Stars concert and stuff

Things have been going well around the life of Flenker lately. I guess I should say as well as they can go when the Hawkeyes aren't playing very well, my ceiling occasionally leaks water, and the nation headed towards an election that somehow is still so close that it makes me really nervous.

(Obligatory note: If you are the legal age to do so, please please please make sure you are registered to vote. If you're a college student away from home, make sure you change your registration site or vote absentee. If you've moved recently, update your information and find your polling place. The election is less than a month away now, so time is running thin. And please, make an educated decision, read up on the candidate's stances, and VOTE!! There will be more to come. . .)

So in spite of all of that crap, I've been doing pretty well. I've only spent one night at home in the past 2 weeks, just hanging out a friend or two, getting dinner, watching TV, going to see Michelle Obama speak, and went to see Stars!

My friend Dominique and I went to the show, hitching a ride to Lawrence with a couple of friend who were heading there to see the Dandy Warhols. The venue's website just listed a time of 7 for the concert, so I assumed that was when doors opened (especially since it was a Friday night in a college town), and thusly decided to join up with friends for dinner. We ended up getting to the Granada around 8:15, just in time to see the beginning of the second song by Stars, having totally missed BellX1. Kind of a bummer. I think this was probably the most prompt show I've ever been to. The show was excellent, though, almost all of my favorite songs were played (the only one I was hoping to hear but didn't was "The Night Starts Here," and that could have before we got there).

The place wasn't packed, but there were a lot of people there, mostly couples. Definitely glad that I went with someone, otherwise I would have been the one lonely dude there. I take that back, there was another guy there by himself. We could have been lonely together. Thankfully, I had company.

The band put on a good show, throwing roses out into the crowd between most songs (of course they would, have you heard them? They definitely fit the "melodramatic popular songs" genre listed on their myspace.) Lead singer Torquil Campbell introduced a song (one I didn't know, so I can't recall the name) as being about "fucking yourself and your lover to death." Pretty intense. Later Amy Millan cutely prefaced "My Favourite Book" as being "just a love song." There was a little talk about the presidential debate that was taking place at the same time, with Campbell saying "Obama is giving his plans for change, and McCain is scaring everyone." Good stuff.

A good time, though, with great music, in a pretty good venue. I hadn't been to the Granada for over 8 years, when I drove down from Ames to see Weezer.

Ok, I just a quick search and found the setlist for this show. And wouldn't you know it, "The Night Starts Here" was in fact the first song they played. Dammit. Here's the list:


Taken from the flickr page from the concert, found here.

So yeah, it was fun. We were out a little after 10, but our friends' concert didn't finish until nearly midnight. So Dom and I had a lot of time wandering around Mass in Lawrence. For it being Friday night before a football game, the town was freaking dead. I guess these Kansas kids don't know how to do it up like Iowans. But we still had a good time people watching.



ugh, I've spent too long on this post, and am still not completely happy with it, but oh well. I don't know what I don't like, but whatever. It'll have to do. I'll put a better effort into the next one.