DAVID BYRNE & ST VINCENT, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Thursday, September 20. Rating: NNNN
Watching David Byrne and St Vincent (aka Annie Clark) onstage together felt a bit like witnessing the baton being passed from an elder statesman of art rock to the next generation of quirky pop genius.
Even though they split vocal duties pretty evenly, and despite the fact that much of the crowd were clearly there to see Byrne, Clark consistently stole the show. As she was the only person onstage not dressed in black and white, it often looked like Byrne was just the leader of her backing band, at least until he took over lead vocal duties.
Their material from their new collaborative album Love This Giant sounded great live, and the large brass band provided lots of opportunities for off-kilter choreography. Often Clark seemed to be channelling a broken robotic vibe in her movements, and it was impressive to see how confident she seemed with the theatrical elements of the production. While she’s a strong performer on her own, in this context it was obvious that she’s ready to command the really big stages as her profile continues to grow.
Photos by Mike Ford
