Paul Georges . Alterego Construction

I’m totally blown away… Feist and Broken Social Scene’s performances are by far the best I’ve seen this year. I was in a trance throughout the entire gig and left Place D’Youville on a cloud. The night started off with a heartwarming performance by Feist.

“She was born Leslie Feist in Calgary in the mid-’70s but goes by her surname when it comes to making music for a living. The Jhay-inspired songstress got her start playing in a high-school punk band called Placebo (not to be confused with the U.K. modern rock act of the same name). A history not lacking in variety, the Canadian born singer has accomplished much in her few tender years. Carefully pieced together around Feist’s seductive and jhai voice, her album ‘Let It Die’ forms the missing link between ye old folk (storytelling), the Brill building era (the quest for the hook), doo-wop (melody and mood) and minimal modern pop arrangements. Like line drawings as opposed to detailed paintings, these songs leave you space to fill in the emotional blanks. Its lack of complication makes ‘Let It Die’ standout from much of today’s musical offerings; put simply, a beautiful slice of sonic escapism to illustrate and interrupt the little moments that together tell us stories.”

This is my second time that I’ve seen Leslie Feist live; first time was at Le Capitole this winter. Feist is a fucking rock goddess. She is so much fun to watch and to listen to. She has incredible stage presence and is so at ease on stage that one wonders if she was born in the spotlight. She came out dressed to kill and put on one hell of a show, slamming her boots against the wooden stage and strumming her guitar like made. She was accompanied by a full band who just happen to be her friends who contribute to the Broken Social Scene crew, much like Feist herself.

Which leads us in to BSS’ performance. Craziness!

“Broken Social Scene materialized in 1999 when K.C. Accidental’s Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, formerly of By Divine Right, bonded their friendship into a band. They spent the next few years honing an atmospheric rock sound in their native Toronto and the dynamic was great. By the time their guitar-fueled sophomore effort, You Forgot It in People, was released in fall 2002, Broken Social Scene had become an 11-piece collective. Additional contributions by select members of Stars, Metric, Do Make Say Think, Raising the Fawn, the Dears and others contributed to the ambitious sounds of Broken Social Scene.”

Broken Social Scene has got to be the most original and inspiration Canadian act that this country has to offer. BSS is in fact a pseudo-fusion of the best Canadian acts of the past and present; bands such as By Divine Right, Stars, Metric and Feist come to mind. If you want to experience a bunch of incredibly talented artists, a mélange of beautifully melodic sounds and a creative new approach to the meaning of music, you should definately check out BSS. They are just as mind-blowing live as they are on their records. Their setlist featured all their best stuff: Stars and Sons, Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl, KC Accidental, Lover’s Spit, Cause=Time, Superconnected, 7/4 (Shoreline), Fire Eye’d Boy and more. All were performed with very strong stage presence which made the night even more enjoyable. They kicked the gig off with an instrumental piece and followed up with 7/4 (Shoreline) featuring the beautiful Leslie Feist. From that point on they kept dropping great songs and kept the crowd going throughout the night. Best show of the year, hands down.

Memorable moments of the night:

• Birthday candle thingies during Inside And Out
• Everytime Leslie slammed her foot on the stage
• Intuition…
• Clapping during Stars and Sons
• Listening to Amy whisper the lyrics to Anthems and hearing everyone sing them back to her
• Feist’s numerous appearances during BSS’ gig
• Collective trumpet sounds
• Going nuts during Fire Eye’d Boy
• Being surrounded by all the Québec indie kids (hilarious)

Le Soleil’s review here.