Live Review: Big Star's Third

Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers is one of those mythical classic albums; an almost lost '70s masterpiece. Even now no one is quite sure what to call it, or even if they should describe it as a Big Star album at all. The only two Big Star members who recorded it were Alex Chilton, the principal songwriter, and drummer Jody Stephens. Now that Stephens is the sole surviving member, seeing him onstage with a collective of famous Big Star fans recreating this chaotic and sprawling album was a bittersweet moment for the audience.

But the joyous, celebratory nature of this show was surely the best way to keep the Big Star legacy intact. With a roll call of guests including local talent Tim Rogers, Dave Faulkner and Kim Salmon, a band put together by US musician Chris Stamey and recent Big Star member Ken Stringfellow breathed new life into the difficult but brilliant Third/Sister Lovers at the Enmore.

There were moments, like Kim Salmon building a glorious cacophony on Kizza Me, the rousing Jesus Christ sung by REM's Mike Mills, and the ensemble-sung Thank You Friends that were loud and fun, a reminder of the roll side to Big Star's rock.

But the very nature of this album – the darkness a damaged Chilton managed to put down on vinyl – was breathtaking when recreated by Dave Faulkner singing the stormy Downs, a song that included Mills dribbling a basketball as a percussion instrument, and a mournful Holocaust performed gracefully by Salmon and Chan Marshall (better known as Cat Power).

Guest artists Kurt Vile and Brett Harris had the Big Star phrasing right; Rogers was clearly thrilled to be sharing a stage with Stephens, proclaiming, “I'm the happiest man in the fuckin' world” before singing O, Dana. Fans even got to hear some Big Star classics after the encore, but this was a night to revel in the brilliance of Chilton and give credit to an album that could've easily have been forgotten by all but a handful of Big Star obsessives.