Broken Social Scene at the Music Box

After catching Owen Pallett at Fingerprints Records, my thirst for another dose of Canadian rock was quenched by catching Broken Social Scene at the Music Box. Their fourth album, Forgiveness Rock Record just hit the stores with its sweeping majestic songs that only Broken Social Scene can craft. The sold out Music Box was in a mood to celebrate as balloons started to fly before the band even took the stage.

Julie Doiron





Do you remember Eric's Trip? The much beloved Canadian Sub Pop records stalwarts have reunited sporadically over the past couple of years but Julie Doiron has soldiered on with a solo career signing to the highly respected Jagjaguwar label. Clutching her Hagstrom guitar, Doiron viciously coaxed out scuzzy fuzz toned guitars in the vein of Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.

Doiron seemed a little nervous on stage as she would catch herself rambling about forgetting to write a setlist and misplacing her capo. After performing a cover of "Love Hurts", Kevin Drew came out to to help Doiron play the old Eric's Trip song "Stove". It was difficult to discern which one of them had the bigger smile on their face at the ending of the song.

Broken Social Scene






Electricity was in the air along with the aforementioned floating balloons as fans nervously chatted before the show. The descending guitars of "World Sick" and bubbly synthesizers perfectly matched the colorful balloons drifting in the air. Charles Spearin was stomping on the stage while hammering on his bass. A variety of sonic layers unfurled during "Texico Bitches" with various microKorg blips and its marching drums.

Broken Social Scene need to be experienced live. The sheer number of people on stage recreating the various layers of their songs is an audio and visual feast to behold. Venturing back to their self-titled album, "7/4(Shoreline)" had Lisa Lobsinger more than adequately handle the female vocal harmonies. "Fire Eye'd Boy" had the fans center stage jumping up and down with its hissing hi-hat shuffle.

The logistics of rehearsing and touring with a nine piece band has to be daunting but that didn't stop Broken Social Scene from tackling a slew of new songs. Kevin Drew still hadn't mastered the lyrics for "Forced To Love" and comically asked a fan from the audience to come on stage and hold up the lyrics. Trumpets fired off during "Art House Director" adding more dimensions to the sweeping harmonies.

"All to All" was an electronically tinged sweet ballad with Lobsinger coming to the front of the stage singing about "forgiveness". A downbeat moody rendition of "Sweetest Kill" evoked a submerged watery feel. "Water In Hell" fired the crowd back up with its whiskey soaked vocal harmonies. Drew was skeptical about dusting off the B-side "Major Label Debut (Fast)" but still garnered appreciation from the crowd when he quipped "You gotta try stuff sometimes".

"Ungrateful Little Father" didn't have the sitar effects at the beginning but was sweetened with a miniature dose of melodica. Drew exclaimed that "KC Accidental" was how the crowd sounded to the band as it brought their main set to a close. The encore started off with "Fucked Up Kids", "Meet Me in The Basement" but some savvy fans threw confetti in the air to celebrate the life reaffirmation of "It's All Gonna Break". Broken Social Scene will return on October 19th to the Wiltern and you better get your tickets now.