Broken Social Scene at the Docks; Thursday November 27, 2008

Broken Social Scene at the Docks; Thursday November 27, 2008.

I think of myself as a pretty big Broken Social Scene fan. The first time i heard them i was probably in the eleventh grade. I can't remember the first song i heard, but one of my first memories of them was when my friend Lise's dad gave me a couple of CDs to borrow. Of those titles one of them was Broken Social Scene's 'You Forgot It In People,' a masterpiece to say the very least. Upon borrowing that album, i got up one more to listen to it and i cracked the CD in half, rookie music lover. In a scramble to replace Mr. Papineau's CD, i went across town looking for it. I found myself at the HMV at Dundas on Yonge, where they said they had it on hand. I looked at it and the artwork didn't match the CD i had, yikes. I think that was the first moment that i saw alternative artwork for an album. That year i saw them for the first time, it was the concert to end all concerts—Metric, Broken Social Scene and Modest Mouse. At that time Modest Mouse had just put out 'Good News for People Who Love Bad News,' absolutely dynamite. At the time however i think i preferred Metric which is a scary thought. I remember being on the streetcar with Nicole and Lise singing “No one here wants to fight me like you do,” i think at that time when singing that we all thought we were little Emily Haines. Memories aside, i think this goes to show how much Broken Social Scene has been a part of my life growing up (and still is i suppose...). This show kind of broke my heart and warmed it at the same time. Broken Social Scene have progressed their way up the ladder of success, they use to make music out of necessity, for life. Now i feel as though they're doing it because of the community feel and just because they can. The can sell out the Docks, two times over. I love seeing such a great group of musicians clumped together, I almost feel as though they're my friends. Broken Social Scene is basically like a game of pickup in any sport—you have that main guy who proposes and organize with a handful of people who you don't know will show up. Those core people are Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Andrew Whiteman, Charles Spearin and Justin Peroff. The variable players are Feist, Amy Millan, Emily Haines and Jason Collett, absolutely important but also interchangeable. Their first full song was “Shampoo Suicide,” with a small jam session of one of their insturmental songs, where Drew teased the audience by singing “All the lights we were.” When the jam session ceased there was a slight pause and then the incredible bass part started, compliments of Canning. This was my first time hearing this song live, it was a total treat. Leslie Feist normally sings a bit at the middle but most importantly at the end with a piercing sung “I...”. Instead they layered it with another girl who i think was from Montreal-bred openers Land of Talk. She took that part but because her voice isn't as mature sounding as Feist's. Andrew Whiteman starting at the bridge repeatedly sang “You Amaze Me.” It was really powerful as it was swiftly concealed by a mix of two or three other vocals. It was incredibly intense. When i first really started to like this song i listened to it over and over again. It wasn't until i listened to it over and over that i realized that there were complete song lyrics to the song. It easily fooled me as an instrumental song. Its placement in the movie Half Nelson completes the movie. It's one of the only movies i've seen that plays the entire song to fit a scene, that means that they cropped the scene to fit the song. Pretty incredible thought. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdPwFKsDS2Y(Shampoo in Half Nelson)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdSeGKRNiw0 (The tipper, i knew they'd play it after seeing this!!)They played a handful of songs primarily from the older album, but a few were from their self-titled. I was expecting they would play a ton of the solo stuff that Drew and Canning put out. They didn't let me down, doing exactly that. I think Drew got three or four tunes out and Canning played two. Both projects sound identical to Broken, so it probably didn't make a difference to most people in the audience. Off of their self-titled disc they played, the very obviously Whiteman song “Fire Eye'd Boy.” I really liked how they played “Major Label Debut,” but the fast version which was drawn off of the bonus disc of their self-titled album. One of my favourite lines comes from this tune: “Forced to live like it's a curfew, translation means I love you and I'm all hooked up.” So catchy and so incredibly dance-able. Drew got the crowd to repeat the line “I'm all hooked up...” a couple of times over. In addition they played the climax of the album “It's All Gonna Break,” which was as usual pretty epic. I sort of lost the spark it once gave me, but i can still admit that it's a pretty incredible live. I use to think that it was yet another cocky Kevin Drew move to put in the lyric: “When I was a kid, fucked me in the ass...”