Stars @ Spectrum, Sydney
Last night Stars played their second of two headlining shows in Sydney. A very excited crowd was PACKED into the tiny confines of Spectrum to witness what I thought was a pretty damn good show. The band just drip energy on stage and all six of them were covered in sweat just minutes into the gig. Singer Torquil Campbell and bassist Evan Cranley were all over the place (or as all over the place as you can be on that tiny stage).
Pulling mainly from their last two records (with the exception of only a couple songs) the band really impressed me. At the gig I realized it had been nearly exactly five years since I last saw them which kind of stunned me. Their music has continued to progress as has their live show. The lush pop of their last two albums was translated beautifully on stage. The Ghost of Genova Heights, for instance, absolutely captured the magic of the studio recording while adding even more emotion to the story – Torquil sang his ass off.
There were plenty of highlights. Elevator Love Letter, featuring the gorgeous vocals of Amy Millan was great but it was the crowd pleasing Your Ex-Lover is Dead that stole the show; as soon as that bassline kicked in the crowd was hooked, bellowing back every word to the band. When the band returned for an encore a hyper-version of What I’m Trying to Say got everyone up and moving and was quickly followed by the last song of the night, Barricade. Featuring only Torquil on vocals and Chris Seligman on keyboards, the quiet number was probably Torquil’s finest vocal of the night and a perfect way to end the evening.
The band seemed geniunely excited by the reception they’ve had in Australia and mentioned that they are planning to come back “soon.” They were in great spirits all night and were pretty chatty with the audience as they used all the Aussie lingo they’ve picked up over the last few days. I think everyone left not only impressed with the music, but with the band themselves. I can’t wait to see them again on Sunday.
Setlist
The Night Starts Here
Elevator Love Letter
Soft Revolution
Window Bird
One More Night
The Ghost of Genova Heights
Bitches in Tokyo
Personal
The Big Fight
Going, Going, Gone
Midnight Cowards
Take Me To The Riot
Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Ageless Beauty
In Our Bedroom After The War
——
My Favourite Book
What I’m Trying To Say
Barricade
Download
Stars – Going, Going, Gone (via)
Some photos I took at the gig are here.
Sidenote 1: Towards the end of the gig Torquil introduced their lighting guy Jeffrey Remedios. He happens to own and run Arts & Crafts and he was greeted with a big cheer. I guess he’s out here with Stars/BSS/Feist and is busying himself with doing the lights. I’m pretty sure I saw someone ask him for an autograph later on. You know you’re a respected label-head when…
Sidenote 2: According to Torquil, Broken Social Scene need weed tonight.
Sidenote 3: Melbourne’s Plastic Palace Alice opened the show and were pretty damn good. Certainly a good match in sound with Stars. Definitely keep an eye on them as they release their debut album next month.
February 28th, 2008 18:44
Superb gig, took me about 3 songs to get into it though.
Torq is so dramatic on stage, I love it
February 28th, 2008 22:02
Eeep – can’t wait to see them at Laneway in Bris. I really hope they play Going Going Gone and One More Night again – my two faves!!!