There is a heatwave outside, so I'm going to sit here in the AC and write a blog entry.
A while ago, I went to the Cornerstone offices for some party involving free sparks, and after drinking um... a six pack or two, took a train downtown and decided to make good use of all the free stellastarr* schwag that I "borrowed" off of someone's desk. See above.
This is probably illegal, in which case I'm making up this entire story obviously, but the reason for this is that I really love stellastarr* and I always have. Or at least I've always loved their first album and think that they are awesome people. That's probably more accurate.
So what seems like a million years ago (or two weeks ago), I went to see them at Bowery Ballroom. I didn't really have high expectations for the show, or any expectations at all really. The last time I saw them, they were the Ligers and played only songs from the new album for the first time live, ever. I wasn't totally excited with that, and then Harmonies for the Haunted never really grew on me. A friend of mine saw them in London recently and he wasn't terribly impressed either and for a little while I was worried that this band was on their way out.
That monday at Bowery I was happy to find myself proven entirely wrong. This show was fantastic. FANTASTIC. I don't know if someone gave the band a much needed pep talk or if they were inspired by an enthusiastic hometown crowd or WHAT, but it was awesome. And the mixing of their old songs with the new made me love gems like "Homeland" and "Jenny" even more, and actually made me fall in love with songs from Harmones that I had never been able to like before, like "The Diver." Amazing.
Just to prove that this wasn't a fluke, I went to see them open for Editors the next night at Warsaw and it was just more awesomeness of the same.
I know this band isn't for everyone (anything that is is boring anyways, as Jeff told me at dinner last night), but I really hope that people give them a chance if they haven't already.
In other news, I still LOVE Editors and think they are one of my top live bands ever. Their lead singer is the new Chris Martin. That's a bold statement, perhaps, but one performance of "Camera" live and you might just agree with me.