Stars & Hey Rosetta! @ Vogue -- 02/28/15

Five years ago this month, I saw Stars with Hey Rosetta! opening for them at the Orpheum. It was a great show, which Hey Rosetta! nearly stole, so much so that Torquil even said something along the lines of "that's the last time they ever open for anyone!"
Well, I'm glad that's not quite the case, as the pair of bands wrapped up a Canadian tour with a pair of sold out shows this weekend at the Vogue Theatre.


I was even more excited given the fact that I hadn't even seen Hey Rosetta! live in almost four years.
In front of a giant golden backdrop, they filled the stage, seven members large (eight, when Stars' Evan Cranley joined them part-way thought the set), with everything from violin, cello, french horn, xylophone, members occasionally switching around, playing different instruments. The big band created Hey Rosetta!'s lush, sonic wall of sound, with powerful songs that erupted into a swell of strings and horns.

Starting off with a "Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering)", and lead singer Tim Baker behind the keyboard, a lone spotlight on him before the rest of the band joined in. They grew the intensity with "Gold Teeth" and finally exploded with "Yer Spring", culminating in a jam that saw Tim Baker, now on guitar, taking a running leap off hey keyboard stool. Other highlights included "Red Heart", which had a little bit of "Black Heart" slipped in, and the incredibly emotional "Welcome". They ended with the beautiful "Bandages", starting with Tim on acoustic guitar before the rest of the band slowly joined in.

They played a nice, hour-long set which made it feel more like a co-headlining spot than an opening spot, which was as it should be. And I especially liked the lighting for their set. A lot of it was backlit -- but not so much that you couldn't see the band -- and a few times, they would dim the stage lights with a spotlight on the prominent instruments. It was a nice touch.


setlist
Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering), Gold Teeth, Yer Spring, What Arrows, Young Glass, Neon Beyond, Red Heart / Black Heart, Kintsukuroi, Welcome, Bandages.


After a quick break, Stars immediately got the sold out theatre dancing with "From The Night" the first song off their latest album, No One Is Lost. The amazing energy from the whole band was immediately apparent, especially lead singers Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan. Besides both putting a great amount of passion into their singing, Torquil danced like he didn't care, and more than once Amy could be seen air-drumming along to Pat McGee.

As their shows are wont to do, the set spanned every possible emotion. From the vitriolic "We Don't Want Your Body" to the heartbreaking "Dead Hearts", from the bitter "One More Night" to the gorgeous "Elevator Love Letter", no one can go from love to death, from joy to sorrow, faster or better than Stars.
But the absolute highlight of the set was one of my favourite Stars songs, "Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It". The song started and half of Hey Rosetta! emerged on stage in 80's gear, neon spandex and headbands, with an amazing choreographed dance to go along with the song. And perhaps because of that, if lifted both Torq and Amy for an amazing performance; I actually got chills as Torquil spat out the lines "But if you like it sing along / Sing 'cause you don't know how to say it" and "Take the weakest thing in you / And then beat the bastards with it". 

The set drew to a close after a rousing "Take Me To The Riot" with the opening synth of the title track to No One Is Lost started for the final song, only for Torquil to interrupt and make sure to slip in one more song. And after an incredibly heartfelt love letter to the fans, he got out his melodica for the opening strains of "Your Ex-Lover is Dead", the crowd singing along to every single word. 

For the encore, Amy and Evan Cranley came out alone, joined on backup vocals by Kinley Dowling of Hey Rosetta! by popular demand, for the soft and lovely "Favourite Book", before the rest of the band emerged. They did a quick audience poll for the last song, with "Calendar Girl" winning out, as they ended the night with Amy Millan's gorgeous vocals, and the conclusion of the song seeing Torquil drop his mic, rip out his in-ear monitors, and jump down into the crowd, yelling at the top of his lungs the final words of the song, "I'm alive"
It's ridiculously cheesy to put into words, but there's something about seeing Stars perform live that just makes me want to be better. Seeing the love the band has for their music, for each other, for the fans, even for Hey Rosetta! is quite something, and as long as they keep making music, I will keep showing up.


setlist
From The Night, Fixed, We Don't Want Your Body, Backlines, You Keep Coming Up, A Song is a Weapon, Are You Okay?, Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It, Look Away, Dead Hearts, Trap Door, One More Night, Elevator Love Letter, Take Me To The Riot, Your Ex-Lover Is Dead, No One Is Lost.
(encore) My Favourite Book, Calendar Girl.

Stars w/ Said The Whale @ Commodore -- 04/06/13


It seems like it's been a while since I saw Stars headline a show of their own, and they were back in Vancouver for a pair of shows -- one afternoon all ages show, and an evening 19+ -- with the themes Sex & Death to celebrate the release of their latest album, The North.
And as they wrapped up the tour, they added Vancouver favourites as the opening act, making it quite a nice double bill.

Due to some vehicular problems, I missed about half of Said the Whale's opening set, coming in right at the crescendo of "Big Sky MT".
The indie-pop five pieced was glad to be in front of the hometown crowd, full of energy and getting the enthusiastic crowd clapping along to "This City's a Mess". They also played some new songs, including one that I was quite fond of, a fast paced rocker to end off the set with a bang.

