All Ages
Lineup
Tap the to get new show alerts.
About the Show
Big Star's Third San Francisco At-a-Glance
Doors at 7:00 pm | |
| |
Details
An Orchestrated Performance of Big Star’s legendary Third album and more, featuring Jody Stephens (Big Star), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Dan Wilson (Semisonic), Chuck Prophet, John Vanderslice, Mitch Easter (Let’s Active), Chris Stamey (the dB’s), Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo), Pat Sansone (Wilco), Django Haskins (The Old Ceremony), Skylar Gudasz, Brett Harris, Ralph Carney, Samantha Perez (The She’s), and Special Guests
Big Star’s third album, Sister Lovers, has long been revered by artists and critics as one of the most influential albums ever produced. Written and recorded when the legendary 70s band was primarily a studio project consisting of Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, the third album was never been performed in public with the original string and wind orchestrations.
That changed in December 2010 an all-star band unearthed the original scores, assembled an orchestra and performed Big Star’s third at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. Performers that night included Jody Stephens (Big Star), Mike Mills (R.E.M.), Mitch Easter (Let’s Active), Chris Stamey (the dB’s), as well as members of Lost in the Trees, the Love Language, the Old Ceremony, Megafaun, Birds and Arrows, The Rosebuds and the NC Symphony.
“The original written scores for the record were long missing,” Chris Stamey says. “But John Fry at Ardent Records was able to supply us with elements of the original multitrack tapes. Composer Carl Marsh, who wrote the ground-breaking charts for the original record, used these tapes to precisely retranscribe his arrangements. And I’ve orchestrated anew some other elements of the recordings for the players, in order to recreate live some of the aleatoric studio effects. We’ve also been able to hear and match the inner workings of these glorious compositions in much greater detail this way. It’s been a fascinating process, and a real community adventure as well.”
Big Star’s Third has performed in New York, Chicago, and London and will soon perform in Sydney.
