St. Vincent Live

The pinnacle of Noise Pop took place on Friday at the Great American Music Hall, with quirky songstress St. Vincent headlining the night. While the majority of the night’s anticipation was reserved for her performance, the acts leading up to it were by no means shabby.

Bringing the show to a smooth and steady start was That Ghost, a lo-fi ensemble that was easy on the eyes and ears while fans slowly filtered their way into the venue. It seemed as though they were playing the role of the opening band meant to gradually and progressively build the excitement of a show over time.

The band to follow was Rafter, which was the very embodiment of nerdy adorableness. The singer’s rectangular, black-rimmed glasses, robot voice effects, and awkward yet endearing gesticulations only added to the performance appeal of this geek-gone-wild. Lead singer Rafter Roberts started one song off idealistically enough, stating that it was about “sex and love,” then launched into dynamically driven lyrics about taking your heart out of your chest, throwing it on the floor, and stomping on it. With this song and others, the best part was that he paired the words he sang with some of the most entertainingly exaggerated motions I’d seen on stage in a while.

Next in line was Cryptacize. With soft, airy vocals and a curious chemistry taking place between the singer and guitarist, this band had a certain eccentric presence that made them mesmerizing to watch, even if they did not provide the energy to be conventionally engrossing.

Once St. Vincent took the stage, her magnetic personality and otherworldly quality created a sort of tunnel-vision in the venue, making it hard to pull my eyes away from the stage long enough to buy another drink. She herself seemed so genuinely caught up in the experience of fusing together music that it was almost as though the very air around her became denser with pulsating energy just from being in the vicinity. Premiering her new song “The Strangers” added to her positive reception from a group of already adoring fans.

While her signature sound often maintains a cool, controlled façade, the real beauty of it lies in the unpredictable surges that suddenly break through the surface, with forceful stomps, eruptions of intense emotion, and the occasional feeling that the music was playing her instead of the other way around.