Music Legends Pay Stunning Tribute to Big Star at Union Stage
Image By Dean Robbins
By Dean Robbins
Chappell Roan famously said, “I’m your favorite artist’s favorite artist”. Before the “Hot to Go” singer, that phrase could have been easily applied to Big Star. Big Star was a rock band that initially ran for just four years but produced three critically acclaimed albums in that period. You may have heard their song “Thirteen,” which has appeared on the soundtrack of movies and shows like How I Met Your Mother and Stargirl. The band never achieved the mainstream popularity level of groups like Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. However, their legacy is immense through their influence on some of the biggest bands of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. On August 24th, one Big Star member and four musicians legendary in their own right paid tribute in a sold-out show at Union Stage on the Wharf.
Big Star’s impact was fully seen at the 50th Anniversary of Big Star’s second album Radio City concert. The entirety of that album as well as other songs were performed by a group creatively called the Big Star Quintet. The band includes the last surviving member, drummer Jody Stephens, and then members of four bands who owe a great deal to the group: R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Wilco multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, Posies frontman Pat Auer, and The dB’s member Chris Stamey. You have surely heard the work of at least some of these bands. Any viewer of The Bear has heard at least a few Wilco tracks, and R.E.M. hits like “Losing My Religion” and “Man on the Moon” continue to receive millions of listens.
Big Star’s influence can be heard in these bands as well as many others. Just to name a few, Scarlett Johansson, Elliott Smith, and “Manic Monday” originator The Bangles have all released Big Star covers.
The concert had no opener and consisted of two sets comprising thirty-four songs including the entirety of Radio City, the band’s biggest hits, a handful of deep cuts, and two songs from Big Star’s late guitarist and songwriter Chris Bell. Every band member sang multiple songs. For Stephens’ lead vocal songs, he would come to the front of the stage from his drum set and usually preceded tracks with a story. He never went into great detail about band history, and the show consistently avoided melodrama. Considering Stephens is the last living member and their history contains much turmoil including Bell’s death at age 27, this was admirable.
Seeing much of the band’s catalog performed underscored both their influence and their impressive range. Tracks like “Feel” and “The Ballad of El Goodo” from their debut album, aptly titled #1 Record, sound like relatively typical 70s rock. Other songs like “Blue Moon” and “I Am The Cosmos” could have easily been released on an indie folk album in the 2000s or early 2010s. Some songs are pop-y, while others are strikingly dark and avant-garde.
One connecting string, though, is the group’s talent for powerful, heartfelt lyrics. “Thirteen,” which was sung by Stephens, perfectly captures young love: “Won’t you let me walk you home from school?/Won’t you let me meet you at the pool?” “The India Song”, also sung by Stephens, is about alienation and the desire for escape, beginning with “I’d like to live in India” and ending in “her life, a part of mine/and let no know until I’m gone.”
It was a wonderful privilege to hear not only Big Star’s catalog beautifully performed but also done so by such an incredible group of musicians. The group will likely tour again in the next few years leaving the door still open if one missed out.
