Starsailor’s triumph opens NME Shows ‘03

Life, i.e. destiny, has a strange sense of timing: the day their recent producer, Phil Spector, was arrested on suspicion of murder, Starsailor were playing a show. Suppose they had to, it was the opening night of the annual NME Awards Shows, edition 2003, that is a somewhat curious choice for Starsailor.

The band was part of a past NME tour and it is a return – as a ‘thank you’ to the NME or simply the magazine is going mainstream? This series of concerts is getting seriously away from up’n’coming and alternative artists norm of the past and this year’s shows are headlined by Idlewild, The Datsuns, The Polyphonic Spree, The Coral: add to that appearances by Nas and N*E*R*D?! One would expect the likes of The Used and Yeah Yeah Yeahs and not… Or, is the mag telling the newcomers something? Oh, wait; which way are you going to, my lovely?

Anyway, it is nice to see Starsailor in such a smallish venue – they could sell-out a mini-series of dates here, surely – and to observe ‘new’ James Walsh at such proximity. The man has certainly matured and become more confident (onstage, creative doubt remains forever) that has affected his vocal style, as well. It is more expressive, broader and arriving from different emo-corners. No mind-boggle about their appeal…

From the beginning of the show – intro’d by their own ‘Alcohol’, that was sung along by everyone present, and a U2-esque track after Brian Eno had a free-hand in a remix – it was all about one thing. Lights and back-projections add to the visual side but what this band is all about is – music: songs, melodies, quality. The old favourites are welcomed like long-lost lovers, be it ‘Fever’ or, again mass-chorused, ‘Alcohol’, although it is a couple of (five) new songs that really impress.

The new songs, no titles introduced by Walsh, appear to be deeper, wider, massiver. The first one, ‘Telling Them’, sounds like it was produced by Phil Spector, luscious, orchestrated and complexly arranged, while the second one, ‘Four To The Floor’, is rockier, epic-reaching, probably a huge hit; And then, there is ‘Music Was Saved’, with its modern idiom, the lead-off single.

The evolution of sound is evident and striking, without any loss of the band’s essence. Walsh, who enjoyed talking to his adoring public, avoided addressing the Spector situation but found time to dispel his feud with Oasis by telling a story about Noel Gallagher giving him a songwriting tip.

Although Walsh’s solo spot of performing Neil Young’s ‘Needle And The Damage Done’ and U2’s ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’ felt superfluous, there were plenty of magical moments. A music lover’s equivalent to a child-in-a-candy-store.

If Starsailor get album-title-stuck, ‘Music Is Saved’ is as good as any; a tad pompous but also true.