“We get accused of overplaying everywhere we go,” Kevin Drew confessed near the end of Broken Social Scene’s 140-minute set on Thursday night, “so, we’ll ask: do you want one more song or two more songs?” The crowd overwhelmingly chose the latter, but the funny thing was that the band didn’t even have a plan as to what songs to play. Band members met at the center of the stage at the Glass House in Pomona, and after a minute, Drew asked if he could go have a smoke while they figured out the ending setlist. The eventual choices, “It’s All Gonna Break” and “Major Label Debut,” both played to the band’s charms, meandering a bit to their conclusions but self-aware to know that the attentive all-ages audience would be invested enough to follow them anywhere. And, well, they were right.
Broken Social Scene has seen two of their associated acts, Metric and Feist, surpass the original unit in mainstream appeal, yet it is BSS holding three indie-canonized albums in their back pockets. Despite the quality of their material, which is unquestionable, the music of Broken Social Scene still feels divisive, in that people are broken up into some brand of sworn supporter or into some brand of ambivalence. The beauty is that they will generally sell-out whatever room they decide to play and those rooms will generally be filled with the former, with a remarkably high contingent of pretty girls. I don’t get why there are so many pretty girls at Broken Social Scene concerts, but I’m not going to complain.
The set included its share of special moments. Before “Safety Bricks,” one of the many strong tracks from Kevin Drew’s underrated solo effort Spirit If…, Drew noted that all the members have a variety of other projects from which to borrow. But, Drew’s album is like a lost BSS record and “Safety Bricks” hardly felt like a cover, but more like the revisitation of a forgotten deep cut. On the other hand, encore covers of Modest Mouse’s “The World At Large” and Beastie Boys’ “Funky Boss” were straight-up fun, with the former needing the help of a lyric sheet, which Drew later abandoned to get close to the audience for the repetition of the phrase “my thoughts were so loud I couldn’t hear my mouth.” After some discussion about whether they could pull off “Suck My Kiss,” Drew instead suggested they play the Beastie Boys song they all knew, and then launched into a faithful and brief “Funky Boss.”
The night’s other main theme was Duran Duran. See, the whole reason for this tiny (800 person capacity) show in Pomona was Coachella. At the town’s bigger venue, Duran Duran were also playing a Coachella warm-up. But, with the Glass House being all-ages and generally attracting a young crowd, Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning riffed on the fact that no one had any idea about the depth of Duran Duran’s catalog. They were, generally, correct. So, at every opportune moment, the band would drop a stray verse from a variety of Duran Duran songs. The funniest moment, however, came before “Anthem for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” when Drew asked if there were any seventeen year-old girls in the audience. After a few girly screams, Canning quickly jabbed “Duran Duran wants to see you backstage at their gig immediately.”
Throughout the evening, Broken Social Scene proved why they are considered one of the best live bands in the world. “Lover’s Spit” saw the band clear the stage for Kevin Drew to perform the song alone with the audience singing louder than him. After a verse, the band clunkily joined him on stage, with Drew embracing them with a “welcome back, boys.” The crew then proceeded to add harmonica, melodica, and horns to the number to make for a truly unforgettable rendition of the classic song. Lisa Lobsinger handled her duties as front woman with quiet grace, successfully recreating “All to All” and “Anthem for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” for the stage. Andrew Whiteman proved to be an integral part of the band both in singing lead on “Fire Eyed Boy” and “Art House Director,” as well as backup on cuts like “Forced To Love.”
It was a pro show from a pro band. Yes, you can understand Drew’s fear, that maybe they over-do it with set length and even album length. Broken Social Scene’s toughest critics latch on to this point, always wanting to see tighter editing. But, with some bands, more is indeed more. I will never get the idea of wanting less from this group of masterful songwriters. Their missteps are usually charming, their mistakes understandable and their failures are easily forgiven. But, when they are successful, which is often, there aren’t many better rock and roll acts. Let’s just hope the band realizes that, because their fans surely do.
Setlist:
KC Accidental
Texaco Bitches
7/4 Shoreline
Fire Eyed Boy
Stars and Sons
All to All
Art House Director
Forced To Love
Hotel
Safety Bricks (Kevin Drew cover)
Anthem for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl
World Sick
Lover’s Spit
Cause = Time
Ungrateful Little Father
Meet Me in the Basement
The World at Large (Modest Mouse cover)
Funky Boss (Beastie Boys cover)
Pacific Theme
It’s All Gonna Break
Major Label Debut
