(more [flickr])

I’m still sorting through photos from last night’s incredible Broken Social Scene show at the Moore. For now, here’s a picture of Ben Gibbard, who joined a stage full of guests (including Andrew Kenny of American Analog Set) for the singalong “encore” of “When It Begins”.

[updated]

(more photos [flickr])

Heading into the theater early without having done much in the way of trolling the band’s website as research, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the “plays Kevin Drew” version of Broken Social Scene. As Sally Seltmann (a.k.a. New Buffalo) played a solo set, swapping between keyboard, guitar, and pre-programmed rhythm sections, the house began to fill with mostly well-behaved quiet crowd.

Everyone stayed in their seats during the break, with a small rush to fill the space in the front once Broken Social Scene filtered onto the stage. My curiosity about whether they would play any old songs was quickly answered they threw “Cause = Time” into an opening run of Spirit If… highlights “Lucky Ones”, “Fucked Up Kid”, and “TBTF”.

With the female members of the collective tied up with other touring obligations, the band was in guys-only configuration, calling in Andrew Kenny from American Analog Set and James Shaw from Metric as backup. Thus, no “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl”, a limited horn section, and a whole lot of roaring guitars accented by high kicks and rockstar leaps from Brendan Canning. At the center, Kevin Drew was bundled in his Half Nelson hoodie and showing off some sparkly new Adidas trainers. Fighting off a cold with cups of tea, he was in good spirits and even braved quite a few of the high parts.

Although Drew kept making jokes about playing in such a large venue (”1,2,3,4, why the fuck are we playing the Moore”), longing to have us all crowded into the Crocodile, and asking each one of us to agree to clap, sing, scream, etc. to clap for three, the place seemed pretty full to me. The superfans were more charming than annoying, and by the time they got around to playing “Lovers Spit” [yt] there might as well have been a giant disco ball spinning above the room of captivated fans dreaming of how it might be possible to use the song as a first dance at their wedding without offending the grandparents in the room.

Throughout, I was impressed at how well the songs, which can work for me as anything from background or walking to work music, came alive on stage. The set both seemed to last forever and came to an end earlier than I’d hoped. The fast version of “Major Label Debut” drove people to dance wild and raggedly and instead of wasting time slipping offstage and waiting for applause to demand their return. The band just stayed, introducing their last song as an encore. A small lamp was plugged in and guests were called from offstage. We all learned our parts and sang along. Band members reached into the audience to say good night and the evening was over a little before eleven, leaving teenage girls in the audience a few minutes to rush outside for the chance to get a closer look at Ben Gibbard.