No one does reinvention better than Annie Clark. As singer-songwriter alter-ego St. Vincent, she’s gone from fresh-faced “good ol’ Texas gal” on her early albums to dystopian experimentalist (2014’s ‘St. Vincent’) to latex-obsessed glam priestess (2017’s ‘MASSEDUCTION‘). When the Dallas-raised musician stepped out at Glastonbury’s Other Stage earlier this sunny June afternoon, she was in yet another guise.
Thanks to latest record ‘Daddy’s Home‘, we got ’70s, funkified St. Vincent, dressed in a hot-pink playsuit and channeling Sly and the Family Stone and ‘Young Americans’-era David Bowie. Here’s everything that went down…
Greeting the crowd
“Hello Glastonbury!” Annie said in her trademark Texan twang, acknowledging the Glasto punters for the first time. “Daddy’s home y’all!”
A couple of early bangers
Despite the new aesthetic, St. Vincent made room for plenty of older tunes, kicking off with 2017’s futuristic, bluesy romp ‘Digital Witness’ which soon followed by ‘Birth In Reverse’, another fan-favourite from her self-titled breakthrough record.
Guitar solo battles
It didn’t take long for prodigious guitarist Annie Clark to bash out a bruising solo. Cue this banterous exchange with touring bandmember Jason Falkner.
Slowing it down
After a fast start, Annie slammed on the brakes for ‘MASSEDUCTION’ slowie ‘New York’, featuring he-of-the-big-hair, keyboardist Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
Saluting the crowd
In between ‘New York’ and recent single ‘Daddy’s Home’, Worthy Farm’s resident blonde bombshell charmed the crowd some more. “Glastonbury, I would like to propose a toast to all of us,” she said. “We’ve been through some shit but miraculously we’re all here.”
Rocking and rolling
Annie was in no mood to mess around at Glastonbury. The band ripped through a rapid-fire, 60-minute set that packed in 14 songs. It was full-throttle, pedal-to-the-metal stuff – as you can see from this image, which shows her thrashing through bassy rocker ‘Sugarboy’.
A sunny afternoon
Pilton was under the shadow of some seriously sinister-looking clouds for much of Friday (June 24), but by the end of St. Vincent’s set she’d managed to convince the sun to come out. Clearly a fan.
A suitable sign-off
Annie last played Worthy Farm in 2014 and she alluded to her veteran status when waving goodbye. “Thank you Glasto, it’s been a pleasure,” she said, “as always.”
St. Vincent played:
‘Digital Witness’
‘Down’
‘Birth in Reverse’
‘Daddy’s Home’
‘New York’
‘Los Ageless’
‘Sugarboy’
‘Fast Slow Disco’
‘Pay Your Way in Pain’
‘Cheerleader’
‘Fear the Future’
‘Your Lips Are Red’
‘The Melting of the Sun’