The Beauties opened the night with the crowds pouring in, wailing away on tunes like "Wastin' Time" and feel good rockers like "Die Die Die" and "Baby Outta Jail. They looked to be having a blast, celebrating the release of their 4-track EP, playing that wild bar-frenzy of bluegrass/rock/rockabilly/punk. A brilliant cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting for The Man" led to a closing jam with guests Serena Ryder and Lisa Lobsinger joining trumpet player Michael Louis Johnson for "Do What You Do". For more of The Beauties, be sure to drop in at The Dakota Tavern for their weekly Sunday night barn burner.
As the opening bars of the Top Gun theme played (yes really), Broken Social Scene took to the stage, and didn't stop for about 3 hours. Broken Social Scene is a beautiful, shambling beast with upwards of 20 musicians, each with their own bands and solo albums, coming together to make something wonderful. Members of Metric, Stars, Do Make Think Say, as well as artists like Apostle of Hustle, Feist, Kevin Drew, Jason Collett, and Brendan Canning are all part of the group, and the live shows are always a treat as whomever isn't in the studio or touring themselves tends to show up. One of my favourite "everything is different once I've heard it" albums is Broken Social Scene's "You Forgot it In People"(2002), like nothing I'd heard of at the time. Seeing them play those songs live just gets me every time.
The set roamed through K/C Accidental and Fire Eye'd Boy, then we started detouring as different members of BSS took turns playing one of their songs. I love that each artist has their own sound, but manage to come together in Broken Social Scene to make something completely different. The air was charged with the sense that it was a special night, with balloons suspended from the ceiling. We were lead in cathartic screams to release all that we held inside, Kevin Drew was funny as he picked on the chatterboxes in the crowd and the VIP deck. And it was a celebration that night, as the band was playing without necessarily plugging any one current project or album. Everyone was just having a good time.
At times upwards of 20 musicians were on stage, with 5 guitars and full brass blazing away in frenetic anthemic rock. And then Kevin introduces a guest. It's Issac freaking Brock from Modest Mouse. He comes on and they all play "The Good Times Are Killing Me", which makes a pretty good theme to the night.
A few songs later and the next surprise as Emily Haines of Metric appeared! She's been part of BSS for years, but has been on the road and in the studio with her own band Metric. Her vocals paired with Julie Penners violin made "Anthem for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl" a highlight of the night.
A quick costume change, and then Brendan Canning came back out bedazzling in gold sequin gym shorts for a grooving disco-rific "Love is New".
We were encourage to scream - take everything that holds you back, holds you down, makes you anything less than you, and scream that shit out.
The night culminated in a balloon drop during "Ibi Dreams of Pavement". I've seen Broken Social Scene play a number of times, and this was one of their best nights.
An appreciative band wrapped up the night, followed by Brendan Canning and a few others came out after most of the crowd cleared out to thank those of us who stuck around. Rita told him "It's my birthday" to which he answered with a kiss of the hand. Class act that guy.
We left the club elated, alive, and ready for whatever happens next.
My photo sets:
The Beauties at Sound Academy
Broken Social Scene at Sound Academy
Setlist: Broken Social Scene Setlist Sound Academy, Toronto, Canada 2008 setlist.fm
And a good video collage of the show:
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1 comment:
Whoa! Emily appeared!
So far I've seen Amy Millan appear that was at this year's Osheaga Festival and Ottawa Folk Festival.
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