In the dark times, when there was not a whole lot of live music happening, I had this dream — or maybe ‘fantasy’ — that the first band I would see live when things started coming back would be Stars. And while that’s wasn’t quite the case (they weren’t even the first band I saw this month) I was still very happy when they announced their Vancouver show, which would kick off the west coast leg of their tour, mere weeks after releasing their latest album, From Capelton Hill.

First up was Nicholas Krgovich, hand-picked by the band to open the show. Despite being a Vancouver mainstay, I hadn’t managed to catch live in some time, so I was happy to arrive just before he took the stage alone, armed only with his keyboard and notebooks. His fragile voice crept over the (mostly) attentive crowd for a set of soft pop, full of tunes written by himself, his friends, and even a few covers. He joked with the crowd with a charm that bled into the songs, with clever lyrics about dogs, paradise, and more.
He capped off his set with a cover of “Nightingales” by a band that’s a favourite of Stars’ member Torquil Campbell, made evident when shouted from side stage — where he was standing for most of the set — for everyone to “shup up, he’s playing Prefab Sprout!”
It was a delightful set, and I need to make it a priority to not wait as long before seeing him play again.

Not long after, the members of Stars took the stage, launching right into the title track from the new album “Capelton Hill” and playing a nearly two hour set of new songs, old favourites, and deep cuts. From the bouncy “Pretenders” off the new record to perennial favourite “Elevator Love Letter” from their early release Heart and everything between, the crowd was hanging on every note.

With it being the first show of their current tour — and a hometown show for Campbell — the band was full of energy. Torq spat out raw emotion on “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It” and Amy Millan’s beautiful voice rang out on songs like “Ageless Beauty”, and their vocals blended together wonderfully on “Patterns” and “Fluorescent Light”.

Other highlights included “A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife”, which is a personal favourite deep cut that saw Torquil’s voice just soaring over the crowd and filling the room; the entire audience singing along to “Your Ex-Lover is Dead”; and one of my faves off the new album, the Cure-inspired “Hoping”.

They finished off the main set with the intense “In Our Bedroom After The War” but were right back for a few more, playing right up until curfew. First the bitter back & forth of “One More Night” and the dancey “No One Is Lost” — Stars being one of the only bands that can sing lyrics like “Put your hands up if you know you're gonna lose” and have the entire crowd throw their arms in the air. And finally, they ended the night with the final songs off From Capelton Hill, the soft and tender “Snowy Owl”.

There’s something almost cathartic about seeing Stars perform, and that may be part of the reason I wanted to see them so soon as shows were coming back. I think a big thing that makes their shows so special is the energy and the love that radiates off the stage. The band makes it clear how much they love each other, love playing, and are grateful that they can still do so in front of a sold-out room. And that bleeds into the crowd who, in turn, love the songs, the band, and watching them perform.

setlist
Capelton Hill
Reunion
Pretenders
The Passenger
Patterns
Fluorescent Light
Build a Fire
Elevator Love Letter
Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It
Look Away
Dead Hearts
Palmistry
This Is the Last Time
A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife
Back To The End
Ageless Beauty
Hoping
Your Ex-Lover is Dead
Trap Door
I Need The Light
In Our Bedroom After The War
(encore)
One More Night
No One is Lost
Snowy Owl