This was decent banter away from a perfect show.
Oh, okay, I can write more.
I can't believe I haven't seen Stellastarr* before (ridiculous asterisk and all). I'm even more astounded that they consider themselves New Wave/Pop/Punk. The ultra gloss engineering evident on record could be new wavy, I suppose, but I consider this band and Interpol to be almost interchangeable. Not to say that I'm not a big Stellastarr* fan (again, that * isn't to denote a footnote, they insist on including it in the same way that Bambi down at the Admiral insists on making the "." over the "i" in the shape of a heart), because I am. I fell hard for the song "Jenny" when I first heard it, though I'm a little surprised that most fans consider "My CoCo" to be their true masterpiece. Anyway, much like Interpol, the Stellastarr* experience is basically the same live or on record. There's little in the way of banter, and essentially zero deviation from what was recorded. It makes for an instantly recognizable and enjoyable experience, but I typically prefer a little less polish, effect, and over-engineering in my live shows. I like a little jam-out, a little, if not improvisation, subtle change from the record. That said, Stellastarr* put a lot of emotion into the live set, so much so that as they worked their way through "Jenny", I wondered whether Shawn Christensen would belt out the signature "JENNY! JENNY! JENNY I'D BET YOU'D MAKE YOUR MOM SO PROUD I NEED MY CELL!" After all, he has to scream that out every damn night, so where to get that belly fire and sell it as emotion? No worries, though, as he did it, and it was believable. Now if they just add a little banter or crowd interaction with the flawless performance and apparent emotional purging, this would be a can't-miss act. As it stands:
Value/Cost = $12/15 = 80% = B
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