Venue:
Confederation Park, Ottawa
Date: 27/06/2026
Gig of the year? Gig of a lifetime?
I made up for missing out on Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival by taking in one of the big performances of the Ottawa Jazz Festival. In Massachusetts Wilco and Billy Bragg were doing the first ever live performance of Mermaid Avenue, in downtown Ottawa St Vincent was delivering something potentially equally historic with the help of the National Arts Council Orchestra, part of a big tour where she plays with a local orchestra in each city
It was a perfect evening, lovely temperature and one of my favourite places to experience live music. I am not really the person to review St Vincent in much detail being not too familiar with her back catalogue, however this was simply stunning, magnificent, transcendental. Incredible singing, brilliant guitar playing and soaring, beautiful orchestral arrangements. I can’t do justice as to how good it was
The audience:
Mostly in rapt attention, few talking idiots near me, who I frequently glared at
It made me think..
I need to investigate Annie Clark more
From a different night::
Wonderful! What a treat to have a night like that thanks to an artist you couldn’t have had such expections of.
Yes, exactly
An addendum:
I didn’t realize she played the Proms last year, and if you are interested you can see the whole show here…