An evening with Broken Social Scene

Neither was this taken by me, nor was it taken on Sunday, nor was the line-up the same but I just needed a picture here.

Okay, I admit I'm not the hugest fan of Broken Social Scene (BSS). They were one of those bands that I kept hearing about but didn't bother to check out until I came upon a recommendation for a R Kelly vs. BSS mash-up when mash-ups were still fresh and amazing to me. That being said, the remix still sounds good even though it has lyrics about how R Kelly iz a playa in da club who be flirtin wid ya girl (blackest shit ever) layered over complex, layered guitars (whitest shit ever) played over a video of a few black guys rapping while bitches flash their cleavages at you in slow-mo (blackest shit ever). It's almost like Lethal Weapon in musical form.

But it's one of the biggest indie bands in the world (in terms of both roster size and popularity), in Singapore! Never mind the fact that I suffered blue balls from them not playing Major Label Debut (Fast), never mind the fact that I paid a quarter of my salary for it, never mind the fact that Feist wasn't prese—wait, I couldn't care less for that one.

One two three four
Tell me that I'm not a horse
I have a long face
But still, I'm not a horse

The band even made some jokes about indie kids going up to them, asking "Where's Feist? Where's Feist?" and then launched into a half-joking cover of that 1, 2, 3, 4 song. All in good fun, of course. Another highlight of their between-songs banter is their jab at our death sentences for possession of drugs,

"...passion and love are so wonderful, they should be drugs! Oh wait, they actually are. Just don't take them here (in Singapore)..."

It's not just witty banter, of course. All four guitars were in perfect harmony, the guest brass section sounded grand and Kevin Drew sang like how he does digitally and the sound crew created some echo-ing effects for his voice for that little extra touch of epic-ness. In fact, I think they sounded as good as they do on CDs and that's great because despite not being my favourite band, it's obvious that these people know how to make beautiful music.

The band opened with "7/4 Shoreline" with extra guitars which made the song sound faster and it was perfect, the entire theatre abandoning their seats in less than 10 seconds. It would remain that way throughout the entire concert with a lot of toe-tapping from my side and a lot of body-jiggling from the guy in front of me. How he managed to move so enthusiastically to Broken Social Scene, I have no idea. I thought there were a couple of weaker songs in the middle but nothing fell below "good" though as the lighting and the instruments kept things interesting. Would have been a lot better if they played "Major Label Debut (Fast)" but at least I didn't buy the tickets just to see Feist.

Local promoters should really take note of how loud the sing-along section to BSS' cover of "1, 2, 3, 4" was: Singapore WANTS Feist! Singapore DESIRES for Feist! Singapore wants to BLOW Feist's HORSECOCK.

This was my first Mosaic experience and while costing quite a bit, I would do it again in a heartbeat, if the right bands came along, that is. Before the concert, Vivek and I talked about what bands we would definitely pay to watch.

His choices:
1) Coldplay
2) Radiohead
3) The Arcade Fire

My choices:
1) Against Me!
2) The Clash with Joe Strummer revived just for one night, which I would pay $500 for.

Out of these bands, The Aracde Fire's the most possible candidate for Mosaic's single "Famous indie band" slot next year but it will be interesting to see who they really pick for 2009.