St. Vincent

The Neptune Theatre

Seattle, Wa

10.13.11

As of October 13th, 2011, I have been to the Neptune Theatre twice.  My first time at the former Landmark cinema was more than three years ago; the occasion being the 48-Hour Film Festival.  My part in our entry was doubly noteworthy for me, because offscreen I wrote the music and onscreen had the enviable role of “nude organist.”  I was more of a transitional motif than a character per se, but it nonetheless featured my first (and only, so far) nude scene(s) in a film.  It was a bizarre experience, to be sure, watching myself “play” organ nude on the big screen.  But, strange as it was, it wasn’t a very vulnerable experience.  The nude organist was humorous and I didn’t feel embarrassed, or as if I’d really lain bare anything of importance.

As might be expected, such a first visit inevitably framed my second.  This month, I saw songwriter St. Vincent (née Annie Clark) perform there.  Since my last trip, all parties involved – Annie Clark, The Neptune Theater, and myself – have undergone changes.  Clark had what she called (in lyric and stage talk) a “Champaigne Year,” filled with unspecified rough patches.  The Neptune no longer just shows movies and has transformed into a burgeoning music venue.  And I’ve graduated from college and have a new group of friends with whom I play music (and hope to for a while.)  These changes imbued my expectations for the show with hackneyed, half-formed thoughts as to whether St. Vincent, a singer whose persona has always been anything but shy, would evoke a certain nakedness of spirit in her performance.  Or, put another way, would her confessional vulnerability be more effective than my physical nudity was to the filmgoers? (more…)