The Goods on the Broken Social Scene Show: The Day the Main Stream Media Died

Jello Biafra, lead singer of the Dead Kennedys and founder of Alerternative Tentacles (amoung other things) once said "Don't hate the media, become the media". It is one of the founding principles of this site. The reality is that the internet has been 'becoming the media' for more than a decade, but today I think marks the turning point. Last nights Broken Social Scene show will likely turn out to be one of the most significant Canadian concerts of the decade yet there was no coverage at all from the main stream media. There was, in fact, very little coverage at all and what there was clearly demonstrates the shift.

According to Google, as of this hour there have been four blog posts about the show, including one from this blog. One of the blog posts was from a photo blog and there were, in addition to a horde of posts on twitter - three pages of videos on YouTube already - by next week you will probably be able to watch the entire show from several different angles.

As I said at the outset though, according to Google News there has been to date no mainstream press coverage at all no stories from the CBC, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, CTV, City or anywhere else for what will be remembered as one of the most significant concerts of the decade. Even CBC Radio 3 didn't list it in their top 5 gigs of the weekend - granted it was a busy weekend, but this show should have warranted making it a top 6 - just for the day.

Regardless of the main stream media ignoring the story though here are the goods:

Roundletters on the Harbourfront Broken Social Scene show.

Ryan O Photo has the pics from BSS @ Harbourfront

More Notes From Underground (usually a political blog) on the BSS show.

And Now, the Video!!



Broken Social Scene - Bandwitch (LIVE)



Broken Social Scene: KC Accidental. Harbourfront. Toronto. July 11.



Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline) ft. Feist (Live) @ Harbourfront Centre 7/11/09



Broken Social Scene - Gimme Sympathy LIVE @ Harbourfront



Feist & Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) Duet - Medley (Live) @ Harbourfront Centre 7/11/09



and much much more

Last Waltz for Broken Social Scene ?

Broken Social Scene is obviously not going away, from what I understand there is a new album in the works but it's questionable whether or not we'll ever see so much of the Broken Social Scene crew on stage at the same time again. In attendance were the usual core of BSS - Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, etc., as well as Feist, Metric's Emily Haines and James Shaw, Charles (Happiness Project) Spearin, Jules Penner, Andrew (Apostle of Hustle) Whiteman, Jason Collett, Amy Millan, Even Cranley, Lisa Lobsinger and more.

The show was not just a gift to the city of Toronto or a BSS reuinion though. It was also a film shoot for This Movie is Broken, Bruce McDonald's upcoming film about the band and the set list would serve as a good intro the the music of Broken Social Scene and the spinoff bands it produced - from Broken Social Scene favorites like "Fire Eye'd Boy" and "KC Accidental" to Metric hits like "Give Me Sypathy", Jason Collett's "I'll Bring the Sun" and Feist's "I Feel It All."

It all had a very "Last Waltz" feel to it, but it is clearly not an 'end'. Perhaps though it was a celebration of what's been and a launching point for what's to come. It's doubtful that we'll see such a collection of Broken Social Scene members on one stage again, at least not for a long time, but all of it is moving on. Broken Social Scene is still going, adding new members and spinning off new bands and Metric, Stars, Amy Millan, Jason Collett, Charles Spearin, Apostle of Hustle, Feist and others are all going strong, producing new material and continuing the BSS tradition. As I understand the concept this is what was always intended. Broken Social Scene produces albums under that name, but each of the parts, each of the other bands and all of their current, former and future members are all a part of the Broken Social Scene. There is no 'end' to it, even if the faces continue to change.

It should be an amazing film.

(Sadly I wasn't in a position to get any good film or video from the show for you, but based on the number of cameras I saw there should be plenty available soon.)

@OwenPallet the VJ

It's turning into a kind of a video day. Owen Pallet (a.k.a. Final Fantasy) was tweeting videos last night. So below are his picks (along with his tweets for those of you who haven't been following him).

"Nostalgia for Toronto's early 2000s. Look how gorgeous Feist and Tyler are."



"Hank Collective, with 2003's hottest jam, "Danes In Peril"."



"Jim Guthrie made this video St. Patrick Square. I wrote the strings in his basement."



"Wait, do this one for RC:"



"Whoa, even older. Phleg Camp. That's Eric Chenaux cussing up there:"



"And years later, Pony Da Look are still Toronto's best band: Last one, g'night."

Feist + Constantines = Dolly Parton

Found this via Yellowbird Project which sells exclusive t-shirts designed by indie artists to raise money for charity. It's a cover of 'Islands in the Stream', originally performed by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.

Constantines and Feist - Islands in the Stream


(You can download it for free at yellowbirdproject.com.)

Kevin Drew dives into film-making with The Water

The Water, a 15 minute film by Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew will premiere this Friday, April 10th on Pitchfork TV. The film short features Irish actor Cillian Murphy, Canadian actor David Fox, and Canadian musician Leslie Feist as well as Feist's song 'The Water'. The Water is a visual poem which questions love, life, and death representing the song of the same name.

Royal City B-Sides Collection June 23

According to Chartattack a new B-sides and rarities collection from Guelph's legendary Royal City will be out on June 23rd.

"Royal City formed in Guelph in 2000 and included singer/songwriter Aaron Riches, Jim Guthrie, Simon Osborne and now FemBots drummer Nathan Lawr. Their At Rush Hour The Cars debut came out the same year through Guelph's esteemed Three Gut Records and was followed by the acclaimed Alone At The Microphone a year later. Lawr left the band in 2002 and was replaced by former Super Friendz drummer Lonnie James.

The band's lineup was a loose one, and also briefly included Feist, Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett and former Blue Rodeo keyboardist Bobby Wiseman. Royal City disbanded in 2004 following the release of Little Heart's Ease."

(Big day for Guelph round here, really have to get someone there to contribute).