St. Vincent channels something primal playing live music: 'It's kind of an exorcism for me'
As sweaty fans pushed up against one another, clutching their drinks and swaying to the music, Annie Clark, known professionally as St. Vincent, was being transported
LOS ANGELES (AP) — As sweaty fans pushed up against one another, clutching their drinks and swaying to the music, Annie Clark, known professionally as St. Vincent, was being transported.
She recounts that surprise concert in May at the Paramount, an intimate, historic East Los Angeles venue, as a kind of “exorcism” that allowed the singer, songwriter and guitar virtuoso to channel something she doesn’t ordinarily have access to.
As the Grammy winner stood on stage and hypnotically manipulated her guitar, Clark spat on the crowd — a welcomed gesture — before leaping into it to be propelled around the dimly lit room, something artists with her caliber of fame rarely do. The show was a preview for what was to come during her All Born Screaming tour, which kicks off Thursday in Bend, Oregon.
Clark spoke with The Associated Press ahead of the tour about the catharsis she finds through performing, punk music’s influence on her and how the idea of chaos informed her self-produced seventh album.
