Ashlee Burke November 23rd, 2016 - 4:38 PM
Photo by Raymond Flotat
American synthpop band Poliça has teamed up with Berlin’s new classical ensemble s t a r g a z e for a premiere performance on November 18th at the Fitzerald Theater in Saint Paul, MN. Poliça consists of Channy Leaneagh, Chris Bierden, Drew Christopherson and Ben Ivascu. To date, the band has released three studio albums, Give You the Ghost, Shulamith and United Crushers. This transatlantic performance marked s t a r g a z e’s U.S debut and the performance left fans of both bands speechless and wanting more.
@wearestargaze and @thisispolica blew my mind. More please! pic.twitter.com/MSTkz6jQ4i
— Shane Plumer (@redthunderbird) November 21, 2016
The collaboration between these two bands has been critically well received with Rolling Stone calling the performance “The sound of heartbreak and celebration simultaneously.” While Huffington Post delved a little deeper into just what made their sounds a perfect match commenting s t a r g a z e founded by conductor André de Ridder and s t a r g a z e has worked with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, The Magnetic North, Jherek Bischoff, Shara Worden, Owen Pallett, Villagers, The Dodos, Grant Hart, Julia Holter, Nils Frahm, Matthew Herbert, Koreless, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Iceage, Loney Dear, Holy Other, These New Puritans and many more. Ridder is known for collaborating with artists who are very dissimilar s t a r g a z e’s own melancholic and classical ensemble which seems to be the perfect formula for their collaboration with Poliça who have become internationally renowned after receiving support from Bon Iver founder Justin Vernon who told Rolling Stone, “They’re the best band I’ve ever heard.”
Oh man. @thisispolica and @wearestargaze at The Fitzgerald. Powerful stuff. pic.twitter.com/2q9EMcWXMV
— LAZERBEAK (@_LAZERBEAK_) November 19, 2016
Lazerbeak was also in attendance at the Fitzgerald and was just as impressed as the rest of them posting this tweet on the show. This isn’t the first time Lazerbeak has shown some love for Polica as he recently included an announcement for Chris Bierden of Poliça’s first solo album on his blog: Wednesdays With Lazerbeak.
Dressing this rehearsal A video posted by Channy and Ect. (@thisispolica) on
UPDATE (1/20): The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra has released a full video of s t a r g a z e and Poliça performing “How Is This Happening” from the performance on November 18, 2016:
