It's not often that a show truly blows me away, but Stars' show at Cat's Cradle Friday night beat the odds.As Norwegian singer-songwriter Magnet (aka Even Johansen) took the stage to open the show, the Cradle was already at about half capacity. Magnet's short set was full of folky, soulful tunes accompanied by samples and a lot of reverb. The solo set sounded very different than the full band arrangements on his albums. The highlight of the set was the song "Lonely No More" from Magnet's latest album, The Simple Life. Stars frontman Torquil Campbell watched a portion of the set from the sound board and really was into the set. It's good to see members of a headlining band truly enjoying their opening acts' set.
By the time Stars took the stage, the Cat's Cradle was spilling over with hipsters of all shapes and sizes (including one girl wearing a gold lamé headband and a leather jacket, straight out of the 80s). For one night, the Cradle truly felt like Brooklyn, except with more teenage hipsters as opposed to aging hipsters.Stars' came out on a stage covered in fresh flowers that made the dank club smell like a florist. The band quickly launched into "Take Me To the Riot" from their latest album, In Our Bedroom After the War. The band tore through a 17-song set that included songs from their three latest albums and much of the enthusiastic crowd sang along to every song.
Torquil disappeared before "The Ghost of Genova Heights" only to appear just before the chorus wearing a glowing vest. The crowd went nuts.Throughout the night, each band member would occasionally toss some of the flowers into the crowd. The band radiated positive energy, even during the mellow/darker songs which kept the crowd energized.
During "One More Night," a group of girls near the stage sang the line "she still fucks like a tease" so loud, it seemed to startle yet delight Torquil.
Later in the night, he said that Cat's Cradle was the "best crowd of the tour" and then asked "How far are we from Asheville?" The crowd responded with a loud cheer which prompted him to say, "No, woo is not the answer."The band strayed from the traditional arrangement of "Sleep Tonight" in favor of a more electronic arrangement like the Junior Boys remix on Stars' remix album, Do You Trust Your Friends?
The band, Torquil in particular, seemed to really like North Carolina stating "North Carolina is like the Paris of the south, don't you think? Without all the rude people." He did have one complaint though. He said "Carrboro needs four or five more medium-sized weed dealers. Maybe I can move here, set up shop."After the main set, the band came back for a 4-song encore that brought the night's set list to 21 songs. The crowd definitely got their $15 worth Friday night. Here's the full set list.
Take Me To The Riot
Set Yourself On Fire
Elevator Love Letter
The Ghost of Genova Heights
Bitches In Tokyo
One More Night
Personal
Look Up
Soft Revolution
Midnight Coward
Window Bird
You're Ex-Lover Is Dead
Reunion
What I'm Trying To Say
Ageless Beauty
In Our Bedroom After the War
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Heart
The Night Starts Here
My Favourite Book
Calendar Girl
Stars put on a tremendous show, plain and simple. Next time they come through and most likely play a bigger venue, buy your tickets early. You won't be disappointed.
(all photos by Kevin Norris)
Magnet
3 comments:
They're already playing larger venues than they played on their 2005/2006 winter tour and I don't really see them playing anywhere larger than these clubs and theatres any time soon. (What larger venues are there in NC, by the way? I'm not from the area, but Cat's Cradle seems to get a lot of considerable artists--e.g. Cat Power--who are arguably more popular than Stars.) Anyhow, they'll be back in Feburary/March, so I imagine most venue arrangements have already been settled or are at least in progress; everyone should have at least one more chance to see them in venues of this size. It was a great show.
If they do step up to a larger venue they'll likely head to The Orange Peel (Torquil seems to already have an interest in Asheville anyway), which holds about 300 more people than Cat's Cradle, and it seems to be the go-to place for such artists. Rilo Kiley headed there for their current tour after selling out Cat's Cradle last time and it's been a popular venue for acts like the New Pornographers.
A closer option would be Disco Rodeo in Raleigh, which at last check holds about 2,400 people when they open up the top section. The Faint, Muse and Interpol have all played there and done well.
Then again, they may come back to Cat's Cradle. Of Montreal has sold out the Cradle at least twice but I don't see them moving any time soon.
I'm with you that I'd prefer to see them at places like Cat's Cradle, but if they can play bigger venues I won't hold it against them.
Also, Cat Power may have a bigger name than Stars, but she still didn't manage to sell out Cat's Cradle on her last tour.
Cat Power's last tour doesn't seem to have sold well anywhere, I suppose; she wasn't able to sell out 9:30, either. Disco Rodeo! I think Pat confused this with Cat's Cradle when I talked to him in DC; I mentioned I'd be at the show in Carrboro and he said something about it being the best stop on the Death Cab tour and something about "disco." Anyhow, Asheville seems the more likely option because of capacity, but... I hope they don't choose it; it's too far for me!
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