Kinnie Starr

Interstellar Rodeo, Edmonton AB, July 26

Photo: Levi Manchak

BY Levi ManchakPublished Jul 27, 2019

6
There's no possible way that Kinnie Starr's performance could fit into a standard issue live review. In front of a stage being changed over between full-band sets, Starr began with several spoken-word pieces, stepping off the stage entirely and into the crowd to deliver her fervent poetry. "Buttons," a diatribe that confronts the male gaze, landed with focused impact as she stepped through the seated section of the festival grounds. She then returned to the stage to finish her set with less austere songs "Ghost" and "Big World."
 
Powerful but truncated, Starr's only live show of the year was cut to a short 20 minutes. It's just as well though — Starr suffered a brain injury as a result of a car accident in 2015 that caused her to experience sensory issues and that has limited her live performances. The brevity of her set made it feel incomplete, but no less meaningful to the smattering of people watching her. Words, and the way they are presented, are far more than a flippant device for Kinnie Starr.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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