. But i don't even register that anymore, it's so catchy. About half way through the song they released probably close to one hundred balloons from the ceiling. The audience charged in at that point and just started tossing the balloons around, it was a really spectacular moment and i absolutely love when bands do stuff like this. Years ago i saw Thursday and they did it for the countdown in “Jet Black New Year.” Broken Social Scene always go out, perhaps it's Kevin Drew. Similarly a year ago Drew bought the entire audience a shot of tequila each and on his count everyone took it. I'm not sure if it's because it's a home gig or whether it's because that's just what they do normally, but they really go all out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWGwylbB3PA (Cameos, cameos, cameos! The actual music video)To my surprised they played “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl.” Reverie Sound Revue's Lisa Lobsinger came out and sang with the Land of Talk girl. Lobsinger had sang with Broken a few years back when they had their two night stay at the Kool Haus. I like her voice, it's soft like Amy's and indistinct so she doesn't sound like she's trying to sing like either of the three main girls in the band. She has really big hair, this show was no exception. I really like Emily Haines' live version of this, i'm not sure if it's because i'm use to her singing it like on the album or if it's because she puts her all into it. By the bridge and a thousand repeats of “Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me,” she's usually on her knees singing close into the mic. Julie Penner was there, the violinist of Do Make Say Think, this song wouldn't be the same without it!! Because i've listened to it to the point that it lost its effect on me, i always forget how powerful this song is and how much it meant to me. I think i started listening to it when i was seventeen, i really don't need to point out the obvious but it really did mean a lot to me at that time. Pretty high school.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7FC28tMkMU (This show was without Amy, but great quality video!)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQDlBmhvn7k&feature=related (Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKbjvcU9rKY&feature=related (Triple threat)They also played “Looks Just Like the Sun,” the very, very Andrew Whiteman song. I love watching Whiteman live because he has this aura to him that draws me to him. I'm not sure what it is, i think it's how he holds himself when he plays. He always plays lead guitar, he's got the part down.Drew came out and played “Lover's Spit” alone on the keyboard using a vibes sound. Three quarters of the way through James Shaw of Metric played the trumpet at the end along with the keyboard, sounded real nice. Half way through the set Drew says he's got a special surprise Issac Brock of Modest Mouse was at the show. He came out with his guitar and played a few Modest Mouse tunes, i knew one, off of the album 'Good News'—“The Good Times Are Killing Me” . I was so stunned because the last time Modest Mouse were here they played a sold out gig at Massey Hall, seeing him play the Docks made me feel real good.I got really excited when Charles Spearin came out and showcased his Happiness project. I saw him do it close to a year ago at the Collett Revue gig at the Dakota. He takes the rhythm and pitch of people's voices and replicates them on musical instruments. This particular show we met his European neighbour who was describing what happiness was to her. Spearin didn't play anything but another guy played the sax to it, he seems to becoming a member. It was short but it always has the same effect on people when they hear it, confused, impressed and then shocked. He apparently is going to release it in the new year as an album, he said he had nearly 100 samples of people's voices to music.For the encore Drew came out and said “OK you guys want an encore for an encore?”. Following that Peroff whispered something in Drew's ear. In response Drew said “I'm going to play a medley of all of the songs we didn't play.” He blended “Fucked Up Kid”, “Shoreline” and “Hotel” all by himself with his voice, cocky or confident, i'm not sure but i'm leaning to the former. They came out and played, it was off of the new album but i don't remember which one i'm thinking it was “Major Label Debut (Fast),” but i could be wrong!One thing this band does really well is keeping their shows interesting. This is probably because of Drew's ballsy attitude, where nothing is too much, or too over the edge. Not over the edge in the Jay Reatard kind of way but in the cocky way. They are also always reinventing themselves so creatively, each one of their songs they can play in an entirely different way that sounds perfect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM2xi3vRqtA (Feist's take on “Major Label Debut”). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN4FXSFSBpI&feature=related (Feist's take on “Lover Spit”)I really love this band, I however thought the set was a little long, kind of hard to stand in such a full capacity. Obviously i picked the spot where the only mosh pit was congregated, a little much for Broken show. Looking back this show was pretty great, i just hope they play in more diverse capacities, outside or just at a better venue. Enough said.

November 29, 2008