Earlier this year Broken Social Scene returned with not one, but two excellent EP’s, Lets Try the After – Vol. 1 (released 02/15/19) and Lets Try the After – Vol. 2 (released 04/12/19) which both were released via Arts & Crafts. The band has been out on the road in support of both EP’s and on May 18th the band made their triumphant return back to NYC for not one, not two but a three night run as part of the resurrection celebration of Webster Hall. Along for the ride and kicking things off for the night was Laforce.
Opening the night up was Laforce, a band compromised of members of Broken Social Scene. If you don’t know, lead singer Ariel Engle is the newest member of the Broken Social Scene family as you can hear her prominently throughout the bands fantastic 2017 release of Hug of Thunder. Her solo work is a little different from Broken Social Scene by being more bedroom pop-esque, more indie without the grandiose scope of BSS. Here, she shines with her vocals being front and center as well as seeing her dabble in more guitar work than what we see within BSS. Bandmate and husband Andrew Whiteman supplies the guitar work (which was stellar as usual), making this one of the best openers we’ve seen all year. If you haven’t heard 2018 album Laforce yet, you should probably go do so (you won’t be sorry).
Last time we saw Broken Social Scene was on the literal hottest day of 2018 when they headlined Central Park Summerstage. As dreadful as the existential heat was, the band made me completely forget about the real feel temps of 105º F (40º C) that day and allowed me to completely get lost in the music. While it was not that hot inside of Webster Hall on the 18th, the band did still bring the heat by supplying us with a scorching 23-song set, which also happened to be the longest set of their three-night headlining run at the venue. The setlist included everything you’d want to hear: classic songs, new songs, and deep cuts that all sounded as good as they ever have. The set kicked off with “Remember Me Young” off of Let’s Try the After (Vol. 1), and never showed signs of slowing down from there.
The band was truly firing on all cylinders for night three, which included “Can’t Find My Heart,” one of 2019’s best songs that is a classic Broken Social Scene track to its core. Where the band exceeds is when a song is teetering on the edge of falling into complete chaos, but somehow gets back on track and ends with the whole band coming together for an epic finish. This is where the band shines, and where their live shows are a step above everyone else. Think of it as organized chaos or an efficient jam band that never gets too lost in the midst of the jam. They have so many members on stage and while they are each doing their own thing, it never feels unorganized. It’s a fine balancing act that they’ve clearly mastered. A perfect example of this was set closer “KC Accidental” where the recorded version barely scratching the 4-minute mark, but in a live setting the band stretches the song out and just allows for each band member to go crazy within the confines of the song.
The band was in high spirits the whole night, and clearly were enjoying playing as they went off script by exceeding the original setlist (and then some). Towards what we thought was the end, frontman Kevin Drew told the crowd “we’re going to keep playing!” and the band looked at each other, shrugged like “alright!” and just kept playing. They also pulled a move I wish more bands would do, which is playing right through the encore break. Forget the 5 minutes of down time, give us another song… and that’s exactly what they did! They squeezed every last drop out of the show that they could by coming just shy of a full 2.5 hour set without stopping once. Drew even admitted at one point, “the show ended 20-minutes ago, this is the after show” and the band continued to play way past what was supposed to the be the end of their set.
It was an incredible night of music and proves that the band are still on top of their game, and still one of the best live bands touring right now. If you missed your chance to see them during their 3-night run at Webster Hall, you blew it! But, there is good news: the band is back in New York City on July 25th at BRIC! Celebrate Brooklyn Festival and just so happens to be one of their free shows. So, do whatever you can and get yourself to Prospect Park on July 25th… you won’t be sorry.
Find a full gallery of photos posted below, along with the Broken Social Scene’s setlist.
Laforce:
Broken Social Scene:
Broken Social Scene setlist:
1. Remember Me Young
2. Fire Eye’d Boy
3. Cause = Time
4. Can’t Find My Heart
5. World Sick
6. Protest Song
7. 7/4 (Shoreline)
8. Stay Happy
9. All I Want
10. Hotel
11. Hug of Thunder
12. Late Nineties Bedroom Rock for the Missionaries
13. Shampoo Suicide
14. Art House Director
15. Forced to Love
16. Almost Crimes
17. Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
18. It’s All Gonna Break
19. Lover’s Spit
20. 1972
21. Looks Just Like the Sun
22. Skyline
23. KC Accidental
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