07.11.2009 Broken Social Scene / Rattlesnake Choir (Toronto)

My original plan was to stay in Ottawa after Wintersleep because Blues Fest was going on and Matisyahu was playing the next day, however, my credentials were taking a little longer than expected to come through. This posed a problem because I was hoping snag a cheap flight home, which is difficult if you don't know when you're leaving. For some reason, it slipped my mind that the Broken Social Scene show, which was put on to make up for the cancelled Olympic Island Festival, would be happening on the same day. When I finally remembered, my problem was solved. Well it was too late to get a cheap flight, so I chose rail instead. which is by far a more expensive way to travel when compared to greyhound, but cheaper than a last minute flight and a billion times more comfortable than the 'hound.'

I arrived at the Sirius stage a little over 2hrs prior to "doors". Surprisingly the seats were already about half packed, and there was already a band playing there. Upon further inspection it was BSS soundchecking. Very nice.. They jammed on one song I didn't recognize. They also played "Where's Your Heart, Where's Your Mind", which I remember them playing at a show I was at in 2005. Kevin Drew also interacted with the crowd a bit hinting that it would be a long set and that they'd go all the way to the curfew time of 11 pm. He mentioned that the real reason they cancelled the Olympic Island was due to the strike. No ferries were going to Island where the festival was to take place. Towards the end of the soundcheck, after playing Soul Unwind, he brought out Feist to soundcheck the acoustic guitars, dropping a hint of a duet. Oh yeah, it was fairly obvious the show was being recorded for something. There were 2 large camera rigs at the back and 3 cameras on stage, all of the pro broadcast variety. The +$5k kind.



The organizer came out prior to the Rattlesnake Choir's set to introduce a certain Bruce MacDonald. He's a Canadian director best known for "The Tracy Fragments" and "Hard Core Logo." He mentions that they're filming for a feature film, probably called "This Movie is Broken," and that you can upload photos of people kissing to www.thismovieisbroken.com .....ok.

The Rattlesnake Choir are a country, maybe alt-country band from Toronto, and from what I understand are the house band for the Dakota Tavern. Apparently this is also where Kevin Drew and his posse like to hang out. Not really a fan of country, but they did do a bit of Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line" during their soundcheck. They didn't really change my opinion of their genre of music. The fiddle solos were kind of cool I guess.

To be honest, I really liked the two BSS albums after Feel Good Lost, but sort of lost interest a bit with the Broken Social Scene Presents: thing. Now I've seen BSS a couple of times back in Vancouver, and it always frustrated me to no end that I never got to see BSS with Amy, Emily or Feist doing vocals. For the record, I'm not a fan of Lobsinger, and would rather have Liz Powell doing vocals. I sort of wish she was invited to this show... Anyways, as luck would have it, BSS started with a song I didn't recognize, but it sounded ok, I just considered it a long intro theme. It only took 3 songs before they brought out Feist for 7/4 Shoreline. Midway through the set, time was given to each of the ladies to do a song. Amy did a song solo with Evan Cranley and someone else dual drumming. Emily sang "Give me a Sympathy" and Kevin and Feist did a heartwarming duet of medley of Safety Bricks/Past in Present/I Feel It All. The highlights of the night of course would be the gang-vocaled-filled rocker "Almost Crimes." The band kept leaving the stage after thanking the crowd, but kept coming back until curfew had arrived. "Major Label Debut" ended the night with a bang. After the show, the organizer said the band would be sticking around to autograph their new book.

To sum up, yeah this show was ridiculous. Made me forget about not seeing Explosions in the Sky this summer for a night....


Kevy Key Jam (Untitled 2)
Fire Eye'd Boy (Lisa on backups)
7/4 (Shoreline) (Feist
Love is New (Lisa on backups)
Frightening Lives
Chameleon (Lisa on backups)
Day to Day (Amy)
Safety Bricks/Past in Present/I feel it All (Feist and KD)
Gimme Sympathy (Amy and Feist on backups)
I'll Bring the Sun (Jason Collett)
Soul Unwind (Andrew, Lisa and Amy)
Almost Crimes (Feist, Amy, Emily)
Meet Me in the Basement
New Country (Feist, Amy, Lisa)
Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl (Emily, Feist, Amy)
Bandwitch (Feist, Amy, Emily)
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Pacific Theme
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KC Accidental
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Major Label Debut (Fast)

$100/$0