Last Week Live: Stars

“We started out just wanting to get drunk and do drugs with each other and now we’re raising kids on this [music],” Stars lead singer Torquil Campbell shouted to the crowd at Rams Head Live last Thursday near the end of the band’s energy filled set. This quote emphasized how much of a family the band was. While they loved performing for the audience, they have been making music together for so long that they probably would have had just as much fun harmonizing and jamming out on their own.

The night started off, however, with a much younger tight-knit group, Milo Greene. The low-key quintet from Los Angeles sounded the best when everyone was harmonizing at the same time, especially during “What’s the Matter,” which is the first song on their self-titled debut album that came out last year. Another hit during their set was “Don’t You Give Up On Me,” which really picked up in energy during the chorus. They were all pretty in sync with each other. Each member, except for the percussionist, sang and played multiple instruments. Vocalist Mariana Sheetz stood out especially for her ethereal sound during “Perfectly Aligned,” though it was unclear as to why she was wearing an oversized ski jacket.

After about a half-hour, Aretha Franklin’s “Who’s Zoomin Who,” came on the speakers as the members of Stars came on stage, singing and dancing to the music. They opened their set with “The Theory of Relativity,” which is the first song on their newest album, North. This was a great choice for the first time, because it not only showcased North, but showed that the band is even better in person. This was especially noticeable in singer Amy Millan’s voice, which comes across as sweet in the album, but sounds much stronger in person.

The band then paid homage to their older fans by playing “Ageless Beauty”, “Death by Death” and “Reunion,” which are all from much older albums. They had a great stage presence, especially Millan and Campbell, who not only have chemistry when they sing, but when they are bantering in between songs. Their voices work extremely well together when they are singing the same part, but sound even better when they are singing completely different notes and lyrics, which happens in songs like “Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It.”

Millan was fun to watch in general, as she would often jump up and down as her songs got more energetic. She always seemed like she was creating music even when she wasn’t singing, especially in “Reunion,” where she would mouth the words or make hand motions to the beat. This added to the atmosphere of the song, even when she wasn’t making a single sound.

Stars went back to the present by singing “North,” which Campbell introduced by saying, “Obviously Baltimore is f**king insane, where we come from is also insane … [so] this song is dedicated to Baltimore.” Though the atmosphere was already energetic, the synth transition allowed for the energy to grow even more.

Stars lost some of this buildup when they tried their new song, “The Light.” It was obvious that it was one of their first times performing it together, as they weren’t as in sync with each other as they usually were.

Campbell then explained that the tour was called “sex and death” as Stars launched into “Do You Want To Die Together,” which is another instance where Campbell’s loud, strong voice blended perfectly with Millan’s purer sound. This theme continued with “Going, Going, Gone,” with creative lyrics such as “I died so I could haunt you,” and one of the group’s most popular songs, “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead.” Millan and Campbell then argued about whether “Lights Changing Colour,” was about death or not, with Millan finally retorting,” I love people who are alive and people who are dead.”

Their set ended with hits “Hold On When You Get Love” and “Take Me to the Riot.” After the group exited the stage, Millan came back on with the newest member of the group, the guitarist, telling him that “you’re going to be old with us forever” before she sang “My Favourite Book.” The rest of the band came on stage and were practically forced to sing “Personal” after an audience member told them he had a tattoo of it. After doing a few more songs, they finished by singing “The 400” and sitting in a row on the stage together. This showed how much of a family the band was, as they were singing to each other more than the audience. As the song ended, they left the stage one at a time.

- Rachel Witkin