Not Just Another Monday Night: Broken Social Scene Plays The Fillmore

There might be some debate as to the "validity" of Broken Social Scene touring without a wide number of its members. Questions about strength of performance, or staying true to the original, or (let's be honest) a reduction in charisma and star power. Well, debate no further: Broken Social Scene is doing just fine. In fact, better than fine. On Monday night the band delivered close to two and a half hours of some of the best music we've heard in quite a while.

The band is touring on Kevin Drew's new solo effort "Spirit If...", and so it was not a surprise that much of the setlist was occupied by that disc. This was actually quite a treat: as we've mentioned before, the album is amazing. Moreover, the live format gave the band the ability to experiment, rock out, and really give the songs more life than they have on the record. In particular Gang Bang Suicide and Backed Out On The... were particular treats.

For those more partial to the BSS end of things, Drew wasn't about to let you go home disappointed. There was a positively scorching version of Superconnected, as well as a slough of classics: Cause=Time, It's All Gonna Break, and even a rocked out version of Lover's Spit. Drew even let the performance get a bit loose as he worked his way through an ultimately fantastic version of Ibi Dreams Of Pavement.

The best shows are often difficult to remember, and leave you feeling like you could go back every night to get a little more, and hear something you may have missed. Monday was one of those nights. As Drew closed out the show with a group singalong of When It Begins, it became clear that the entire crowd would gladly have returned for many more nights. I guess we'll have to wait til Brendan Canning's album finds the band back on the road.

Many, many, more photos at the h.a.d. flickr feed.