This posting is overdue and I’m sorry. Since the show on May 14th I’ve been on 6 separate planes, a train from Paris to Amsterdam, traveled hundreds of miles by car and been in 7 different countries. Still, it’s no excuse, the Saint Vincent show was noteworthy and you all need to know about it!

The first thing that struck me was the stage set up for the taping. Most of the time artists forgo their large concert venue set-ups and take advantage of the intimate atmosphere of the Moody theater. Not this time. The stage was built up several feet with built in lighting fit for a large stadium. This “set the stage” for Saint Vincent’s performance, which was impersonal and mechanical. To be fair, I think that was the performance vibe she was shooting for, with flesh color masked bandmates and robot movements. Unfortunately I think the intimacy and vulnerability is what makes an ACL taping so special and she didn’t really break the wall until the show was almost over, during the encore.

Overall the performance was solid and she packs a powerful punch. It did leave me wondering if she has some performance anxiety and uses the “show” as a way to deal with that. Either way, it was a night I won’t soon forget.