Broken Social Scene
February 12, 2011
Revolution Live, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Review by Michael Hernandez
Photos by Juan Hernandez
I find myself hard-pressed in analyzing and evaluating Broken Social Scene’s performance on February 12th at Revolution. I’ve juxtaposed the past and present BSS shows I've attended and I don’t know if that undermines my critique. It could seem that this is not a fair evaluator in determining how good BSS was Saturday night, but I hold them in such high regard that expecting anything less would not be fitting of the Canadian collective.
The aforementioned Canadian all-star jamboree that is Broken Social Scene has been on a year-long tour supporting their latest album, Forgiveness Rock Record. Most the songs for this show were pulled from FRR, including “Texico Bitches,” “World Sick,” “Forced to Love,” “Art House Director,” and “Meet Me In The Basement,” but also expanded through earlier works such as “Fire Eye’d Boy,” “Looks Just Like The Sun,” “K.C. Accidental,” “Stars and Sons,” and the crowd-pleasing “7/4 Shoreline.” Ok, every song nearly made the crowd erupt, except for those slow jams used to sway with your lover or fellow concert goer. I even think the guy that yelled “Fuck the bros, fuck the frats” couldn’t help but find serenity when BSS played “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl.”
Charismatic front man Kevin Drew brought his encouraging, infectious attitude, making sure the audience was in full-on participation mode, “Are you alive? Are you fucking alive!?” The lively, fun nature of band mates Brendan Canning, Charles Spearin, guitarist Andrew Whiteman, and quite possibly 17 other band members on stage only propelled fans' enthusiasm. Fact: Canadians are only allowed free health care after they’ve played for Broken Social Scene. It might seem grandiose to the outsider not familiar with their ever-permutated lineup, but the amassed cohesion is something fans poke fun at and have become accustomed to. Granted, their sound is nothing that seems too elaborate, but when watching them live, it all comes to fruition. The different soundscapes are what makes the audacious premise that is their live show all the more gratifying. Each member always brings a high level of energy and dexterity to the performance. The thought of “ah, now I get it” comes in effect afterwards when you get all introspective, when everything groups together to create this musical landscape; and none of the seemingly extra goes unappreciated.
It might seem grandiose to the outsider not familiar with their ever-permutated lineup, but the amassed cohesion is something fans poke fun at and have become accustomed to.
The songs that featured touring singer Lisa Lobsinger, when she wasn’t wandering the stage like a scavenger, felt inaudible at times with the rest of band drowning out her thin, airy voice. She did sound lovely on the aforementioned song “Anthems…,” and the band was energetic, loud and everything you’d want in a live concert…but it wasn’t the Culture Room Broken Social Scene, I've grown accustomed to. It was a fun concert, but not an experience.
This is where it gets anecdotal: back in November of 2006, in support of BSS’s self-titled third album, they made their way to that little club where smaller bands first come to experience South Florida, Culture Room. However, BSS isn’t a small band, and the Culture Room stage seemed like a living room when they were performing. The whole show was complete bliss; a claustrophobic-packed crowd, with hands waving in the air throughout the whole two-hour set. It was an exercise on what you want from a live performance, intangibles included. The band still references that memorable night, mentioning they haven’t been back in 5 plus years and how it was like a “punk rock show.”
That feeling didn’t carry over to this latest show at Revolution. A casual, sometimes rowdy, but mostly pleasant crowd was on hand at Revolution. Perhaps it is more representative of the audience than BSS’s actual performance, but whatever you want to call the "it" factor, it wasn't present. Kevin Drew even said, “Just so we can exhaust you, we’re going to do one more.” The crowd already started to disperse near the end of their set that night.
Was the show worth the $25 ticket? Undoubtedly yes. If the “broken” in their moniker connotes the complete composition of the band, then it was a very solid night; but I’ll stick with the “shattered” scene that was here before.
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