Kevin Drew + Broken Social Scene Played Boston
Posted on August 29, 2007 at 6:00 am | No Comments
Well, technically, they played Cambridge. TT the Bears, to be exact…
Last night’s free, full-capacity, MySpace-sponsored “secret” show was an absolute sweaty blast, and marked the debut of the new incarnation of Broken Social Scene, which includes mainstays Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, and drummer Justin Peroff, along with three new faces: Andrew Kenny (of the dearly departed American Analog Set), Sam Goldberg (Hawaii, Uncut, Bodega), and Bill Priddle (who is actually a now-returned founding BSS member). The band will be touring off and on through December, and playing mostly songs off Kevin’s soon-to-be-out solo album, “Spirit If…”. But make no mistake, even with just a couple old BSS faves in the setlist, and despite the lack of female vocals, strings, or horns, this was a Broken Social Scene show through and through. The energy, the three-guitar goodness, the all-out catchiness of the new songs, have no fear. BSS fans can rejoice, because they are back.
Sam Goldberg, Brendan Canning, & Kevin Drew of BSS
TTs started handing out the bright pink wristbands for the show just before 2pm that afternoon, and within a couple hours all 300+ were gone. The steady queue wrapped around the block and into a nearby construction area, and as we waited, a van pulled up, Kevin jumped out, and immediately start doling out high-fives to every fan in line…
Kevin Drew hi-fives the fans
Ryan Walsh from Hallelujah the Hills really was the perfect opener (which made sense, as he was personally picked by BSS), playing stripped-down HtH songs through an amplified and sometimes pedal-fied acoustic guitar. No mellow singer/songwriter was he, as the songs kept the urgency and energy of their recorded versions, and Ryan kept the eager crowd’s attention throughout. Afterwards, I heard more than a few new fans comment on his performance while waiting for Kevin & co. to hit the stage. It was a pretty special gig to be invited to play, and he made the most of it, showing off those songs, and solidifying HtH’s spot as my favorite Boston-based band at the moment. Buy their excellent Misra Records debut disc here.
Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills
Before I comment on my personal BSS highlights, for the curious, here’s what they played. I’ll say this though: If you plan on seeing the band soon, look away, as I know you’ll appreciate the set-ending surprises…
playing Kevin Drew’s “Spirit If…”
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
TT the Bears, Cambridge, MA
01. Lucky Ones
02. Safety Bricks
03. F-ked Up Kids
04. Tbtf
05. Back Out On The…
06. Hit the Wall (a Brendan Canning song)
07. Farewell to the Pressure Kids
08. Broke Me Up
09. Bodhi Sappy Weekend
10. Frightening Lives
11. Superconnected (BSS)
12. Canada vs. America (BSS)
13. Lover’s Spit (BSS)
14. Major Label Debut (BSS)
Sam Goldberg, Andrew Kenny, Kevin Drew, & Bill Piddle of BSS
Highlights: “Safety Bricks” (which Kevin called ‘a responsible song’), and Andrew Kenny’s keyboard work throughout the whole set, especially on that one; Brendan Canning’s new song, “Hit the Wall”, (which will supposedly be the single off his own upcoming “Broken Social Scene presents…” solo album, out in early 2008) made me eager to hear more of his own stuff; Kevin’s random John Legend / R. Kelly / the Secret ramble; seeing Kevin’s smiling, birthday-celebrating brother watching the band rock out on “Superconnected” from the side of the stage; Kevin asking how many in the crowd had already downloaded the leaked version of his album (answer: a bunch); Kevin handing out sage advice like “call your parents” and “go look at a tree”; “Bodhi Sappy Weekend“, which is sure to be a beautiful highlight of “Spirit If…”; The dynamic “Farewell to the Pressure Kids“, which will be the album’s first single. Seeing Andrew pick up a guitar and head to the mic for the last song; And, of course, those four BSS numbers that finished up the set.
Andrew Kenny & Kevin Drew of BSS
Kevin requested that I not share my recording of the performance, and of course I’ll honor that… totally understandable since the album isn’t even out yet. The new songs should first be heard how he wants them to be heard, y’know? But I’m sending him a copy, and maybe he’ll be cool with sharing some songs later on. We’ll see.
Keep an eye on the current list of tour dates to make sure you can catch Kevin & Broken Social Scene on the road this fall. They play tonight at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, then head overseas through October, until I assume they return to North America for dates through December.
To bide time until “Spirit If…” arrives on September 18th from Arts & Crafts, here’s what’s been made available so far…
The song “Tbtf” can be downloaded at Kevin’s A&C page, and on his MySpace page, where you can also stream “Back Out On The…” and the non-album track “Cocaine Skin“. P4K premiered the video (which is essentially a filmed party with Kevin, Brendan, Dinosaur Jr., and many others) for “Backed Out On The…” back in late July.
A footnote: I talked a bit with Andrew Kenny, and he’s got a lot of new songs, and a new band to perform them, in the works. Demos are down, studio time is planned after all this BSS touring, and he’s playing bass this time around (“If I played guitar, it’d end up sounding exactly like American Analog Set”). It’d be an understatement for me to say that this news is the good kind.
Heads Up Boston: Area Show Info
Posted on August 26, 2007 at 11:01 pm | No Comments
Details on some upcoming not-to-be-missed shows here in the Boston area, including appearances by Kevin Drew (of Broken Social Scene), Ryan Walsh (of Hallelujah the Hills), Bob Mould, Kristin Hersh, Tanya Donelly, Sleepyhead, the Cure, and non-musically but no less noteworthy, Monty Python’s Michael Palin…
Not sure which of Drew’s Broken Social Scene compadres will be making up the band (Mr. Canning, probably?), but I do hope that American Analog Set‘s Andrew Kenny is part of this particular incarnation, as I’ve read elsewhere. Be nice to see him on stage again.
And a special opener for the free show was announced over the weekend: Ryan Walsh of Boston’s own Hallelujah the Hills will be playing first with a rare solo set. Considering the event, it’s not like I have to tell anyone to arrive early (doors are at 7pm), but at the very least, pay close attention early.
Unfortunately for those with inescapable day jobs, the free admission wristbands will be given out starting at 2 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon at TTs (with no lineups before 1pm, so there will be many of us milling about looking like we’re, uh, not trying to form a line). And, oddly enough, there are no cameras or cameraphones allowed in the show, which clashes with BSS’s historical anything-goes attitude (and perhaps also clashes with the law: I’m not sure cellphones can be banned due to safety issues)… so I assume it’s a misguided MySpace “control the image” policy. Gotta keep those precious pictures for their own site, right? Ah, corporate tomfoolery at its finest. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the first cellphones start snapping as the band takes the stage.
You can pre-order your own copy of Bob Mould’s “Circle Of Friends” live DVD here. Oh, and his next album will be out in January 2008 on Anti-Records. It marks his first solo release since 2005’s excellent “Body of Song”.
Here’s what is maybe my favorite Palin bit, from Monty Python’s 1980 “Contractual Obligation” album…