Live Review - Stars @ Sonar 3/19/08 (plus some Pash)

If you really want to show your significant other that you love them, what do you do? Of course, buy them flowers. Lots of flowers. Maybe shower them in flowers. And when that's over.......MORE FLOWERS. So that means that if you've been to see Stars on their current US tour, like I did last night at Sonar, you might just be in a relationship with the quirky band from Montreal, because they loveeeeee some flowers. The stage was covered in flowers.

Opening up for Stars was Martin Royle. I had no idea who Martin Royle was, but I found out once arriving that he would be backed by DC's own Pash. Bonus! I guess I missed the update on the Pash website that they were added to the tour at the beginning of March (way to go guys and gal!). Royle played a handful of his own tunes, which he and Pash had apparently had worked on for about a week. Mid-set, Royle left the stage and Pash got to play three of their own songs. Despite a badly crackling bass amp, Pash easily stole the opening show, and certainly earned some new fans. They are enthusiastic (especially Erik Bruner-Yang on lead guitar), polished, and have a talented (and adorable) lead singer in Merideth Munoz. Maybe someday soon I'll be able to see more than a few songs.

Stars took the stage to a thunderous ovation, but clearly they had a lightning fast sound check (see what I did there). The sound for the first 5 songs or so was atrocious, and in my opinion barely reached the level of acceptable by the end of the set. The set spanned the Stars library and included many of my fave's, but it was hard to get into the show. I am a self acknowledged audio snob, but anyone at that show had to be a little disappointed. Despite the poor sound, Stars are gripping live. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan trade vocals beautifully and really suck you in with their passion for their songs. They really do seem to appreciate their fans (hence the flower shower), and will likely continue to endear themselves to a broader fan base. Go see them, and be enchanted. Maybe you'll even get a flower.

Setlist:

The Night Starts Here
Elevator Love Letter
Soft Revolution
indow Bird
One More Night
Ghost of Genova Heights
Bitches in Tokyo
Reunion
The Big Fight
Going Going Gone
Midnight Coward
Take Me to the Riot
Your Ex-Lover is dead
Ageless Beauty
In Our Bedroom After the War

Encore:

My Favourite Book
What I’m Trying to Say
Calendar Girl

Mp3: Stars - Calendar Girl --- Website --- Buy
Mp3: Stars - Reunion
Mp3: Pash - The Best Gun --- Website --- Buy
Mp3: Pash - Kill All the Rich Boys II

The Run Down - Wednesday March 19, 2008

Holy crap! It's a jam packed Wednesday for local shows. Here in Baltimore, Georgie James, The Courtesy Line, and Gary B and the Notions play the Ottobar and don't miss Stars at Sonar. In DC, The Cribs, Ra Ra Riot, and Jeffrey Lewis & The Jitters play the Black Cat, Holy Fuck, A Place To Bury Strangers, and Sons & Daughters play the Rock and Roll Hotel, and The Most Serene Republic, Miracle Fortress, and Liam Finn play DC9. Finally in Philly, Tilly and The Wall, Capgun Coup., and The Bee Team play the First Unitarian Church.

mp3: Ra Ra Riot - Ghost Under Rocks --> website --> buy
mp3: Georgie James - More Lights --> website --> buy
mp3: The Courtesy Line - The Lake --> website --> buy
mp3: Holy Fuck - Royal Gregory --> website --> buy
mp3: A Place To Bury Strangers - I Know I'll See You --> website --> buy
mp3: The Most Serene Republic - Why So Looking Back --> website --> buy
mp3: Miracle Fortress - Have You Seen In Your Dreams --> website --> buy
mp3: Liam Finn - Lead Balloon --> website --> buy
mp3: Stars - Reunion --> website --> buy
mp3: Tilly and the Wall - The Freest Man (CSS Remix) --> website --> buy

Stars announce new US tour

Stars, the Montreal crew who like to blast us with amazing vocal harmonies, will be gracing the US with another tour, starting on March 19th right here in Baltimore. They kick some proverbial ass live, as noted HERE. So you might want to get some tickets. Good thing they are available HERE.

Mp3: In Our Bedroom After the War
Mp3: The Night Starts Here -----Website-----Buy

Stars at the Trocadero - Show Review

Stars brought their unique blend of indie pop all the way from their native Montreal to the lovely Trocadero theater in Philadelphia on October 24th, and Evil Homer was there with his pitchfork.
Stars released their fourth full length album, entitled In Our Bedroom After The War, on September 25th of this year. It's a good listen, blending vocal harmonies of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, over always unpredictable changes in tempo and speed. The album flows between the dark feel of "Personal," to the epic and powerful closing track, which is the title track. Anywho, on to the show.

After a somewhat forgettable opening performance by New Buffalo, I made my way to the main fllor to get a good spot. The stage was decorated with bouquets of flowers seemingly everywhere, and artwork in gallery frames that remained lit throughout the show. The house was near capacity with a crowd quite diverse in style and age. After the cursory wait, Stars took the stage. Campell's and Millan's presence on stage quickly focused the crowd on their interaction, starting with Take Me To The Riot. The band was in sync, making transition smoothly. Overall sound quality was good, but both lead vocals were a bit buried in the mix, making it quite difficult to totally enjoy, and near impossible to understand what Campbell said between songs. Throughout the show, various flowers were tossed to the crowd, making for a great visual of the crowd as a garden.

The highlight of the show for me included Reunion, chronicling being reintroduced to an ex-lover. Amy Millan really grabs the crowd, with her smooth and silky vocal skills. The song caries a lot of emotional lyrics, and the live version didn't leave you feeling let down. My other favorite was Bedroom. The song builds so slowly from just keys and vocals that by the time Stars have reached the climax, with Campbell repeating "After the war," and the band full out rockin', that you don't realize you've been loudly signing along. Bedroom ended the main set in style, and solidly put the show into the category of rockin'. I give it seven Homers.

Set List:

Take Me to the Riot
Set Yourself on Fire
Elevator Love Letter
Genova Heights
Bitches in Tokyo
One More Night
Personal
Look Up
Soft Revy
Midnight Coward
Window Bird
You're Ex-Lover is Dead
Reunion
What I'm Trying to Say
Sleep Tonight
Ageless
In Our Bedroom After the War


Song that I don't know and wasn't on the setlist
My Favourite Book
Celebration Guns
Calendar Girl

P.S. RATM tonight. Holla.

P.P.S. Thanx to Katherine for jogging my memory that they did close with Calendar Girl. They didn't include the encore on the setlist, and I'm a crack baby.

She's got a cool blog. You should read it.