“We like harmonies,” joked REM’s bassist Mike Mills at one point during the 50th anniversary show of Big Star’s Radio City recently at Union Stage here in Washington, D.C. Harmony, humor, and a celebration of songs that influenced so many musicians for decades were the theme of this sold out show. A smaller crew than with previous Big Star tribute tours, Mills was joined by original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, Jon Auer (Posies), Pat Sansone (Wilco), and the maestro behind these Big Star celebration tours, Chris Stamey (The dbs). All contributed harmony or lead singing duties throughout the night’s 30+ songs in two sets and an encore, at times backed by Auer’s talented slide guitar playing. “Some of these songs we’ve played a lot, some are new, but because you know the record, you even know where the scratches occur,” joked Stamey.
The funniest quip of the night was between Mills and Stamey, and included a nod to Big Star’s original leader, Alex Chilton. “This is a fairly popular Big Star song,” said Mills before taking lead on “September Gurls, “and I had to pay a lot of money to let me sing it.” “Was it ‘The Letter’?,” said Stamey, referring to The Box Tops’ number one hit on which Chilton sang. Mills joked back, “The check’s in the mail, there’s your letter.”
In spite of a golden catalogue of songs, for a variety of personal and professional reasons, Big Star never became a house hold name, never became as big as their name implied. But thanks to musicians today who are well known, and who can draw a straight line of influence directly from the songcraft of Big Star to their own work, that golden catalogue is still finding its way to new ears and still making an impact. “It’s so fun to play this music, “said Sansone from the stage, “I mean, c’mon, what a trip.”
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