Sunday 5th April 2009 @ Academy, Bristol
With Support From: Peter Greenway, Parlotones

The long awaited return of Starsailor in 2009 is heralded by their new album All The Plans. Starsailor’s UK tour thundered into Bristol’s Academy on Sunday to give the performance we had been waiting for.

After some pretty average support performances from Peter Greenway and Parlotones, the awesome and epic sound of Starsailor took to the stage. They played a mixed set with many songs mainly from All The Plans and their debut album Love Is Here.

The new album manages to merge the potent frailty of Starsailor’s first record with the epic rock sound of their third record, On The Outside. The first track and first single is, in my opinion the weakest track on the album – it is the rest of the record that brings the lyrical openness and strength in softness we have come to expect. Tracks like The Thames have proven that this band is trying new things on their fourth record. The Thames is a Johnny Cash and twang to it and is nothing like any track they have produced before. A personal favourite from the album and the gig was the song Stars And Stripes. This song has some dark guitars laid with some very quiet vocal verses that would not seem out of place in a Hollywood road movie.

The new album seemed to go down very well with the crowd at the gig. It’s only been out a week and they already know all the words! They seem to have embraced All The Plans with just as much love as with the other records.

As a live band there are few indie bands that can compare to the power and tightness of Starsailor. James’s voice is perfect and incredibly strong; every time he starts a song his vocals startle you. Anthems like Alcoholic and Silence Is Easy are sung back to the band perfectly, although we could have done without the impromptu break into Some Might Say by Oasis. The evening was capped off perfectly by the encore which included the anthemic Four To The Floor and the glorious Good Souls. Good Souls has always been a personal favourite so finishing the night with it was such a treat.

Anyone who doubts Starsailor’s talents needs to experience them as a live band; I can guarantee you will be won over. If you don’t get the chance for that, the new album All The Plans will be a great introduction to a wonderfully solid British band.

www.starsailor.net

Stu Freeman
Photos: www.ianbradleyphotography.com