Real Live Action

Broken Social Scene

with the Sea & Cake, October 13 @ Commodore Ballroom

Review By Nathaniel Bryce


Broken Social Scene, photo by Jon Pesochin
Broken Social Scene, photo by Jon Pesochin

Some explosions of creative magnitude cannot be adequately rendered in just a few hundred words or less and though last nights gig wasn’t the “God gig” it was still a mighty thrill to witness so much talent on one stage. It is in this “so much” that Broken Social Scene thrives and becomes so much more than just a big band.

Openers the Sea & Cake got the crowd warmed up with some jazzy rock, sounding at times like a mini-BSS with post-rock Tortoise trappings. Not overly memorable but it was cool to see some musical trailblazers whom I have loosely followed since the mid-’90s. With little wait between sets BSS took to stage and proceeded to create fireworks. This first of two sold out nights at the Commodore was a doozy that kicked off proper with the wicked four-punch combination of “World Sick,” “Texico Bitches,” “7/4 (Shoreline)” and “Fire Eye’d Boy.” The band played with cooled determination to give everything they had for us, and it was clear, this is just what they do best. This is music for the people by the people. Swelling to upwards of 11 deep, members drifted on and off stage between songs to fill their roles and then to take their leave, giving massive numbers such as “Meet Me In The Bedroom” an even more lethal sonic punch while swooners like “Anthems For a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl” and “Sweetest Kill” sounded even sweeter with the added help of this tours female role, Lisa Lobsinger, who absolutely killed it. Still decompressing after this whirlwind of a show, I’m sure some impressions will come over time. Like I said, words are kind of hard to come by. If you were there then you know what I mean. This is celebration rock played by a lot of talented people and we were quite lucky to be witness to a heaping two-hour helping of it.