This post isn’t about gear. This post is about two musicians that I highly respect that normally don’t play with each other to work together on a song, on the spot, with people in the room. Let me go on a tangent for a second, and explain why I wanted to post this video.
I recently saw a band (I won’t mention any names). The band was super talented. The songs were good, interesting, technically challenging and were definitely not mainstream, yet totally accessible by everyone. But there was something I had a hard time dealing with. You could tell that every member was incredibly talented. You knew they were knowledgeable in theory and were very proficient with their instruments. But what the band lacked.. spark. This might be hard for me to explain, but when watching a band live, I love feeling the energy. The energy of unpredictability. The energy between band members trying to keep the train on the tracks. That anticipation of something great.. or something really bad is about to happen. That energy, I believe, is what the audience soaks in. When you watch bands that don’t have the talent or the gear, but there is ‘something’ that blows your mind about them. Do you guys know what I’m talking about? Even in the ‘pro’ bands, that energy is clearly there.
Okay, let’s get back to this video. Here we have Annie Clark (aka: St. Vincent) and Andrew Bird. I’ve featured both of them multiple times on this blog. Amazing musicians with a unique styles. I came across this video where they perform Black Rainbow ( a St. Vincent song ). A stripped down and emotional version. Annie is explaining some of the structure to Andrew and they attempt to pull it off in front of a small crowd. No pressure.
While watching, I felt that spark. I felt the possibility of a trainwreck, but I also felt the possibility of something amazing might happen. Watch the expressions of the people in the audience. That’s what I’m talking about the, the spark ‘of something’.
Let me know what you think by commenting below!
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7 years ago
I’ve occasionally watched YouTube videos by St. Vincent for about a year. I’m just starting to get a handle on where she is coming from artistically. I don’t just freely use the word “artistic” or “artist” to describe anyone that can play an instrument or paint a picture. Artists, by my definition, naturally have a certain magic that goes beyond technical ability.
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I can’t even decide if I like her music or not. Her guitar playing is peculiar enough, a la Robert Fripp, to draw people into her music ….Some of which is soft and vulnerable, while many of her other songs are built around quirky melodies and angular skittering spurts of guitar riffs. The music is very intriguing on it’s own. Add a supremely talented, charasmatic pixie with an angelic voice, and you have St. Vincent a.k.a. Annie Clark. In this video, she explains to the violin player what he should be doing, and when to do it. Her explanation is overly simplified. It leaves us wondering just what on earth this is going to sound like. By the end of the song, everyone in the room is entirely captivated. I’m sure she gets that a lot. its not often someone like her that comes along. An artist that borders avant garde, yet creates music that is inviting and accessible.
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