Stars Concert Review: The Quintessential Indie Rock Band

Stars is the quintessential indie rock band. Most of the audience members looked as though they liked indie bands. Trust me it’s a look. But then Stars actually began playing music and they’re much more than that. The Canadian group has been making their way around the underground rock scene for years. The title of indie is usually given to bands that only appear on Late Night with Conan or Jimmy Fallon, are nominated for boatloads of Juno awards each year, and are musically and lyrically talented. Since Stars can check all those things off, well, they’re forever dubbed indie.

The plain and simple fact is that Stars rocks. Maybe not in a Bono way but they put on quite a show. Torquil Campbell resides on vocals, slid behind a keyboard every once in awhile and also played trumpet. The multi-tasking Campbell found time to toss flower pedals into the swooning audience as well.

There were flowers adorning much of the stand up instruments on stage and once the bubble machines kicked into overdrive it was clear that there would be no ill will towards anyone at the performance. It was all about having a good time and The Fillmore Auditorium was the perfect spot for what was almost a throwback performance. It’s not that Stars bring a hippie vibe to their live set, although there is some of that, it’s the music. Some of the tunes may be depressing ballads but for most of the night it stayed upbeat.

Stars did open for Coldplay last year and could be compared to the super group. They have yet to be heard by the masses but their fans are obsessive and loyal. The Fillmore was near capacity and the meet and greet before the show was filled with adoring audience members that were thrilled to be breathing the same air as the Stars gang.

Stars put on an entertaining live show that mixed some Lady Gaga showmanship with a Phoenix vibe. All in all this is a can’t miss band. A band that Bill Graham would’ve most likely approved of.

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *