PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond » Tegan and Sara played Starland Ballroom

Tegan and Sara played Starland Ballroom

November 8th, 2013 by chocko

Tegan and Sara at Starland Ballroom

Back in 2001, I saw Tegan and Sara play a free show at South Street Seaport in NYC. The Canadian twin sisters played catchy pop music on acoustic guitars. They were absolutely adorable and their quirky on stage banter was just as fun as their songs. I’ve been a fan ever since, picked up every album along the way and have seen them play in cities all across the United States, Canada and Europe. Their latest album “Heartthrob” have the ladies bum rushing the music charts with synthesizer heavy, melodic pop tunes, solid song writing and dance floor friendly beats.

Tegan and Sara recently played New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom to celebrate everybody’s favorite free form DJ, Rich Russo and the 5th anniversary of his “Anything Anything” Radio show. A couple dozen early bird ticket buyers got rewarded by Russo with early entry into the venue and a surprise meet and greet with the ladies. I tried not to freak out and hyperventilate while meeting them, we talked briefly about an upcoming television performance, Tegan dug my old school T+S jacket and they both signed two albums I brought with me. After getting a photo taken with Tegan and Sara, I set up shop in the pit, front and center for one of the most memorable nights of music to come along in a while.

The all-girl NYC area band, Plastiq Passion opened the evening with an energetic set of music which was influenced by new wave and post punk sounds. Willie Nile was next up and played songs off a set list that Rich Russo wrote up, so you know there were going to be songs heard that the band hadn’t played in ages. Willie played his distinct style of street tough blue-collar rock and roll to a growingly antsy crowd ready for the twins. Russo introduced the headliners and mentioned a Tegan and Sara remix that he is involved with which could have members of the E-Street Band and Melissa Etheridge performing some T+S. Speaking of E-Street Band…Steven Van Zandt was in the house. I also noticed members of Bern & The Brights in the audience…check out their music and recent cover of “Call It Off” a T+S song off their 2007 album, The Con.

Tegan

Sara

Tegan and Sara performed nearly the entire new album, starting off their set with “Drove Me Wild” and “Goodbye, Goodbye” and had the crowd singing along by their third song “Back In Your Head” shortly followed by a crowd favorite, “Walking With A Ghost.” They were backed up by four musicians including the veteran of many Tegan and Sara tours, Ted Gownans playing guitars and keyboards. For this particular show, Tegan and Sara didn’t really reach deep into their catalog, but did play a couple of older “pre-Con” songs including “Where Does The Good Go” and “Living Room.” I did notice when they played their shiny, bouncy new hit, “Closer” the crowd went nuts, fuhgeddaboutit…they took it to a whole new level. I may or may not have been fist pumping along and jumping around like a fool. Check out some videos I shot from the show below…”Nineteen” and “Call It Off.” Tegan had a little rough start with an out of tune guitar for “Nineteen” and Sara started poking fun at the situation and it’s those little imperfections in their shows and they way they pull it off with a sense of humor is what makes them endearing and always fun to watch. Tegan and Sara will be playing a bunch of dates during the upcoming months…definitely check out their website for updates. My next T+S show will be on December 14 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. See you there and bring your dancing shoes!