29/03/2025

Stellar* – Q Theatre: March 28, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)

Stellar* celebrated the 25th anniversary of their award-winning debut album, Mix, in front of a sold-out audience at Auckland’s Q Theatre.

The band, fronted by Boh Runga, ushered in the 21st century top-loaded with hits like Part Of Me, Every Girl and Violent. Which is why, tonight, we hear Mix from the bottom up.

Jefferson from Goodspace

But first, we hear from Jefferson Chen, the man behind Goodspace, a project he fronts that, at times is a 3 or 4 piece band or, for tonight, a one-man band armed with loops, a laptop and an electric guitar. The solo option is chosen, we are told, “for economy and technology”.

When I arrive at 8pm, the lights are up, the audience is finding its seats and Jefferson is on stage, back to the audience, doing some kind of spoken-word thing, backed by a bit of electronica.

When the lights do go down, Jefferson turns around, continuing his performance for another 15 minutes…the poetry eventually morphing into music. He closes with Bit By Bit, from the most recent Goodspace album, Let’s Talk About Death.

Not what I expected at a Stellar* show, but interesting none the less.

Stellar*

After a brief interval, the four members of Stellar* take the stage. They are (and have been since 1998) Boh Runga (vocals & guitar), Chris Van de Geer (guitar), Kurt Shanks (bass & BVs) and Andrew Maclaren (drums)

Sure, enough, they start out with You, the Mix album closer, which feels like a warm-up to the main event…that being the hits we all know and love.

Boh sounds awesome and she and the band look and sound…timeless.

The vibe at the beginning of the set feels a bit tenuous…maybe it’s the somewhat formal, seated venue, or perhaps it’s just opening night nerves…a loud voice counting “1, 2, 3 , 4” in the middle of Breather doesn’t help. The triggered sample is squelched, the song re-started and the set proceeds as planned.

Slowburn light a fire under the crowd and the energy level picks up. By the time we get to What You Do (Bastard), the audience is singing along and its feeling like a rock show.

I guess this has always been an issue with Stellar*, straddling the line between being a rock band and a pop act. To me they feel like a much louder, rowdier band struggling to break out from under the commercial expectations that come with being signed to a major label, have hit singles and winning NZ Music Awards.

The energy level continues to rise…I only wish that Chris’ guitar was louder…but as Boh invites us to sing and dance and “make your own fun” before Every Girl, I find myself wishing this was happening in a sweaty bar or at least The Powerstation…although the seats at Q Theatre are comfy.

Of course Violent closes the set and of course, the band returns for encore mini-set as the Mix set was 50 minutes long.

Part two consists mainly of singles taken from their second album, Magic Line. Boh graciously thanks all who helped along the way, including co-producer Tom Bailey, who is in the house tonight.

We also get a cover of Sharon O’Neill’s Kiwi classic Maxine and an unreleased song the Kurt introduces as a demo or possibly a B-side. Boh exclaims, We like it!” So do I! I think the title is I’ll Be Found, and to me, it confirms my theory that Stellar* is indeed a rock band itching to let loose.

With all the awards, the hit singles and the great songs, Stellar* should have no regrets at this late stage in their career…they should simply have fun.

We did.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje

Stellar*: