“I like the comfort in knowing that women are generally superior and naturally less violent than men. I like the comfort in knowing that women are the only future in rock and roll.”
—Kurt Cobain
When Nirvana was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, perhaps the biggest question mark surrounding the band’s inevitable performance was who could possibly replace their iconic frontman. Kurt Cobain had died tragically nearly 30 years before the induction ceremony. Ultimately, the band decided to rotate four singers for each song of their set, with one rule: each singer had to be female. This choice was an obvious tribute to Cobain, given his documented belief that women would rule rock and roll as the genre evolved into the 21st century. The lineup featured established women in rock — Kim Gordon and Joan Jett — alongside newer voices like Lorde and Annie Clark, better known by her stage name, St. Vincent.
St. Vincent’s performance that night came on the heels of her 2014 breakthrough record, “St. Vincent,” featuring singles like “Birth in Reverse” and “Digital Witness.” The album formally announced Clark’s arrival on the indie rock scene. It was a modern parallel to David Bowie’s “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” Like Bowie, who embodied a completely different persona in Ziggy Stardust, Clark adopted an almost alien identity with her white hair and robotic stage movements. With this album, it became clear that Clark would carry on Bowie’s tradition of reinvention with each subsequent release. Her 2017 effort, “Masseduction,” emphasized pop production and electronic music, perhaps influenced by producer Jack Antonoff (best known for his work with Taylor Swift), who shaped much of the album’s pop-oriented sound. In contrast, 2021’s “Daddy’s Home” was a ’70s funk and soul throwback, with even limited editions of the record available on 8-track tape.
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I was fortunate enough to see Clark on the “Daddy’s Home” tour in 2021. Although the album received mixed reviews (which I don’t quite understand — I thought it was excellent), the live show was spectacular. It featured costume changes, props, and even a rotating set. Clark, dressed in a blonde wig and an oversized white coat, portrayed a character reminiscent of Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. She embodied the ’70s rock star archetype perfectly, shredding guitar solos and smoking cigarettes, further proving Cobain’s prediction to be correct.
St. Vincent will bring her theatrical live show to the Michigan Theater on Monday, September 16, this time in support of her possibly loudest album to date, “All Born Screaming (2024),” The album was produced entirely by Clark herself and she compared the making of the record to “taking a long walk in the woods alone.”
The album features Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl on drums, along with a slew of other contemporary industry legends, from Cate Le Bon to Josh Freese. The concert is sold out, but a small selection of aftermarket tickets are available on StubHub.
And consider bringing earplugs — it’s gonna be loud.
