Gig Review: Star – London, Koko, 29/1/2008

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Star – London, Koko, 29/1/2008

After being stopped and hassled by security who had nothing better to do, we were able to enter the venue and walk straight in to support band Apostle Of Hustle's set. As they are on the same label as Stars, the style of the band wasn't that too dissimilar of who we'd come to see. This three-piece however had some unique quirky ideas of their own.

Looking they hadn't dressed for a week or so, there sound managed to combine a mix ranging from samba to indie to hints of electronica and post rock. Obviously ones not shy of mixing things up, they waltzed around the stage like they'd played there plenty of times before. The highlight of the set came when they presented a song written about former N.W.A member Easy E. This strange guitar-based ballad saw the drummer leave his sticks behind as he prepared to sit on a block of wood in the middle of the stage. Simply using his hands, he banged away as the other members played.

At roughly 9.30pm, Stars were finished setting up their various bits of equipment and graced the stage to huge whoops and cheers from the adoring audience. Now, it's always good when a band you like plays a song you really enjoy. So imagine our joy after they tuned up their instruments and kicked off the night with our favourite song Ageless Beauty from the album Set Yourself On Fire. We were quite overjoyed and fully expect to see Youtube footage appearing on the internet soon with our dog-like howls ruining the entire thing.

Whilst the band were on a tour to publicise copies of their newest album In Our Bedroom After The War they didn't forget about all of their other material and played a comfortable mix of songs from the current crop to the older and more obscure stuff. Each song went down a storm with the crowd and it was clear from the energy the crowd generated fed back to the band. They almost seemed overwhelmed with the response that they were getting and it wasn't until the final song of the evening - the title track from their newest album, that the looks of joy and happiness appeared on their faces.

Nothing could be faulted. Even the set-up on stage had its own unique little touch to it. Various lamps decorated the set and it gave the night an almost homely feel. The band were even giving things to the crowd in an almost panto style. Flowers were being thrown in to the audience throughout the night which we can only assume caused mini riots between various groups of girls as they fought for a free present.

Though true to the finale of a theatre production, every single flower should have been tossed back on to the stage to congratulate the band on an excellent performance.

Written by Matthew for UKEvents.net