pics: St Vincent, Natalie Prass & Speedy Ortiz @ Outside Lands
photos by Wilson Lee
Speedy Ortiz in the Toyota Tent @ Outside Lands
“In order to maximize your enjoyment,” spoke a computerized voice at the start of St. Vincent‘s set, “please refrain from digitally capturing your experience”: A fitting introduction for a musician whose increasingly mechanized sounds explore what it means to be human. As proven by her Friday afternoon performance, Annie Clark isn’t just an exemplary singer-songwriter and exceptionally inventive guitarist, she’s also a striking performance artist who revels in chilly artifice in order to examine the uncomfortable heat of 21st century reality.
Her makeup both exacting and blurred, her black outfit covered in peek-a-boo holes, Clark resembled Prince looking like Catwoman — and like Prince, she’s confrontationally sexy with a purpose. [Rolling Stone]
St. Vincent was a major highlight of Outside Lands day one, the day that also featured two sets each by both Natalie Prass and Speedy Ortiz. We caught Natalie and Speedy in the Toyota Tent, a stage we co-presented with Stereogum and SPIN. Natalie Prass started the day playing her soulful tunes to a crowd that drew in passberbys in from the churro stands and beer gardens in the distance. She told a story about getting stung by a scorpion in a tent on a camping trip once and so tents now freak her out. Speedy Ortiz ran through their songs with lead singer Sadie on acoustic guitar for the first time in years.
Pictures from their sets and more continue below…
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Natalie Prass
Speedy Ortiz
MAC SABBATH also played Outside Lands.
