Stars
Metro Chicago
2/17/6
It was freezing cold in Chicago tonight but I still lined up early before doors to ensure a good spot to see Stars, one of my favorite bands (can you feel the love tonight, people? Can you? Can you?!) I’ve seen Stars four times now ever since they started touring for Nightsongs and their lyrics and melodies have really become a part of me in some way. You get them caught in your head and you remember something, even if it’s just when you first heard that song.
Stars have really come into their own as a band, although I’ll always have a soft spot for Nightsongs. The songs on their recent album, Set Yourself On Fire, really show them to be a band that can write songs about love, lust, regret, and politics in a way no other band quite can.
Stars have also grown as a live band and you could tell tell Torquil especially was thrilled to be playing a sold out show in front of an awed crowd. They’ve really come a long way and at one point during the encore, Torquil and Amy asked if any of us in the audience had seen them at Schubas and I cheered so emphatically I almost toppled over the balcony (not only was I one of those 30 people who saw them on their Nightsongs tour but I still wear the Stars tank top I bought at that show that had Stars written on it in blue permanent marker)
Overall, they played a much larger mix of old and new songs with a balance between the heavier songs and their lighter more upbeat material. They came on with accompanying lamps that added a sort of magic and many of the songs were complimented with extra violin parts. After opening with their usual intro (I’m not sure the actual title but the theme is: “Stars are out tonight”), they played “Reunion” off of Set Yourself on Fire with Torquil and Amy singing the chorus so close and sweetly to eachother: “All I want is one more chance to be young and wild and free. All I want is one more chance to show you, you were right for me.” After this, they played a rocking out version of, “Death to Death” off of “Heart,” which I incidentally have never heard them play live before so that was a real treat. Continuing the trend of playing older songs, they played one of my favorite songs off of Nightsongs: “Going Going Gone” with nice extra violin added at the end when Amy sings: “All I see, yeah yeah is me everywhere. It’s me.” They continued with “Heart” followed by their joyfully anthemic “The Comeback” before returning to their most recent album Set Yourself on Fire with “Soft Revolution.” Torquil also joked around a bit at this point saying it would be a while before Stars toured again because the Polyphonic Spree had disbanded and Stars were taking all of its members so some retooling needed to be done. Torquil assured us, however, that he refused to wear one of their robes. It was nice to see that even playing a larger club, he still hadn’t lost some of his albility to be candid while relating to the audience. But even after this joke, he somberly introduced “Life Effect” off of Heart by saying” This is a song about really sad things.”
Perhaps the highlight of the night was when they covered Bruce Spingsteen’s “Hungry Heart” and man can that Amy Millan play a mean harmonica! The follow up to this was almost as good, though, with a passionate “What I’m Trying to Say” with the fantastically touching chorus: “I am trying to say what I want to say without having to say I love you.” They toned it down immediately afterwards with the fragile and very embittered, “One More Night” off of Set Yourself on Fire but followed this up with the more positively uplifting, “Ageless Beauty.” It’s a good thing too because the next song they played was the more tragic, “The Big Fight” with an added echo at the end done by Amy asking repeatedly, “What’s the word got in store for us?” Nearly at the end of the main set, Torquil led an incredibly bitter version of “He Lied About Death,” which becomes more intense every time they play it live. This time, Torquil dedicated it to Cheney who, he joked, finally had the guts to kill someone with his own two hands. They ended the main set with “Your Ex-Lover is Dead.”
Of course, their loyal fans couldn’t let it end there so they ended up playing a three song encore including the very sexy, “The First Five Times,” the older “Elevator Love Letter” off of “Heart” and “Calendar Girl” off of Set Yourself on Fire to completely close off the night with the emphatic proclamation at the end: “I’m Alive!” It recalled the ending of Coupland’s Girlfriend in a Coma it was that good (and if you don’t know what I mean because you haven’t read Girlfriend in a Coma, for heaven sake, drop what you’re doing right this second and go read it without delay!)
Complete Setlist:
Their opening Stars are out tonight intro
Reunion
Death to Death
Going Going Gone
Heart
The Comeback
Soft Revolution
Life Effect
Hungry Heart (Bruce Springsteen cover)
What I’m Trying to Say
One More Night
Ageless Beauty
The Big Fight
He Lied About Death
Your Ex Lover is Dead——-
encore:
The First Five Times
Elevator Love Letter
Calender Girl
Here is their myspace page where you can here some of their songs.
Here is their Official Arts& Crafts Page