Annie Clark, who performs with band under the moniker St. Vincent, played to a sold-out Metro crowd Thursday night. St. Vincent was in town for the first time since being announced as one of the headliners for the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer in Union Park. She’s still enjoying a good buzz with critics and fans from her 2009 release Actor.

The night began with the Swedish two-piece band Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Singer and percussionist Mariam Wallentin sung and bounced around a stage crowded with instruments while playing several different ones himself—tambourine and the steel drum among them. Andreas Werliin kept the beat up on the drum kit while sampling different electronic sounds and keeping the music going between songs.

St. Vincent took the stage dressed in black and with four members, more than 10 different instruments and multiple guitars scattered amongst the stage. At times the songs took on a minimal tone relying on subtle rhythms and beautiful harmonies that sounded great echoing in the Metro. These rhythms were moved along by her intricate finger work on the guitar and enhanced by at points by flute, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards and electronic sampling. Clark and band kept the crowd’s undivided attention as it sang along. Her guitar work ranged from delicate to banging on the strings and featured fiddling with numerous knobs on a large pedal board to manipulate the distortion.

During one break she took the opportunity to offer a genuine “thank you” to the crowd and Chicago for her last stop in town, which she claims was the best of the tour and one of her favorite shows in recent history. She comfortably joked and laughed with us at times. She teased the crowd as she described Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” before breaking in to “These Days” by Nico. She called Nico’s as a folky, melancholy analogue to Ice Cube’s song about a day in South Central Los Angeles.

For much of the night the hushed crowd remained focused on the band as they played songs from Actor and her 2007 album Marry Me. But as the show progressed more and more moved along to St. Vincent’s melodic and at times hauntingly powerful music.