REVIEW: St. Vincent with the ASO: Live at Atlanta Symphony Hall - ATL
- Magali Rivera
- 42 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The modern-rock legend's music is intensified through the incredible Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
St. Vincent has been a fixture and force in modern rock for almost two decades now. The musician, whose real name is Annie Clark, was raised primarily in Dallas, Texas and later attended Berklee College of Music before dropping out to pursue music full-time, like many before her. Clark played with The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens before embarking on her own musical journey as St. Vincent, officially, in 2006. Since then, she has been cranking out Grammy-award winning records and timeless art rock hits. She is currently on a live orchestra tour, wherein she played with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra live at the Atlanta Symphony Hall last week.
Clark chose to adopt the moniker St. Vincent because of its multiple personal meanings to her. She wanted a name that was bigger than her own identity, and with that, she would accomplish a lot but mean and intend even more. She is most well-known for her 2015 self-titled album and her 2017 fifth studio album Masseduction. In 2023, ahead of the release of her most recent album All Born Screaming, Rolling Stone named her 26th of the 250 best guitarists of all-time. Needless to say, St. Vincent has held alternative rock in the palm of her hands for years and has no reason to let up now.
Her concert with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on June 23rd exhibited just this. The show started off with a beautifully understated opening set from Ruby Plume, a young Nashville/LA-based singer-songwriter. She has been making waves by opening up for acts across folk, rock, and pop genres, and is known for her sharp lyricism and sweet melodies. During her solo time on stage with just her guitar, she covered the likes of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, along with her own, striking originals. The empty orchestra of instruments behind her foreshadowed noise and energy, but in that moment, the crowd was joyously keyed in on what she had to offer.
Shortly thereafter, St. Vincent took to the Atlanta Symphony Hall stage with the full orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley, as well as her personal band of a guitarist, drummer, bassist, keyboardist, and background vocalists. She had a deep seriousness and plan for the act she wished to portray that night, and it all came out measured and pleasurable. She let the orchestra speak for themselves first, opening with the instrumental “We Put a Pearl in the Ground,” before launching into the bassy “Hell Is Near,” and other All Born Screaming favorites.
Though this show took place at a symphony hall, the crowd grooved and cheered just like a normal rock concert, displaying St. Vincent’s power in not only hyping fans up but keeping them satisfied. She sailed through hits from her first two records Marry Me and Actor, including the piercing “Now, Now” and “The Bed.” She, of course, took opportunities to play out her infamous guitar riffs and solos, showing her prowess both in playing her stringed instrument and singing. As the night went on, Clark began to shed the seriousness of the act and got truly and warmly silly when interacting with fans, even taking a moment to stroll through the crowd during “New York.”
St. Vincent’s music is avant-garde art rock that seems to have been made to perfectly adapt to a full, live orchestra. The most raucous, most noisy and even most timid moments in all her best songs were just intensified by the power of the orchestral arrangement. It was clear by her ever-chiseled yet free look and musical expression that she and the crowd were both intensely delighted by this fact. It must be tremendously fulfilling for St. Vincent to see her music be turned into that masterpiece of a show, which she thoroughly graced Atlanta with that night.
Article by Magali Rivera. Photos by Mikey Smith. Please credit @mts2.photo or @art.seen.atl if reposting on social media.