Just got back from seeing Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene at the Henry Fonda. Overall, it was a terrific show. They played a lot of great songs from their awesome new self-titled, and many of my favorites from their previous album, "You Forgot It In People." BSS brings along a huge group of talented musicians - there's a horn section, a violinist, multiple vocalists and drummers on many songs, and 5 guitar players. They have a really full, baroque, lush kind of sound, and a lot of the up-tempo songs really rawk hard live.
It also never hurts to have 3 attractive female musicians on stage with your band at all times. One of the girl vocalists had this Princess Leia-style haircut, which taken along with her beautiful voice and the fact that she's in a cool indie rock band, makes her the most desirable girl I have encountered in a while. Seriously, a girl would have to be a nymphomaniac with an endless supply of Oxycontin who worked in a chocolate factory to be more desirable than a cute indie rock girl who's reminiscent of Princess Leia.
Highlights from the set included "Lover's Spit" and "Almost Crimes" from "You Forgot It In People" and "Major Label Debut," "Superconnected" and "Ibi Dreams of Pavement" from the new album. "Bandwitch" also sounds great live, which is surprising because it's probably my least favorite song on the actual LP.
I did have a few complaints about the show, enumerated here in no particular order:
- Lead singer/de facto frontman Kevin Drew kept making googly eyes at the female lead singer from Feist, the opening act. She sang with BSS for most of the set, but was be distracted often by Drew's constant attention. At one point, they slow-danced on stage together. It was semi-gross. Also, why no love for the Princess Leia girl?
- The band jammed out the last song of the encore forever. I have it when bands end a show with a really long, slow, pointless jam session. Are they trying to fool you into thinking the show was longer than it really was, so you think you got your money's worth? Is it just egotism? Like, a show by Broken Social Scene is such an epic, important undertaking, you need time for the experience to soak in? The single longest, lamest end-of-show fade-out I have ever seen was Built to Spill at the House of Blues on Sunset. I think Doug Martsch held a single note on the guitar for 45 minutes to end that goddamn show. Hey, Doug, you may not have to wake up early in the morning tomorrow, but not all of us get paid to diddle around on an intrsument until 3 am. We have jobs. (Back then, I had an actual job.)
- Kevin Drew did that thing where the guy in the band tells the audience to yell really loud, and then everyone yells and then they tell you that you didn't yell loud enough. I hate that thing. It's such bullshit. I didn't pay $30 and drive across Los Angeles after a long day at work to yell. I did it to listen to Broken Social Scene play music. So, get to it. Why does every rock singer feel the need to do this? Do they teach it the first day in Rock School? "Kids, if you ever feel that the audience isn't connecting enough with the music, just tell them to yell really loud, and then discourage them by saying that they didn't yell loud enough, and force them to do it again. Also, tell an anecdote about the last time you were in their hometown, preferably one that doesn't go anywhere."
- I was considering getting a Broken Social Scene T-shirt, mainly because I'm running out of clean T-shirts. But they only had shirts appropriate for girls or little weenie guys who want to wear extremely tight yellow or pink shirts. And I am neither of the above. So I don't get a shirt? I don't get it...When did every indie rock band become Jean Paul Gaultier, designing clothing only for the 1% of Americans without a visible paunch? From now on, Broken Social Scene, all your shirts should come in S M L and XL, and they should come in some color other than "Goofy Homo Pink." Deal?
Other than that, a good time was had by all.
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