Broken Social Scene, Vicar St, May 20

Broken Social Scene, sans Feist, made a welcome return to Vicar Street on Tuesday for a belter of a gig, all the more so considering it was during the week. Anyone who attended will attest to the fact that it is hard not to get roped along when they get going. Kevin Drew, impeccably dressed in a trucker hat and a suit jacket, was his usual lively self, an Brendan Canning treated us to his legendarily crap jokes. Love it.
As for the tunes, it was great to have Amy Millen from Stars there (especially as there was no other female vocal...). Check her out doing "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" below, which, along with Drew's solo version of Lover's Spit were two of the more tender highlights of a gig packed with energy. The opener, Pacific Theme is just the most summery, jolly way to get a gig going. They proceeded to play quite a few (maybe too many?) of the tracks from the Spirit If album (BSS presents Kevin Drew). One nice taste of things to come was a track from the upcoming BSS presents Brendan Canning album. I have no idea what it was called but it sure wasn't bad. Other tracks that stood out were Superconnected, KC accidental, 7/4 Shoreline and the one where they got everyone to roar like crazy before the chorus (I think it was It's all gonna break...either way it was an unreal laugh). BSS live is something I will happily experience over and over again until they decide enough is enough. Their humility towards, and very entertaining interaction with, the crowd, along with a seriously high quality repertoire, make them essential viewing. Bravo!!