B-More Indie Sound

Concert Review – Stars – March 7^th, Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD

I should be ashamed of myself.  To be a respectable blogger on Indie music someone should devote a certain amount of time to listening to new music and album releases, stay current on the latest music news, and go to concerts regularly.   Let’s just say I am failing in most categories right now…..for shame.

But the good news is that while a work schedule and other commitments are hampering my time with Indie music, I was able to catch the band Stars when they visited Baltimore on the 7^th.

Playing at Rams Head Live, here was the set list for Stars:

• “Theory of Relativity” – The North
• “Ageless Beauty” – Set Yourself on Fire
• “Death to Death” – Heart
• “Reunion” – Set Yourself on Fire
• “The North” – The North
• “Backlines” – The North
• Unknown Song
• “Do You Want to Die Together” – The North
• “Progress” – The North
• “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” – Set Yourself on Fire
• “Set Yourself on Fire” – Set Yourself on Fire
• “Going, Going, Gone” – Nightsongs
• “I Died so I Could Haunt You” – The Five Ghosts
• “Lights Changing Color” – The North
• “Dead Hearts” – The Five Ghosts
• “Elevator Love Letter” – Heart
• “Tru” – Nightsongs
• “Window Bird” – In Our Bedroom After the War
• “Hold on When You Get Love & Let Go When You Give It” – The North
• “Take Me to the Riot” – In Our Bedroom After the War
• “Walls” – The North

Encore

• “My Favorite Book” – In Our Bedroom After the War
• “Personal” – In Our Bedroom After the War
• “A Song is a Weapon” – The North
• “Calendar Girl” – Set Yourself on Fire
• “The 400” – The North

    

*% below represents the metacritic scores for the albums listed

Feb 27, 2001 – N/A

- “Going, Going, Gone”

- “Tru”

Feb 11, 2003 – 80%

- “Death to Death”

- “Elevator Love Letter”

Mar 8, 2005 – 81%

- “Ageless Beauty”

- “Reunion”

- “Your Ex-Lover is Dead”

- “Set Yourself on Fire”

- “Calendar Girl”

Sept 25, 2007 – 70%

- “Window Bird”

- “Take Me to the Riot”

- “My Favorite Book”

- “Personal”

Jun 21, 2010 – 70%

- “I Died so I Could Haunt You”

- “Dead Hearts”

Sept 4, 2012 – 70%

“Theory of Relativity"

“The North”

“Backlines"

“Do You Want to Die Together"

“Progress”

“Lights Changing Color"

“Hold on When You Get Love & Let Go When You Give It"

“Walls"

“A Song is a Weapon"

“The 400"

      

      For those who don’t know, Stars is a Canadian band based in Montreal, Quebec.  They have been active in recording and releasing albums since 1999 when friends Torquil Campbell (lead singer/songwriter) & Christopher Seligman (keyboardist) first started the band.  Band members Evan Cranley (bassist) and Amy Milllan (singer/guitarist) would eventually join before the release of Stars’ first album, Nightsongs.  Pat McGee (drummer) would join for the follow up album Heart.

  

      Supporting their 6^th studio album, The North (released Sep 4, 2012), Stars could have been caught at Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD last Thursday.  This venue allowed for a more intimate interaction with the band and concert goers.  In fact, at one point fans requested that Stars play a song and the band obliged after some witty banter between the band members and crowd.

      Stars’ music is a blend of electronic-pop and rock, which when combined gives their sound a cool groove that is highly danceable.  One of the highlights for me was definitely catching sights of Stars fans contorting themselves into interesting shapes while listening to the sound.  So, while a hard rock fan may mosh, a Stars fan will awkwardly dance.

      One on the defining characteristics of the band and their music is the interaction between singers Torquil Campbell & Amy Millan.  Most of their songs are performed as duets and the on-stage theatrics add to the live performance of the songs (think along the lines of Grease with characters Danny and Sandy).  It doesn’t hurt that Campbell is an actor with two parents who are also actors; Shakespearean actors to be more accurate (I kind of want to hold up a monocle and revert to a bad British accent all of a sudden).

  

      Not being a fan of the band and knowledgeable of their history, I can still confidently say that Stars’ success owes a lot to Campbell’s persona and energy.  I don’t think their music or live show could be pulled off without him.  In fact, during the show I turned to me friend to ask if Campbell and Millan were in a relationship.  Turns out Millan is married to Stars member Evan Cranley and Campbell to actress Moya O’Connell.  Point being, Campbell and Millan were very believable as the couples who storylines were being song about in the songs.

      The concert saw Stars play a mixture of old and new material, from each era of the band.  Obviously, the focus was on their latest effort, The North, with ten songs being played from that album, but love was given to other albums like Set Yourself on Fire and In Our Bedroom After the War; five and four songs played respectively for each of those albums.

      In all, Stars played a set list that included 27 songs.  No fan of theirs has the right to be disappointed from this concert as that is a workmanlike performance.  You have to give it up to a band willing to play that many songs for close to two hours. 

      The highlight of the concert, by far for me, was the performance of “Hold on When You Get Love & Let Go When You Give It”.  Not only were all the members in the band fully giving themselves to the performance of the song but it was the first time all night that everyone in the crowd seemed to be energized by a song; a symbiotic relationship between the band and crowd was formed in a swell of passion and energy that created a great moment.  That moment caught me jumping up and down with other Stars fans in joyous unison and my friend describing the feeling of the moment as “palpable”.

      That moment is even more impressive considering Stars just arrived back from touring in Asia and playing multiple shows in the past week.  Campbell and Millan were noticeably tired at certain points of the concert.  Campbell at one point stating that after all the touring he felt like an “empty shell”.  Millan too had her moment as she actually yawned during the performance of “Elevator Love Letter”.  Apparently rocking out hard can be boring for those who have done it multiple times in a week haha.

      The biggest impression this concert and the band Stars left me is that this is a group of tightly knit people who enjoy writing and playing music for a living.  Having had their moment as the “It” Indie band back in 2005 with Set Yourself on Fire, it seems Stars could be headed for the twilight of their career (most members are closing in on 40). 

   

      However, the band that I saw last Thursday definitely has enough vigor left to keep up with bands half their age.  A touching moment during the last song, “The 400”, had most members sitting down together on the stage performing, with Millan leaning and placing her head on her husband’s shoulder.  All these actions being indications of people who are comfortable with each other and who have been doing this for a while together; thankful for another successful concert and although tired, ready to move on to the next city.

      Now for the verdict on the concert, here at B-More Indie Sound we will rate concerts on a scale from 1 - 5.  A five being a concert that is on par with Woodstock and a one being the Britney Spears concert your parents forced you to go to in Middle School (not talking about myself, I swear).

      3/5 Woodstocks – Concert was enjoyable for a non-fan and I would recommend people seeing Stars live in concert if they are looking for something to do, however, the concert itself was not a culturally defining moment in history.

      Concert Wisdom – Sometimes it pays to show up later to a concert and after the opening act.  My friend Steve was able to score a free ticket from a drunk girl who had purchased two extra tickets for no reason.  Me, having showed up on time and purchased my ticket 10 mins earlier, did not get a free ticket….go figure.