Big Star brings encore show to Playmakers Theatre

Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story stated the incorrect lineup for the Big Star Third Concert. An tribute ensemble band will be performing. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

A softer side of rock will come to the stage of Playmakers Theatre tonight.

Following sold-out performances at Carrboro’s Cat’s Cradle in December, a tribute ensemble honoring the band Big Star will present an acoustic encore performance of the band’s album “Third/Sister Lovers” at the theater.

The concert will feature local musicians such as Greg Humphreys, Mandolin Orange and members of Lost in the Trees, Birds and Arrows and the North Carolina Symphony.

Chris Stamey, organizer of both the Cat’s Cradle performances and the acoustic encore, said that the show tonight will be more about the details.

“At this show, we’re looking for people to hear the beautiful acoustic sounds of the strings,” he said. “It’s very moving to hear the nuances of the arrangements.

John Heitzenrater, a member of local band Hindugrass, will also be playing in tonight’s show.

The encore show will be a more quiet affair than its predecessor, he said.

“It’s not going to be the sort of pounding drums that you heard at the Cradle,” Heitzenrater said.

“There are such amazing textures in just the orchestration parts.”

Heitzenrater said that the performance will feature close to 30 artists at one time.

Lisa Beavers, events manager for the Center for the Study of the American South and concert organizer, said Playmakers Theatre is an ideal venue for the show.

“It’s sort of a listening room,” she said. “It’s the perfect size, the seats are comfortable and it’s got a nice vibe to it.”

Heitzenrater said that he hopes the on-campus location of the concert will draw in more of the University population.

“The theater is so gorgeous, and it sounds amazing in there,” he said.

Originally from Memphis, Tenn., Big Star is known for its “American power pop” sound.

The band has said that its sound is influenced by British invasion groups like The Beatles and The Kinks.

At the Grammy Awards on Sunday night, Big Star’s anthology-like box set, “Keep an Eye on the Sky,” won an award for its liner notes.

The award-winning notes were written by Robert Gordon.

Before the show, Mary Lindsay Dickinson — wife of Big Star’s late producer Jim Dickinson — will speak about her husband’s legacy at Wilson Library.

Heitzenrater said that people who attended the Cat’s Cradle show shouldn’t write off the encore.

“Hopefully people won’t think they’ve already heard it, because it’s a totally different experience,” he said.

“It’s a lot more lush and warm. It’s like a totally different world.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.