I arrived at 6:40 to find ciN, meLLie, and a handful of other people already seated in the high-school-auditorium type of hall.  Starling was doing the soundcheck, and having big problems with the sound equipment that Lakeside Gardens provided.  After 45 minutes of fiddling with it, they decided it was as good as it was going to get, so they left the stage.  3 talented acts opened: a solo acoustic guitar/vocal person (Shawna) ; a bongo/guitar/vocal duo (Stephanie and Liam); and the rock group Big Sur (Big Sur started off a bit awkwardly but really got rocking as their set went on).

Finally around 8:30 our guys took the stage.   Despite their dissatisfaction with the sound setup and the terrible acoustics (Ian renamed the place "Lakeside Gardens' Empty Olympic Swimming Pool"), Starling rocked.  The atmosphere was really casual; there were only about 20-25 people in the audience (I still don't understand why so few people came to see this fantastic band), but we were all really enthusiastic and it felt great to be enjoying a Starling show with other fans of the group.   If I have one criticism to make, it's that some of the songs were a bit too slow, in my opinion (e.g. Homely and their opening song Earnest).

What else can I say?   Starling put on a great live show -- the combination of a great (if small) audience,  Starling's musical talent, and Ian's ability to make the audience members feel that they're really a part of the show  made for an awesome night out.

Here are some pics.

The set list

 1.  Earnest
 2.  Spiralhead
 3.  Homely
 4.  Every Door
 5.  If I Could Do
 6.  Connected
 7.  Jetson
 8.  Superfrayed
 9.  Peter's rendition of "Edmund Fitzgerald"
10.  Burnout
11.  Die Hard Crush
12.  Celibate
13.  Don't Deflate
14.  Delusional