Annie Clark is talented, funny and beautiful. Her finger-picking is lovely, her power chords ugly, her skin so fair, her hair dark and everywhere. She, like the music she makes under the pseudonym St. Vincent, is high contrast, and she brought the entire spectrum of that contrast to her concert at the Rock and Roll Hotel Tuesday night.
The show began with worthy opener Foreign Born playing all-encompassing rock accompanied by wailing vocals. The Los Angeles-based shoe-gazers played songs from their LP, which was released last year after the band first self-released the material in 2006.
The band's sound reverberated off the walls in this tightly packed, nearly too-small venue. It's a long room with a small, low stage and low ceiling, personal but unimpressive, with very few ideal spots for viewing the performance.
Clark began her set with the first two tracks of her album, "Now Now" and "Jesus Saves, I Spend." But the set didn't settle until the third song, "All My Stars Aligned," when her sound went from harsh to soft, drawing the audience in like a soul to heaven.
It was that track that introduced her contrast - her ability to play songs of power and songs of grace.
"[We've got] ballads that'll melt your face off," she said sarcastically, before easing into a gentle melody, more a cabaret number than a face-melter.
Her cabaret style is indicative of a strong theme of love that exists on debut album "Marry Me." While much of it seems darker, tracks like "Marry Me" and symbolic imagery of the city of lights in "Paris Is Burning" make love foremost in the listener's mind. St. Vincent's prominent violinist also contributed strongly to the mood.
However it was communicated, the audience felt the love.
"Marry me!" a man in the back yelled.
"Me, too," echoed another man. She glanced up shyly, blushing, and smiled.
Love can even be found in her guitar playing. At one moment, she is pressing a string as if it's her lover's cheek; the next, she throws her hand in a blur up and down the guitar's neck, nailing each position deftly. Love is in both of those contrasting movements.
Perhaps, it's the contrast of love we find in a St. Vincent show, in the music, in the person, in the electricity. Perhaps, it is that universal theme that sends an audience out the doors with stars in its eyes, lighter and brighter.
Whatever it is, however subtle, St. Vincent is a growing success, one that many music fans are just now discovering. But if her packed touring schedule and plans for more music-making in the future are any indication, another visit to the District doesn't seem too farfetched. But be sure to get in line for tickets next time - Annie Clark has already stolen some of our hearts.