Stars, Hey Rosetta! Provide Drama In Vancouver

The East coast invasion of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics continued with the latest in the series of Cultural Olympiad shows meant to showcase Canada's music to the world.

Newfoundland's Hey Rosetta! were up first. Their penchant for grandiose, Brit-pop-influenced anthems seemed like a potentially perfect match on paper for the 2,800-capacity Orpheum Theatre.

That said, the band were genuinely in awe of this opportunity to play for so many people in such a beautiful venue.

"Can you believe we're even here?" lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist Tim Baker remarked — without a hint of sarcasm — to the audience. You completely trusted his sincerity.

And so did their surprisingly large number of fans. The amount of screaming girls (Baker is a bit heartthrob-y) and overall cheering for the band as they first took the stage perhaps shouldn't have been a surprise — after releasing their Into Your Lungs (And Around In Your Heart And On Through Your Blood) debut full-length in 2008, Hey Rosetta! have won three East Coast Music Awards and were short listed for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.

The band shifted between quiet, lamenting, string-laden acoustic pop to more bouncy Celtic-tinged folk to full-on, arena-sized guitar rock, and were able to utilize their surroundings well. They played up to the sheer size of the Orpheum, but also took advantage of its decidedly intimate theatre feel.

Hints of Starsailor, Coldplay and even a bit of Snow Patrol can be found within Hey Rosetta!'s songs. Rising choruses abound to present an intriguing mix of a traditional rock set up with added cello and violin.

Fans of the band were so into the set they rushed the stage for an impromptu dance party before being stymied by security and sent back to their seats.

If the Newfoundlanders had any nerves, they hid them well. It was definitely a spirited and booming performance that left their fans begging for an encore. Given the raucous standing ovation they received as they walked off-stage, it actually seemed it might happen for a moment — the house lights had yet to come on — but alas, there was to be no magical encore for the opener on this night.

Stars arrived with their usual air of dramatics with white roses draped all over their instruments and microphone stands. This night meant whipping several roses into the audience and creating a cascade of white petals falling from the sky. Only at a Stars show, folks.

The band opened with "Set Yourself On Fire" and its catchy chorus and driving, dancey bat instantly got the crowd into the set. The tune's heartbreaking outro — a highlight on its own — was strangely cut, but more on that later.

Stars took their great start and continued to push the gas pedal. They pulled out Heart fan favourite "Elevator Love Letter," and followed up with a one-two punch of "What I'm Trying To Say" and "Bitches In Tokyo." As always, vocalist/guitarist Amy Milan sounded angelic, proving she is the band's jewel.

Singer Torquil Campbell informed the audience that a new album had recently been completed and will be released at some point this year. New song "Dead Hearts" — classic heart-wrenching Stars with trade-off vocals between Campbell and Milan — slowed the night's momentum at that point as any new material does, but the song's sentiment seemed to keep people's attention.

Now four (and soon to be five) albums into their career, Stars are at the point where they have a number of excellent songs at their disposal for their set list. On this night, they represented the near-perfect Set Yourself On Fire the most, while throwing in the better songs from In Our Bedroom After The War and treating their fans to the odd Heart song.

So "What the Snowman Learned About Love," "Midnight Coward," "Calendar Girl" and "Soft Revolution" all made appearances, with "Take Me To The Riot" (during which Campbell struggled to hit the "Riottttttt") and "Window Bird" closing the set.

Stars came back for an encore and more flower throwing and laid down one more new song (in the encore?!), slowed-down "Ageless Beauty" way too much and closed their night with "One More Night (Your Ex-Lover Remains Dead)." It bled into that missing outro from set opener "Set Yourself On Fire." Cute.

Anyone who has seen Stars live before knows what to expect. First-timers always seem to have the same shocked and bewildered reaction. While the band's music lends itself to a flair for the dramatic, they do really toe that line between being cute and way too over-the-top.

Campbell's stage antics and theatrical joie de vive (he's also an actor) can be the deal-breaker for many. Take it or leave it, the man is not only passionate about love in general, but more importantly, his band's songs.

In the end, great songs are really all you can ask for, and despite their tendency for corniness, this night did prove Stars have an abundance of them.