Photos by Rob Hakimian

After a short jaunt through Europe, Broken Social Scene returned to London’s HMV Forum last night for an encore performance in support of their latest album, Forgiveness Rock Record. Supporting Broken Social Scene was New York band Here We Go Magic.

The Forum was slow to fill up to capacity, as London’s recent sunny weather kept many of the music revelers outside during opener Here We Go Magic’s set. Their loss though, right? Here We Go Magic played a set heavy with songs from their latest album, Pigeons. The new songs translated well live, with the most enthusiastic response occurring for the PIgeons favorite “Casual.” The band closed out their set with revamped version of Self-Title favorites like “Only Pieces,” “Fangela,” and “Tunnelvision.” For a band that’s typically known for their quieter moments, Here We Go Magic put on an impressive, energetic performance for the audience.

Scheduled to go on at 9 p.m., Broken Social Scene arrived promptly on the stage at about 8:50, which is a bit refreshing for a live-music act, as audiences have more or less become used to main acts arriving later than their scheduled time. After opening with a rousing rendition of first single “World Sick”, the band seamlessly weaved in and out of old favorites like “7/4 Shoreline” and “Cause = Time” with newer fan favorites like “Texico Bitches” and “Forced to Love.” For the latter song, Drew required audience participation in the form of one lucky member holding the lyrics for the song (apparently even Drew can’t keep up with some of the harder lines of the song). Normally, this wouldn’t be noteworthy, but audience member “Angus” momentarily stole the show as he danced around stage, played a shaker, and jumped from the upper level of the stage, over an amp, and landed in time to dance around Brendan Canning a bit before finishing off the song with a hastily choreographed dance with Kevin Drew. Notably absent from Angus’ performance was the holding of lyrics.

The reason Broken Social Scene live shows work so well is that it’s obvious that the band cares deeply about the people consuming their performance. Drew regularly interacted with the crowd, with small banter between songs, or through performing slower songs like, “Sweetest Kill” and “Ungrateful Little Father” in the crowd. Before launching into the final song of the main set, Drew told the crowd that he understands what it’s like to be in the crowd, and that’s why they do it. He isn’t a passive observer of the live music experience, as he said, “I was right there in the crowd with the rest of you when Pavement played the Brixton Academy.” With that, he led the band in a frenzy-inducing version of “Meet Me in the Basement” featuring multiple false endings.

Had that been the final song of the night, nobody in the room would have been disappointed. But while the rest of the band left the stage, a lone light shone on the synths as Kevin Drew took his place for a minimal, yet moving, rendition of “Lover’s Spit.” When the band finally rejoined on stage, the show was closed with the crowd favorite “It’s All Gonna Break” which only served to solidify Broken Social Scene as one of the best live acts touring today.

Should Broken Social Scene play in your vicinity, don’t hesitate to go. Even those who are unfamiliar with their songs will leave as fans.