to the vocals, but instead it drowned out Popieluch and repressed the bass, drums and acoustic deep into the background. Set closer “Union Hall” from the band’s ’07 debut was a highlight, as was a new song called “Vacationing People” that will hopefully find its way onto Foreign Born’s next record.

(Photo courtesy raynach)

mp3: St. Vincent - Marry Me
mp3: Foreign Born - Union Hall