Reviews

Examples in the past have been The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. Last year, it was The Shins. By the time the festival season closes this summer, it should be Stars.

Their show at the Academy 3 showed exactly why. Equally charming and vibrant, the Canadian indie rockers drenched the assembled in their kitchen sink dramas, leaving an abundance of grinning faces in their wake.

There’s no denying that a lot of their live appeal comes from the front pairing of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan, whose constant to-and-froing is reminiscent of both The Beautiful South and Arcade Fire.

Indeed, it was Torquil’s banter, be it a cute - self-admittedly obvious dedication of a song to The Smiths or his assertion that he does a "late night show" that’s "a little blue" after he unleashed an unexpected expletive at some microphone feedback - that really made the show.

That and the band’s tremendous songs. Mixing the old with the new, they picked their way through their fine catalogue, though special mention must go to a thrilling ‘Take Me To The Riot’, which should be the song that launches them into the stratosphere.

Whether it will remains to be seen, but if they produce many more performances like this, one thing is for certain; they will be Stars in more than just name.