Dressed with a twinge of 80s fashion, Stars took the stage to a disco song before launching into the first track off their new album The North, "The Theory of Relativity".

What I love about watching the band live is their intensity. Especially Amy, with her beautiful voice and great energy (even throwing in a few rock star high kicks), but especially Torquil, who is just as intense when he is singing as when he is simply playing the tambourine (I thought he was going to split his hand open with the ferocity he was playing it), and the raw emotion he pours into every song.

Their set was filled with songs old and new, from the beautiful "Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It" to the anthemic "Take Me To The Riot", with Campbell getting the crowd jumping, bouncing the Commodore's floor, and one of my favourite songs, the heart breaking yet gorgeous "Your Ex-Lover is Dead", actually giving me chills as Campbell and Millan harmonized, with the swelling of the music.

They bookended the set with "Walls", the last song off The North, before coming back out for one last song, "Calendar", another excellent example of Amy Millan's gorgeous voice, and each band member leaving the stage one by one, leaving Pat McGee to finish off on the drums.

I've had the privilege of seeing Stars a few times, and they always impress me with their grandiose live shows. Hopefully it won't be another two or three years before they return.

Live at Squamish: Day One -- 08/20/11

Yeah, I guess the view is pretty good. (Haines & Shaw)
What a weekend. For a second year, Squamish was filled with music and love for the Live at Squamish music festival. Last year was incredible, and it would be hard to top, but the weather held and the gorgeous backdrop of the mountains made it a perfect setting for a festival.

The weekend started for me with a surprise Hey Ocean! set at the Green Couch Sessions stage. They played a few songs that would not be in their set on the main stage later, including a cover of "Be My Baby". After them was Top Less Gay Love Tekno Party, who are always a lot of fun. They ended their quick set with their eponymous song that had singer/guitarist Michael Shindler out in the crowd and playing on a picnic table.
I wish I had caught more of the Green Couch stage, as they brought up some other great local acts, like Redbird, Portage & Main, Rococode and The Matinee, but there was just too much going on. It was a great addition to the festival, though, and I hope they can do it again next year.

Hey Ocean! makes me want to make a new dance up.
From there it was to the Girabaldi Stage, the second stage, for a little acoustic Metric with Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw. I am not sure the reasoning behind the last minute lineup shuffle -- Metric was supposed to headline the first night, but got moved to Sunday and the acoustic set added -- but more Metric is always welcome. They played a few Metric songs, but also threw in some covers; The Strokes, Buffalo Springfield, Shaw taking over vocals on a Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain". The set was good, but I think their acoustic show works better in a smaller, intimate setting as opposed to a big outdoor stage.

At the main stage, the Stawamus Stage, was Hey Ocean!, who always put on a fun show that is insanely upbeat and filled with catchy. Plus, Ashleigh Ball is just adorable. The set included old favourites like "Fish", which had bubbles being blown into the crowd and the set-ending "Song About California" as well as some new ones, like "Make A New Dance Up", which is one of the catchiest songs I had heard all weekend. With a great energy, you could tell each and every member of the band loved being up there and getting to play for everyone.

Stars Take Squamish to the Riot.
Following them was Stars, which was my favourite set of the day. Hitting the stage with their usual incredible energy and musicianship, they played a good mix of old and new, with highlights being "We Don't Want Your Body", the anthemic "Take Me To The Riot", and "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", which Torquil prefaced by saying asking us to "take a minute to think of the ones we hate most" -- but was also sure to point out the breathtaking scenery and setting sun, too. They closed out the set with their hit "Elevator Love Letter" to a captivated crowd, and even though I have seen them live, multiple times and I am never disappointed and will never tire of seeing them play.

It was back to the Giribaldi stage where the plan was to catch the tail end of Shad, who was scheduled to start shortly after Stars. But the stage had been running late all day, so I got there at the second song -- which was "Rose Garden" with Ashleigh Ball from Hey Ocean! helping out on vocals. To be honest, I have never been that huge fan of Shad's music, but I absolutely respect what he does, and he puts on a hell of a live show. "Ya, I Get It" and "The Old Prince Still Lives at Home" were a couple of the highlights, the latter finished with him rapping just to everyone clapping out a beat.

I caught some of John Butler Trio next, listening from the media tent. What I heard sounded great, with amazing guitar playing skills throughout the set, and while I hadn't really heard too much of their music before the weekend, I was going to have to change that.

Explosive dancing and confetti for Girl Talk
And finally, closing out the night on the Stawamus Stage was Girl Talk, who threw one hell of a dance party. I am not sure if he was mixing live or just hit "play" on his laptop, but the entire field was turned into a huge dancing throng -- even those that don't normally dance (read: me). With a stage full of dancers (not professional dancers mind you, but people pulled up from the crowd), balloons, confetti and streaming toilet paper, and music ranging from Lady Gaga to Radiohead, he wrapped up the first night with a bang.
I am not normally a fan of dance music, but his mashups were tight and I liked that he used an eclectic selection of songs. Where else would you be able to hear Nirvana, Modest Mouse and Modern English mashed up with Kylie Minogue, Tag Team and Blackstreet?

Stay tuned (or, the interwebs equivalent of "tuned") for day two of the festival, which was stacked with the mysterious Panda Watch, more Metric and the face melting epicness of Black Mountain, among others.