At one point during Broken Social Scene’s Friday, September 29th show at Brooklyn Steel, frontman Kevin Drew recounted the discussion that he had with bandmate Brendan Canning about whether they should tour again, play New York again, so soon after doing it only last year, when they played two nights at Manhattan’s Webster Hall (QRO live review). Drew said that Canning replied that Brooklyn is different than Manhattan, and that the people would come out. Of course, they hadn’t counted on the Big Apple being hit with torrential flooding the day of their show, but the Canadian alt-stars came, and the people came.
Admittedly, it wasn’t easy to make it out to Brooklyn Steel (QRO venue review) in deep Brooklyn, with only one train still running that could connect Manhattan to its fellow borough. Drew even noted that there were probably “500 people” who had bought tickets but didn’t make it out, though he wondered where they could have stood in what was still a packed venue. Both BSS and opener Hannah Georgas (QRO photos) had driven in during the flooding, not even sure if the concert was going to go on, and were so relieved & excited to be there, to be playing music for people who wanted to see & hear it.
Last year’s tour had been billed as one celebrating their breakthrough album, 2002’s You Forgot It In People, the record that brought the Canadian Invasion to the wider world (and the band has aged better – i.e., no scandals – than that other Great White North act, who had put out Funeral…). It had included all that record’s songs (save for opening instrumental, “Capture the Flag”), even the now-controversially named “I’m Still Your Fag” (Drew would explain that it was about a relationship he had with an older man when he was younger, and would check with the crowd that it was okay to play). This tour/night at Brooklyn Steel was likewise billed, but ranged further in the set’s second half, going into almost a ‘greatest hits’ collection that had the likes of You’s self-titled follow-up, 2010’s Forgiveness Rock Record (QRO review), 2017’s Hug of Thunder (QRO review), and more. In the past, Broken Social Scene (or maybe just Drew) didn’t always like to play their ‘late greats’, but have since gotten over that and learned to love the People.
So yes, there was the giant Forget classics “KC Accidental”, “Stars and Sons” and “Almost Crimes” to open, followed by the album’s sweeter “Looks Just Like the Sun”, “Pacific Theme”, and “Cause = Time”. But after that was Broken Social Scene’s “7/4 (Shoreline)” (the song that introduced Feist to the world before “1234”) and guitarist Andrew Whiteman’s “Fire Eye’d Boy” (later in the evening, Drew would ask the crowd to decide between BSS’s “It’s All Gonna Break” or “Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)”, the crowd choosing the former). There was also Forgiveness’s sweet “Sweetest Kill”, which has become a live chill staple, and “World Sick” (dedicated to a friend in the crowd, Dave, who Drew had the whole crowd say hi to). “Hug of Thunder” was a wonderful showcase for the band’s latest female singer find, Jill Harris (who’d been with them on last year’s tour – also with BSS, but for the first time live ever this night, was Drew’s girlfriend Rachel). After that came Forgot’s “Lover’s Spit”, which began with just Drew on stage (“Sing it with me”), the rest of the band having left (save for a seated, quiet Charles Spearin), only to return during the song (Spearin never got up during it, doing effects work on the floor even during the horn section spotlight).
The special addition for the night was “Out In the Fields” from Drew’s just-out solo album, Aging. The singer told of wondering whether he should even release a solo album, being told by the band to “just put it out,” and has only put it out in physical form (no downloads, no streaming), to help record stores “in my own small way.” Indeed, Drew told more about the piece, for it has become an anthem for his recently-passed mother, telling the crowd that, “Your mother is your first drum machine.”
But if you’re talking BSS anthems, there’s really only one: “Anthems For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl”. The icon of icons on People, it ironically is one where Drew moves to his back keyboard, as it has been sung by everyone from Emily Haines to Feist to Tracey Ullman to Meryl Streep (which happened when they were in NYC last year). While there was no Hollywood royalty this night, Georgas did join Harris on lead vocals for the evening’s end (Drew even announcing that they were skipping the usual ‘leave and come back for an encore,’ saying, “Why would we abandon you?”).
One might have argued that Broken Social Scene didn’t need to tour again so soon, that you didn’t need to brave a flooded NYC to go see them again. But one would have been hard-pressed to make that argument after the cathartic night (that included a cathartic group scream) – and trains were running again after the show let out…
