stellastarr* @ North Star Bar 2/15/07

I arrived at North Star in time to see both of the openers, but saw neither. Bad me, not supporting the local bands: RunRunner and Illinois. (Monsters Are Waiting did not appear at the Philly show...Probably best for them, as there was a huge snowstorm just the night before.)

One of the first people I ran into inside was Mike. He mentioned that the band always wants to tour this time of year, because noone else is touring. He tries to be a voice of reason, but always gets out-voted. I, for one, am very happy for that.

After I finally made my way into the room where the music was, I perused the merch table, which just happened to be manned by Art! It was as if noone knew who he was, but they certainly would before the night was over. I decided to try to drum up a little business by buying the girl's tee and panties. I promptly went around letting everyone feel the quality of each, but especially the panties. Who could resist touching some strange woman's underwear, really? I know at least one person made the purchase, and that made it quite worthwhile.

I made my way up front for stellastarr*'s set, and nabbed a prime spot right in front of Mike. Watching them set up, I noticed that Art has a vintage McDonald's Eyeore purse hanging from his high hat, and I have the very same one...As if I didn't have enough reasons to love these guys...

stellastarr* took the stage, and came out with two new songs right away: indicated on the setlist as "Sonja" and "People". Shawn's songwriting skills are still in top shape. The vocal harmonies between he and Amanda are more shining than ever. Both songs were amazing, mouth-watering goodies that make one wish they didn't have to wait for the new album. Then, "Sweet Troubled Soul" got the crowd singing along. They followed with another Harmonies for the Haunted track, "The Diver". Shawn announced they were bringing the set back to their first album, and the crowd was treated to "No Weather" and "A Million Reasons". "Warchild" was next, and the sound was so much bigger than the preview on the band's myspace page lets on! Art's drumming especially stood out. Next up were 2 more songs from the first album, both with big guitar openings by Mike: "In the Walls" & "Jenny". "On My Own" was much more subdued than performances I had previously seen, but it was nice to see it standing on it's own as a song rather than a dramatic performance. Finally, the crowd went nuts for "Somewhere Across Forever". After a few minutes of screaming and clapping, stellastarr* came back out for a big encore: "Winter Song" & everyone's favorite chant-along, anthemic tune "My Coco".

It was a strong set, and all of the new songs stood up well in it. It was also the most crowded stellastarr* shows I've been to, which is a good sign that they are gaining momentum as their talent continues to grow.

At the end of the show, I was spent. I had danced, sang, gotten emotional, laughed, and felt that I had given of myself as much as they gave to us. stellastarr* is a band that makes you feel like you are experiencing the music, rather than just watching it being played.