Broken Social Scene on a Friday

After hanging out with my father-in-law and his wife for the evening, I helped R put Lucia to bed. R was too tired to go to the show, so I went solo. I promised to buy her a T-shirt or hipster tote bag or something to that effect.

I arrived late at the Note, but I don't think I missed much, besides the two openers. As I entered the venue, I heard the cheers of either a crowd celebrating the band walking onto stage or a crowd cheering the last nine songs. I hoped for the former.

Of course, this morning, I received an email from Zach of the bathysphere letting me know that I missed almost 40% (including five great songs from You Forgot It in People and three tracks from Brendan Canning's forgettable solo effort). The set list he emailed me is below. Thanks, Zach.

Solo stuff is in parentheses:

Chameleon (Canning)
Late Nineties Bedroom Rock for the Missionaries
Shampoo Suicide
KC Accidental
Cause=Time
7/4
Fire Eyed Boy
Hit the Wall (Canning)
Churches Under the Stairs (Canning)
Farewell to the Pressure Kids (Drew)
Three Thousand Miles (Goldberg)
Looks Just Like the Sun
Charles Spearin's sound experiment
Love is New (Canning)
Back Out on the... (Drew)
Superconnected
Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl
Stars and Sons
Ibi Dreams of Pavement
(encore)
National Anthem of Nowhere (Whiteman solo)
I'm Still Your Fag
rocking jam
It's All Gonna Break

Anyway, the band (about ten shy of their typical 17-member crew) ripped into "Farewell to the Pressure Kids" providing great promise for the rest of the set. The song opens with a wall of guitar, keyboards, and feedback before warping into a psychedelic bridge that finally winds back up to a steady beat and conclusion to the jam.

The band's next song was not their own and did little for me, so I skipped out to the merch table. The Canadian dollar is certainly doing better than our own judging by the $25 price tag on t-shirts. Being the bourgeois, aging hipster I am, I bought two (one for me, one for R).

I returned in time to hear an actual BSS song ("Looks Just Like the Sun") before Charles Spearin's (of Do Make Say Think) little sound experiment. He invited neighbors over to chat while he recorded their discussion. His goal was then to write music to the melody of their speech. With some saxophone accompanyment, it was mildly interesting, but I was sleep-depraved and in need of some rock 'n roll. So, this did not fill my needs.

After another Canning song (I'm sorry; I just don't get his record.), the ship was righted with Drew's infectious "Backed out on the..." and the rocking "Superconnected." The next three were classic BSS songs that satisfied my need for more great music, including the surprisingly well executed "Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl."

As the band removed themselves from the stage, Kevin Drew made an announcement I have always thought at this point in a show. He announced the encore portion of the evening and suggested that the crowd cheer in order to get the band to return. I'm that guy who does not cheer for the encore. Bands decide way before they play whether they'll play an encore. Sometimes they decide not to play if the crowd or venue has pissed them off. I saw the Blues Explosion once play four songs in Cincinatti. There was also a time when Archers of Loaf said enough because all the moshing (this dates me) was irritating the band. However, most bands write an encore into their set list anymore.

Anyway, Andrew Whiteman of Apostle of Hustle came out and played "National Anthem of Nowhere" while the rest of band slowly worked their way back to their spots to help him finish the song. Surprisingly, BSS played "I'm Still Your Fag" (not sure whether any frat boys sang along) and jammed for a while.

Luckily, the band read my post from the week where I suggested they finish up with "It's All Gonna Break." I listened to the rocking opening, the jammy bridge, and the chaotic end. However, as is my habit, I left before the song completely unravveled into what I imagined to be a 15-minute jam.

It was not a great set - uneven in parts - but it fed my hunger for a live show and one from a band I had yet to experience. For complete coverage of the BSS Toursplosion (or whatever the kids are calling it), return to the bathysphere.