PHOTOS BY NESTOR DIAZ
"Here's a song about fucking someone to death, we hope you enjoy it," Torquil Campbell said chipperly before his band, Stars, broke in to "One More Night (Your Ex-Love Remains Dead)" at the 9:30 Club Saturday evening (Oct. 20). Well then. Following Australian piano-quirk singer New Buffalo, and touring behind recent release In Our Bedroom After the War, the Montreal collective spent much of the night making Freud proud, illuminating the twisting connections between sex and death.
Though the band is a sextet, the focus was solely on Campbell and co-vocalist Amy Millan. Habitués of heartbreak hotels, the two took turns ripping themselves apart, notably on "Personal," where the singers alternated sole possession of the (literal) spotlight in order to tell the tale of a Craigslist romance that never happened. Elsewhere, Campbell got his Morrissey on ("Take Me to the Riot") and Millan put her crystal pipes on full display ("Calendar Girl"), but it was when the two got together on "Your Ex-Lover is Dead," an indie rock ditty that had the audacity to become an anthem, that the power of the group came into full force. Crowds hushed, choruses swelled, and the flowers that had resided on the amps throughout the night appeared to be blooming with the rising voices.
We asked: What does "In Our Bedroom After the War," as a phrase, mean?
Name: Meredith Rosol
Age: 18
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Occupation: Sandwich shop
"I guess it means comfort and relief after something stressful."
Name: Xiaolu Hou
Age: 22
Hometown: Arlington, VA
Occupation: Paralegal
"It's love -- it sounds so cheesy -- love opposed to war."
Name: Jen Steinfeld
Age: 17
Hometown: Annapolis, MD
Occupation: Ice cream store
"Isn't there a book with that title?"
Name: Ashleigh Moulton
Age: 16
Hometown: Vienna, VA
Occupation: Cox's Farms
"Having sex after war."
Name: Genevieve Birkby
Age: 28
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Occupation: Health department
"I think it's both about interpersonal relationship fighting and war. It's a metaphor for both."
Name: Mary Pulcinella
Age: 24
Hometown: Baltimore, MD
Occupation: Construction expediter/green building consultant
"For as long as I've listened to Stars, they've been about interpersonal relationships."
Name: Sara Leinkram
Age: 17
Hometown: Falls Church, VA
Occupation: Student
"I thought it was a fight between a girlfriend and a boyfriend. Make-up sex."
Name: Anthony Huffman
Age: 17
Hometown: Vienna, VA
Occupation: Unemployed
"Make-up sex after a big fight. I don't actually think they're talking
about war. I think that's the first thing I'd want after a war."
Amy Millan woos the 9:30 Club crowd / Photo by Nestor Diaz
Stars multi-instrumentalist Torquil Campbell / Photo by Nestor Diaz
Opening act New Buffalo / Photo by Nestor Diaz
