Live Review: Stars

A warm evening it was at Perth Festival's Chevron Gardens, and how perfect those conditions were for a performance by Montreal-based Stars, a group whose 15 years together has resulted in the perfection of some of the most eloquent indie-pop around.

Renowned for their lush instrumentation, nimble production and mixing, narrative lyrics and soft but nuanced vocals, the band began their set exactly as it was anticipated, with vocalists Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan providing brilliant light and shade in the performance with both their harmonies and vocal solos. Without any sort of self-introduction, the band opened up with The Theory Of Relativity, proving beyond doubt that even after quite some time together, their new album still maintains the charisma that their dearest fans have come to love so much. The catchy synth-pop number blended seamlessly into A Song Is A Weapon, Campbell displaying his supreme vocal talent while the rest of the band members kept up the good vibes.

The only let down for the first few songs of the set was, surprisingly, Millan herself. It seemed she took a little longer than the rest of the group to get into the swing of things, sounding a little flat and looking awkward and unsure about moving around the stage. However, funnily enough, this all changed when an unexpected early-performance of the band's arguably biggest hit Your Ex-Lover Is Dead caught everybody off guard and was met with the most enthusiasm we had seen from the crowd all night. Many in the audience couldn't help but sing along, and Millan found herself having so much fun she tripped and fell onto her back at the end of the song. Admirably, this did nothing but strengthen her confidence as she laughed it off with the crowd and continued on her merry way with a set that just grew from strength to strength, as the band's composure and general presence became more prominent. The crowd cheered for an encore, and the band happily complied with three songs from three different albums before bidding the crowd farewell and vowing to one day return. In essence, there couldn't really be a better time or place to enjoy such beautiful music, and after a show like that, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw the band back here in a few years' time.