On one what was easily one of the hottest days of 2018, Broken Social Scene made their triumphant return to New York City with a special one-off show at Central Park as part of the ongoing Summerstage concert series. When we say one of the hottest days of the year we weren’t joking: real feel temps when the band took the stage were hovering around 105ºF (that’s 40ºC for those of you outside the US) with no sign of any shade. Besides the excessive heat, what else made this show so special? Well, the band were in town playing Summerstage in celebration of Canada Day and really how else would you ever want to spend Canada Day?
After years of conflicts of not being able to see the band, this was shockingly somehow my first time seeing the band so even though it was really hot out, nothing was going to get in my way of seeing them play. As soon as the band took the stage and kicked into the opener “Pacific Theme,” I’m not sure I was ready for what was going to come next.
Even though this was a one-off show, you could say the band are still touring in support of their absolutely fantastic album Hug of Thunder that was released last year (via Arts & Crafts) but this almost felt like a greatest hits set of sorts. They played “Protest Song,” and “Hug of Thunder” off of their most recent effort, but some other favorites that were played were ” Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day),” “7/4 (Shoreline),” “Cause = Time,” “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl,” “Lover’s Spit,” and of course “Sweetest Kill.”
All the songs they played were played with a certain authority, an energy that was simply unmatched from anything I’ve seen in a while. Let’s also pause to remind you that it was 105º F (40º C) when the band hit the stage, and it was a free show – no tickets were required to get into the venue. While fans were also directly in this heat/sunlight jamming out, you have to remember the band was performing in that heat and jumping around like it was any other show. Also with some free shows, we see a shortened setlist, but the band didn’t skimp out at all with this set which is rare to see (but always welcomed).
Towards the end of the regular set frontman Kevin Drew and the band finished playing “Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)”and drummer Justin Peroff looks back and signals “15 more minutes” with his hands to which the whole band confusingly (or, accidentally) walked off stage for about 30 seconds and came back out realizing they had 15 more minutes to play. After Drew laughed realizing the mistake, he asked the crowd what they wanted to hear them play, gave them two choices to pick from to which both received a huge applause to which they ended up playing both songs.
Between being the hottest day of the year, being a free show and putting on one of the best shows of 2018, one thing is for certain: the world is a much better place when Broken Social Scene are playing shows. I’m sure I can speak for everyone in saying that let’s hope the band stick around and play a few more shows before going into another hiatus for an undisclosed amount of time.
Find a full gallery of photos from their performance posted below, along with the setlist.
Broken Social Scene setlist:
1. Pacific Theme
2. Protest Song
3. Cause = Time
4. Stay Happy
5. Forced to Love
6. TBTF [Kevin Drew song]
7. Gonna Get Better
8. Sweetest Kill
9. Hug of Thunder
10. Superconnected
11. Handjobs for the Holidays
12. 7/4 (Shoreline)
13. Almost Crimes
14. Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)
Encore:
15. Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl
16. Lover’s Spit
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