Stars: Set Yourself On Fire 20th Anniversary @ Vogue Theatre -- October 23, 2024

In 2004, a band from Montréal released what would end up being one of my favourite albums*. Now, 20 years later, Stars are on tour celebrating the anniversary of their seminal record, Set Yourself on Fire, and last night they returned to Vogue Theatre in Vancouver for a sold out show.

Opening for the west coast leg of their tour was an old friend of the band, Kevin Drew. The Broken Social Scene singer came out alone with his acoustic guitar, grateful to be there before starting off with the old KC Accidental instrumental “Residential Love Song”.

A couple songs in, he was joined by fellow BSS-er, David French on sax to accompany him on “Can't Find My Heart”, before launching into “World Sick” as Drew’s voice soared through the room. He chatted between songs, talking about his history with Stars as well as his admiration for Gord Downie, spurred by the recent documentary, even dedicating “Party Oven” off his recent album Aging to Gord’s kids. He switched from guitar to keys with “Sweetest Kill” before squeezing in one more song, “Good Sex” as French jamming along.
Drew is always a captivating performer, whether with a full band or solo, and he had the whole sold out room in a hush during his all-too-short set.

It wasn’t long after that before Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Chris Seligman, Patrick McGee, and Chris McCarron hit the stage — joined by French on sax and a violinist (who I missed the name of) — and the familiar introduction rang out: When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.

Though, the show got off to a bit of an auspicious start; mere moments into “Your Ex-Lover is Dead”, Torq stopped cold because he spotted someone near the front in trouble. After passing out some water, and making sure they were okay, the song restarted and kicked off the show with the huge singalong to the perennial favourite, chills going through the room -- and not for the last time.

Celebrating Set Yourself on Fire, Stars went through the entire album track by track, from love & sex to war & death; the gorgeous voice of Milan on “Ageless Beauty” and the playful “First Five Times” to the bitter “One More Night” and the absolutely stirring “He Lied About Death”, the stage lit blood red as the song built to a chaotic finish, Pat going bonkers on drums. Torquil stalked the front of the stage for the anthemic “Soft Revolution”, before the last song of the album (but not the last song of the night, “cos we’re fucking professionals” they joked) as they stepped off mic and Amy conducted the entire theatre to a beautiful singalong of “Calendar Girl”

Honestly, I would have been satisfied if they had ended there, but they promised a few more “bangers”, going into the raw emotion of “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It” and the incredibly danceable “We Don’t Want Your Body”. After teasing they would be back in just a few months time, the band belted out ever-relevant “Take Me to the Riot” followed by another singalong to an old favourite, “Elevator Love Letter” capping off the main set.

But the lights stayed dimmed and they were soon back with the haunting “Dead Hearts” and “The Passenger” dedicated to Torquil’s daughter, niece, and nephew in the crowd, and finally ending the nearly-two-hour set with “From the Night”.

During his opening slot, Kevin Drew talked up his long-time friendship with Stars, saying he had never met a more passionate band. And this night was a perfect example. Even without the tangible proof of Torq stopping the show to make sure someone was okay, you could feel the love pouring off the stage. Love each and every member has for each other, for their music, and espeially for the fans. And a love that the sold out room very much reciprocated.

Stars setlist
Your Ex-Lover is Dead
Set Yourself on Fire
Ageless Beauty
Reunion
The Big Fight
What I’m Trying to Say
One More Night
Sleep Tonight
The First Five Times
He Lied About Death
Celebration Guns
Soft Revolution
Calendar Girl
Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It
We Don’t Want Your Body
Capelton Hill
Take Me to the Riot
Elevator Love Letter
(encore)
Dead Hearts
The Passenger
From the Night

Kevin Drew setlist
Residential Love Song
You in Your Were
Can't Find My Heart
World Sick
Party Oven
Sweetest Kill
Good Sex

Stars @ Hollywood Theatre -- June 04, 2022

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

Stars @ Vogue Theatre -- 06/12/18

Hot off their latest album There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light (plus two other recently-released singles) Stars started the second leg of their tour on the west coast, with a show at the Vogue here in Vancouver. Before the tour, they had been warning it may be the last time they're here in a long time, so I knew there was no way to miss it. 

I got to the Vogue a couple songs into the opener, Shamir. With a countertenor voice, his songs stretched over a variety of sounds, but still all felt connected. From shoegaze to fuzzy pop, early-00’s indie to beachy vibes, he effortlessly spanned genres with standouts like "Glass", which he introduced as about fake friends, and "Straight Boys" about, well, I’m sure you can figure that one out. He put on a strong set, and definitely made me want to check out his latest album, Resolution.

After some songs clearly curated by the band (including their pals The Dears) Stars hit the stage to some violin, asking the crowd to "come out with me tonight" as they launched right in to "Fluorescent Light" from the latest album. From there, the wound through over fifteen years of music, hitting at least one song off each major release.
From Amy Millan’s voice shining on "Alone" and "Ship to Shore" to Torquil Campbell’s vicious intensity in "Take Me To The Riot", the whole band’s energy and passion was apparent throughout the night. 

The group has previously joked that most of their songs are about love or death, and that was no more apparent that a two-song hit of the absolutely heartwrenching "Dead Hearts", where they asked everyone to raise a fist to our own ghosts, followed immediately by the beautifully uplifting "Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It", the crowd singing along with abandon.
The whole night, in fact, they had the crowd yelling, clapping, and bouncing to their songs. I am certain there are few other bands in the world that would get a packed theatre to comply when they sing “Put your hands up 'cause everybody dies” on the title track to No One Is Lost, which closed out the main set. 

As the lights pulsed it was obvious they would be back, but they made us work for it, eventually returning – Torquil in a shirt reading 'Fuck the Clock' – and going into the bitter back & forth of "One More Night", and "Wanderers" off the new album, written for Gord. After some nice words for the city and the plea “We’re Stars, don’t forget us”, the familiar strains of "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" started, once again getting the entire room singing their hearts out to the fan-favourite. 

It was a perfect ending, and as the lights came up and “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn started playing -- another sign they might not be back for a while? But regardless, it was a great night and I know at least one person who will be patiently waiting for their return, whenever it may be.

setlist
Fluorescent Light
Ageless Beauty
Alone
Ship to Shore
Elevator Love Letter
The Theory of Relativity
Take Me to the Riot
Real Thing
Privilege
Dead Hearts
Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It
Backlines
One Day Left
Trap Door
No One Is Lost
(encore)
One More Night
Wanderers
Your Ex-Lover Is Dead

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.