Dallas native Annie Clark, otherwise known as St. Vincent, spent two nights in Austin at the Moody Theater last weekend. The current tour, “Fear the Future Tour” follows the debut of her fifth studio album “Masseduction,” which released in October.

Story by Gabrielle Sanchez

Photos by Alicia Armijo

This tour was a family affair, or as Clark called it a “fam jam.” Tuck and Patti, Clark’s uncle and aunt, who happen to be talented musicians themselves, opened the show. They oozed warmth and pride in Clark, proclaiming that they loved her before she became St. Vincent. They played originals as well as covers of Santana’s “Europa” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made Of Sand.” It is obvious that guitar skills run in the family, as Tuck expertly played guitar while Patti skatted and sang along.  

Then, it was Clark’s turn to take the stage. The setlist followed Clark’s rise into music, taking the audience through her musical progression. She started the show at the corner of the stage, with the black curtains pulled back, opening with  “Marry Me”from her first studio album of the same name. She went on to play a couple of tracks from her albums in succession such as “The Strangers,” “Cruel” and “Rattlesnake.” With each song, the curtains were pulled back more and more by dressed henchmen in balaclavas, until the whole stage was in view. Sticking to the “Masseduction” aesthetic, she also had a woman dressed in a bright blue, skin-tight bodysuit, bring out one of her guitars on stage before playing “Digital Witness.” She sang in front of a large tapestry with the image of a woman screaming and appearing to slowly melt.

She concluded the first part of the show with “Birth In Reverse,” then closed the curtains for a change in costume and stage setup. When the curtains opened again Clark stood on a platform in the middle of the stage with a massive screen behind her. From there, she played “Masseduction” in its entirety. Doing this maintained the cohesion of the album as a complete artwork, while enhancing an immersive quality with video work from the promotional videos made over the last year.

What Clark doesn’t do in dancing and movement on stage, she makes up for in digital visual overload. Images of women in bodysuits with risque cutouts, a smashed cake phone, and videos of women sun tanning in surgical gauze coincided with individual songs. Each song had its own video montage or other visual accompaniment, enhancing the idea that the album should be viewed in its entirety.

Over the years Clark has developed a performing style that seemed to peak in this tour. Minimalistic dance moves and robotic like body movements dominant her stage style. Theatrics also plays a large role, such as during “Strange Mercy” when the singer rocks back and forth as she sings, looking as though she’s on the verge of tears the whole time. She delivers a stunning, thorough and meticulous performance. Nothing seems out of place and everything happens at the right time. Overall, this gives it a seamless quality that can only be delivered by Clark.

This tour marks a big move for Clark as an artist. She appears on stage by herself with her guitar, without a touring band, unlike previous her tours. She maintains a large presence on stage despite her controlled movements and solo appearance. Clark showed off her guitar skills all night, shredding with her eight or so different guitars she brought on stage throughout the set. Clark dug into her Texas roots several times over the concert, even sharing some drunken stories featuring the University of Texas at Austin itself. In the midst of the ‘90s and surrounded by Natural Lite beer, Clark told the audience that she once bought “extra baggy” pants at Goodwill in order to fit a 24-pack and sneak it into an unnamed UT dorm. Another time, she did a keg stand of the beer at a Fiji party, admitting that the beer did “find another home that night.” She reminisced on her love of the city and the state of Texas.

“Masseduction” hits on themes of love, fame, seduction laced in plastic, the objectification of women and also with a deep raw emotion, which her show represented as well. Audience members see the arc of Clark as an artist as she grows into herself and her music. At one point, Clark mentioned how it is easy for humans to recover from insanity. Clark exhibits a power over this insanity, showing that despite the fear of the future, she remains in control.