Photo from the artist’s myspace pageBy DCist contributor Andy Hess
It’s unfortunate that Marnie Stern is only really known for her prowess across the fretboard of her guitar. Sure, the spit-fire precision of her finger-picking is easy to admire; but it was the songs themselves that stood out in front of the clatter Tuesday night at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Songs like “For Ash” and “Transparency Is The New Mystery,” while saturated in swirling guitars and manic drums, show a different side of Stern: a vulnerable one.
Even if Stern’s latest self-titled album is full of near-defeatist anthems, you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you’ve spent some time with the record before the show. The sound was pummeling, so many of the lyrics were lost, but Stern and her band were in fine form and spirits. Vincent Rogers, who has replaced Zach Hill on this tour, did an admirable job filling in for the Hella drummer. Having seen Stern play with Hill before, I enjoyed Rogers’ take on the drum fills — aggressive, but streamlined in a good way, helping to showcase Stern’s penchant for melody.
The set itself was rather brief for a headlining act: 11 songs over 45 minutes, spending a few minutes every couple of songs to talk about her vagina, Law And Order: SVU and taking pictures of her dog in front of the monuments in town. Other highlights included “The Crippled Jazzer,” “Transformer” and “Prime” from 2008’s This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That and “Vibrational Match” from 2007’s In Advance Of The Broken Arm.
