St. Vincent @ Union Transfer.

Text and images by Kirsten Stamn.

Fans at Union Transfer last night made no secret of their adoration for Annie Clark, the beautiful and multi-talented ingénue who hails from Oklahoma and performs under the name St. Vincent. With her endlessly long legs, high cheekbones and bright pink pout, the songstress had men (and women) screaming, “Marry me, Annie!”

Clark is wrapping up her U.S. tour for her third album, Strange Mercy, and has accrued a devoted and loyal fan base in the process. When staring in what appeared to be joyous bemusement at the throngs of cheering people before her, she discussed the reaction to her tour and said with a grin, “You guys are really bringing it.”

More screaming ensued.

Taking time between songs to share funny anecdotes about a music video and waxing eloquently on what it means to fake cry, Clark showed that she was intelligent and informed. Throughout the show, you could see her motioning to the sound crew to adjust the volumes of the instruments or microphones mid-song, all without missing a beat (she took time to thank each of the crew members by name during her encore).

Clark is a natural performer, dichotomizing her performance by singing soulfully into the microphone while staring doe-eyed into the audience before suddenly throwing her body back to riff on her guitar. When playing, it looks like she’s almost battling the instrument, rocking back and forth and displaying an almost pained face that’s contorted with both concentration and pure emotion.

Before closing her show, Clark made sure to thank opening act Cate le Bon (left) for acting as a backup singer during her set.

And as she wrapped up her last song, Clark walked up to the edge of the stage and allowed her fans to strum her guitar, whipping it back and forth and rocking out even with the strings not in her control. It doesn’t get much better than that.