Broken Social Scene thrives on audience energy

Fans tear up during "Ibi Dreams of Pavement."

By Andrea Kszystyniak

Published Oct. 20, 2008

Broken Social Scene's performance at The Blue Note on Saturday showcased that when a band is truly dedicated to pleasing its audience, the results are something close to a religious experience.

Opening band Land of Talk fronted by Elizabeth Powell, walked onto stage like it was walking into a bathroom, almost unaware that it was playing for a packed club.

Powell's breathy vocals brought the crowd through a performance of "Some are Lakes," a track with vocals nearly identical to those practiced by Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley. The band proved its worth as it worked through a majority of the tracks on its latest album, also titled Some are Lakes. Powell pummeled through brief but meaningful guitar solos, wiggling around, her guitar slung so high it nearly smacked her in the chin.

Her performance so thoroughly pleased the audience that by the close of the act, they were proclaiming her the "new Leslie Feist." The experimental drumming showcased in "Yuppy Flu" proved that the whole band has the capability to put on a show as members worked the audience into a dancing fit.

Broken Social Scene crowded onto the stage, with seven members present and Powell filling in for the absent female vocalists - an honor she was certainly worthy of.

Based on recordings alone, a first-time concert attendee would probably expect BSS to be mellow. However, from the very first song, featuring lead singer Kevin Drew and Powell in a duet, BSS demonstrated an aptitude for layering a variety of instruments in a way that never became overwhelming, a task that seems nearly impossible when a band boasts three guitarists, a drummer, a saxophonist, trumpeter, keyboardist and a bassist.

During several performances, including one of "7/4 (Shoreline)," the entire band sang together, producing a homogenous and nearly perfect sound, urging the audience to sing along. These moments were punctuated by instrumentals like explosions, erupting into songs at the most unexpected times and increasing the intensity of the show. Powell's performance of "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" was incredibly strong.

Later, Charles Spearin of Do Make Say Think played what he dubbed "a science project of sorts." He used melodies created by speech cadence in recordings of conversations with his neighbors to make music. As the recordings blared from the tape recorder, the saxophonist played along, feeling the emotions in the words in the notes released from his saxophone.

As the concert wound its way to the end of its nearly three hour set, Drew capitalized on the extreme energy the crowd was throwing back at the band. "Scream!" Drew said, "Scream for everything you love, everything you hate, everyone who couldn't be here tonight."

The whole audience began to release ear-splitting shrieks, yelps and hollers, returning Drew's cries in the midst of "Ibi Dreams of Pavement." Tears became visible on several audience members' faces as they released all of the emotion they had pent up in perhaps the most cathartic and climactic moment of the entire show.

The band slowly worked its way into the positively stunning 10-minute encore, playing "It's All Gonna Break." As Drew put the very last of his energy into shouting the chorus, all of the emotion of the song was visible on his face.

It was at this point that Drew's statement from earlier in the show was finally made clear. "We do it for ourselves and then we do it for you."