Stars @ Le National, December 1, 2007

[petronia]

End-of-tour homecoming show, in the same venue as Bebel Gilberto last time only sold-out. Had great balcony seats thanks to Ced and Sunny, who saved us places when the people in front of them left (thank goodness - given how it went at Osheaga I figured there was no way we were showing up at 9:45PM and making our way up front ^^;). Stars totally slayed it, they were clearly happy to be back in Montreal and the audience was into it 120%, one of those gigs where you could feel the energy prickle in the room. They'd covered their gear with flower arrangements - real flowers, red and pink and yellow roses and dahlias - and the stage was decorated with black paper cut-out silhouette art, framed and on easels. Sort of like a high school production of Utena: The Musical. Every few minutes or so a band member would grab a bunch of the flowers and toss them into the audience. Petal flew everywhere; guys caught the long-stemmed roses and gave them to their girlfriends. All in all the second most shoujo manga-like concert of the year, after the Patrick Wolf one (probably unbeatable on that count). And they played a half-hour encore. \o/

(band launches into "The Ghost Of Genova Heights")
Me (to Erin): Don't you think this song is kind of hilarious?
Erin: What?
Me: This song, when I first heard it I was like--
(Torquil bounces back onstage wearing a jacket covered with Christmas lights)
Me: ....

I'd thought you couldn't find a bigger ham than Stuart Murdoch; how wrong I was. But seriously, once one hears them live it's like, why do people with voices like that write songs like this? Indiepop is for mumblers! Not that I'm complaining. XD; Stars songs are immensely easy and fun to sing along with, something I never properly realized until they came to play "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" and it turned out I wasn't the only lamer who knew every single word. XD; In fact EVERYBODY knew every single word. They just held up their mics and had the audience sing the chorus. Also I am in awe at Amy Millan's ability to jump up and down and rock out in three-inch stiletto heels. Torquil Campbell seemed drunk and/or wired on caffeine and I half-expected one or the other to have a horrible mic stand-related accident, but thankfully all ended well. XD; There was some sort of altercation near the end when bouncers came to throw out someone who was jumping about (I think; wasn't in a position to see) and were explicitly told to keep their mitts off by Torquil. ...That really is the best name ever. TORQUIL. Erin was asking if it was real or if he'd made it up like Engelbert Humperdinck.

Setlist (order completely inaccurate between "Elevator Love Letter" and "In Our Bedroom After The War", probably missing a few, general impression was that they played the near-entirety of the two most recent albums):

Take Me To The Riot | Ageless Beauty | Elevator Love Letter | The Ghost Of Genova Heights | Reunion | Your Ex-Lover Is Dead | Personal | One More Night | Window Bird | Soft Revolution | Sleep Tonight | Midnight Coward | In Our Bedroom After The War ||| The Night Starts Here | What I'm Trying To Say | My Favorite Book | Calendar Girl | The First Five Times(?) | (?)

Can't remember what the last quiet one was that they played to rev the crowd down. "Ex-Lover" aside the highlights weren't really what I thought they'd be - "Calendar Girl" and "In Our Bedroom" really benefited from the epic guitar-heavy live arrangements, some others didn't (this is just personal preference, guitar power-pop tends to lose me sonically - I can be grudging about liking this band post-"Heart", in fact, unlike the rest of the universe). And they played up the drama of songs like "Personal" for all they had. XD He-said-she-said is Stars' core lyrical competency anyway, they could sing the Craigslist missed connections page and it would be totally gripping.

No pictures from me alas, but Ced has photos and video up as usual, including the amazing chandelier.

Comments

[serendip.livejournal.com]

Stars are really fun live, aren't they? I haven't been to a gig in forever, I need more gig going friends. And Torquil's father is an actor with Shakespeare training. Torq's papa is in fact the one who does the spoken bits at the beginning of Set Yourself on Fire. So I think Torquil is in fact the real deal XDDDDDD

[dipping_sauce]

It's a real name! I googled it, and it's a Celtic name. Very rare, obv.