Kevin Drew/Broken Social Scene
Date: December 7, 2007 Don't Forget What You Felt The fuzzy picture that is Broken Social Scene was further muddled this year when Kevin Drew released a quasi-solo album whose title was prefaced by the phrase "Broken Social Scene presents" and whose songs were played by many regular members of the collective. Taxonomic concerns aside, the truly important facts are that it was another strong album and the Ottawa concert in support of it was at least as epic as any past Broken Social Scene appearance in the city. Pembroke outfit Abbey handled opening duties, performing what was only their second show together. Despite the lack of shared road miles, the five-piece did not lack cohesion in its playing. Jordon Zadorozny and Sofia Silva traded lead vocal duties, coming across clearly over the full-sounding music. While Abbey did not blow me away, they played well and kept the set tight, successfully warming up the sold-out crowd. The fact that the headlining slot would be a true Broken Social Scene show was suggested when nine players took the stage. Kevin Drew was joined up front by his main partner Brendan Canning; the inclusion of Sam Goldberg (Uncut), James Shaw (Metric), and Bill Priddle (Treble Charger) enabled a four-guitar mesh; Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set) mainly worked the keyboards; Evan Cranley (Stars) and Liam O'Neil (The Stills) provided brass; and Justin Peroff handled the drums. There was some instrument juggling over the night but the nine players kept the sound very layered, whatever the exact composition. With Broken Social Scene being such a malleable collective, it was also easy to list absent players, such as Ohad Bencherit, Charles Spearin, Jason Collett, and Andrew Whiteman; but the only obvious concession was that the absence of any of the female vocalists affected the song selection. The concert conatined was a mix of BSS classics, such as the opener, "Ibi Dreams of Pavement," and "Cause = Time," as well as a strong representation from the new album, including "F--ked Up Kid" and "Safety Brick." Broken Social Scene is a joyous band live; the delight with which both the performers and the audience deliver the fast claps of "Stars and Sons" was typical of the excellent mood of the night. As a result, the lengthy set flew by, with the crowd engrossed by songs such as "Backed Out on the . . .," "Major Label Debut," and "Superconnected," which added up to two and a quarter hours of music. The generous time allotment allowed the group to venture through several detours, including the unreleased Brendan Canning song, "Hit the Wall," and American Analog Set's "Hard to Find." The latter allowed Andrew Kenny to take a turn on guitar; and while it took him a long time to be satisfied enough with his instrument to begin playing, the rare pause was a minor crime in a sprawling set. The most notable break in the action was also found late in the night, when Kevin Drew aborted "Gang Bang Suicide," claiming, in the most non-confrontational language that he could muster, that he couldn't properly zone in on the hushed song unless the crowd was entirely quiet. While he had earlier admonished a pair of girls at the front for talking over the end of a song, he was almost apologetic over his decision to move on to a louder song at this time. Drew was a humourous frontman throughout most of the night, though, often striking a conversational rapport between songs while his bandmates seemed bemused. When someone in the crowd answered his question about the band's last stop in Ottawa by mentioning Bluesfest, the band started into a blues shuffle, before Drew joked about the misnamed festival, saying, "It's the Bluesfest, featuring Daft Punk and . . . Slayer." At the naming of the latter, Canning immediately tore into a Slayer riff, which Perfoff joined in on with a huge grin on his face, before the entire band offered an impromptu hardcore ode to Ottawa. In a night of tight musicianship, the light mood that Drew set with his banter kept things fun. While the adjective "epic" is one that I always find suitable for the Broken Social Scene, it was most fitting on this night for the penultimate song, "It's All Gonna Break." This was the only truly stripped-down segment of the affair, with Drew and Canning working through the song with only guitars for several minutes, before holding the build-up of "It's all" for over a minute while the balance of the band retook the stage, tearing in with a cacophony as Drew finally released his cry of "gonna break!" The full depth of the band's sonic attack was in effect as the song stormed to its horn-fueled peak and its gently rolling exit. Continuing the calming mood of that denouement, the band finished with a sing-along rendition of "When It Begins," with several audience members being brought on stage to the microphones and the rest of the crowd bellowing in. This was likely my last concert of 2007 but it was certainly one of the year's best. Broken Social Scene, by whatever name and in whatever configuration, is always a stellar event. <--Prev (Cuff the Duke) | Next (Hayden)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |