Back online, with Stars in my eyes...

Back online eventually, after some exhausting but fun weeks without regular internet connection. I missed several posts, prepared off-line but not quite finalized yet, so bear with me for a little while.

The big event of this past Easter week-end was a concert of Stars at the Georgia Theatre. Stars have a very special place in my indie-pop life. Just before I moved to the States, early 2001, my little brother gave me a couple of CDs of MP3s. On one of them was Nightsongs, Stars first LP, that I listened to regularly throughout that year (and still do, using it as an introduction).

Early 2002, I attended one of their gigs in a goth club NYC, and chatted with them afterwards. Overall, I must have seen them 6-7 times in the course of two years, sometimes in unfortunate but memorable circumstances - a CMJ where all their gear got stolen, another show in Rochester, NY where a botched promotion brought a total of 4 paying tickets, included my ride and myself and the drummer's aunt and uncle, a butt-freezing Valentine's day in Montreal, QC - sometimes in just plain awesome circumstances (with Broken Social Scene later that same CMJ).
Of course, we ended up sympathizing. It's through Stars that I discovered Metric (for a late-night show at the now defunct Coral Room, NYC and its mermaids behind the bar), BSS and consorts, it's through Stars that I met James Husband for the very first time (he was playing tambourine with them at the famous Stars/BSS CMJ show). I hadn't seen them since I moved to Athens: the last times they played in the area were in Atlanta, at times where I couldn't get a ride. So I was quite excited to learn they would play in town.

Early show, Pash (Washington DC) and Martin Royle (from Washington Social Club) were opening. I didn't think much of Pash, seeing Marty again was fun (he played regularly with Stars as soon as 2003), but all in all, I wasn't there for them. Stars then came on a stage covered with red roses that would later be thrown to the audience. They opened with two songs from their latest LP In Our Bedroom After The War: The Beginning After The End and The Night Starts Here (this one marred by some serious issues with the microKorg, Torquil would joke about not being in a folk band afterwise). They followed by Set Yourself On Fire from their previous opus, The Ghost Of Genova Heights, from IOBATW, and many more. Not much from their first works, but a completely new rendition of Going, Going, Gone. I was a tiny bit disappointed they didn't play Peak Hill, but it was a great show nevertheless.

Then, I should have run to the 40W where The Buddy System and Folklore were headlining a nth JammyJam Party. By the time Stars finished playing, I would have missed most of the TBS show anyway, so I hanged around backstage, greeted Dottie a happy birthday (Stars did so on stage earlier), and had long chats with Torquil, Chris, Amy and especially with Evan, about their growth from a four-piece bedroom-electro pop band from Ottawa/Brooklyn/Toronto to the internationally successful 6-piece they are today (Pat the drummer joined in 2003, and a 6th member was backing Amy on guitar), and their uncompromising attitude towards their career. Don't expect any Stars song in a commercial any time soon, they don't want that to happen, they want to keep their credibility intact. Stars are indie and proud of it, and I'm very proud of them. Good job guys, now I'll make sure not to wait 4 years before seeing you again.

MP3s
Going, Going, Gone (Nightsongs)
The Face (Dead Child Stars EP)(good luck finding this one...)
My Favorite Book (In Our Bedroom After The War) (dedicated to whom should have been here)
The Ghost Of Genova Heights (In Our Bedroom After The War)