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Review by Michael Hernandez
Photos by Liana Minassian
Two years since BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE last came to Florida and completely blew everyone away, separate members of the band have been churning out single albums, with lead singer Kevin Drew and his Spirit If album, along with Brendan Canning and many others going solo. But this group doesn’t tour solo.
Andrew Whiteman of BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, guitar
This is a band with individual components that when they become a collective, cohesive unit, create this swelling musical mash up that is great to experience live. The mix of different sounds clashing against each other actually works with a BSS show, with the flutter of five different guitars, horns and saxes blasting through the musical landscape, jolting sing and clap-a-longs and throw in a dash of percussion (to taste) and voila! You’ve got yourself a recipe of an energetic, eclectic show of two-hour length. I couldn’t help but reference the last time they performed (which I do with most bands of repeated viewings) and how through the years, they are still to keep the same level of energy and fun and art that most bands would lose even after a couple of months. And the crowd noticed it to, with waving hands clapping in unison to "Stars and Sons" to the relaxing, soothing rhythm of "Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl," with the crowd swaying back and forth like waves.
Brendan Canning, bass guitar & vocals of BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
The best part of their performance is that in a venue such as Club Cinema, the band is able to keep it intimate with the fans as well. They don’t go on stage, churn out songs and call it a gig. They like to engage the audience, have their own personal conversations and crack jokes with each other. Sometimes you couldn’t tell if they were playing a show for hundreds of people or jamming in someone’s back yard. But that doesn’t mean the level of artistry and professionalism isn’t there.
Every song carries into the next, creating this blissful atmosphere encasing everyone in, and you can’t help but just get caught up in it. What was also interesting and a little off-the-wall was when saxophonist Leon Kingstone played along to a cadence of a recording of Charles Spearings’ neighbors voice. It was a short deviation of the powerinfused rock that was going on, but it showed how the single, interchangeable members of BSS are good when they perform solo, but when together it creates this visceral performance that should be considered one of the better shows of 2008.
LAND OF TALK
With no traditional encore (they just wing it because of a midnight curfew and play their encore songs with no applause break) they hit every musical chord, with highly energetic songs like "7/4 Shoreline" with LAND OF TALK’ singer Elizabeth Powell taking the reigns of Leslie Feist for this tour, and the breezy "Looks Just Like The Sun," every single piece of the show fits together into what could be a musical calamity. It all works though, and it all sounds great when everything comes together.
That’s what a BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE show is. The infusion of great art creating this musical scope that everyone is captured by, and even if it’s broken, I sure as hell would never want to fix anything about it.
Let us know what you think at outloud@outloud.com..