St Vincent headlined the Bowery Ballroom on Friday night and Candian chanteuse Basia Bulat played the opening slot. Now if you’re if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know who I really went to see.

Basia Bulat at the Bowery Ballroom (02/29/08)

Once again, Basia opened the show with a solo a cappella number (which I later learned, is actually a traditional tune). She played most of the tracks off of her just (domestically) released record, Oh, My Darling and one Daniel Johnston cover, (“True Love Will Find You In The End”). Now some Johnston purists may find this offensive, but I usually enjoy a Daniel Johnston song much more when someone else sings it, and this cover was no exception. “Snakes and Ladders” and “I Was A Daughter” are probably my two favorite tracks on the album, and once again I think they were also my favorite songs live. Though not my favorite track on the album, I enjoyed hearing “In The Night” live more this time around, it’s playfulness is a bit of a nice break from some of the other more serious (dare I say melancholy) songs in the set. All in all, I think Oh, My Darling is a very impressive debut record, and even though we’re just getting a taste of it now stateside, it’s been around for awhile in Canada (and Japan), so I figure it won’t be long before we start hearing some more great material from this young Londoner.

St Vincent at the Bowery Ballroom (02/29/08)

Photo courtesy of The Modern Age

Here’s what Laura had to say about St. Vincent:

The night was full of the usual impeccable song interpretations. Just like other great live powerhouse performers like the White Stripes and Ryan Adams, Annie Clark constantly reinvents her own songs during her live show. But the set was not limited to her own material, she put on almost unrecognizable, but no less stunning, cover versions of “Dig a Pony” by The Beatles and “Ring My Bell” by Anita Ward. [The Modern Age]

Yes, Foreign Born played too, but I missed their set, d’oh.