I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Broken Social Scene

When You Forgot It in People came out back in 2002, I listened to it quite a lot, but then Broken Social Scene fell of my radar.  I knew about a couple of projects over the years, but had no idea that they were still a going concern.  Earlier this year WXPN started playing a new song by them.  Indeed, the band put a new album out this year.

Two years ago, Broken Social Scene toured You Forgot It in People.  I grabbed a ticket and then lost some interest as the show drew closer.  I had a show lined up for the following two nights.  So I blew off the show.  Reviews made me realize I missed something fun and interesting.  Indeed, the family in front of me at this show said they have seen Broken Social Scene some 25 times.  So I was glad to finally get to experience them live.  And wow, what a fun spectacle.

Broken Social Scene is a loose collective of musicians who come and go.  For this show, the fewest number of people on stage at any given time was 7.  With it maxing out at around 15.  The main components of the band are Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and drummer Justin Peroff.  We learned midway through the set that earlier this summer, Justin was injured in Vancouver.  They had cancelled some shows, but Justin fully recovered and was playing with them tonight.  Two other guys have been with the band since almost the beginning, Andrew Whiteman who was on the far side of the stage.  I couldn’t see him too well, but he sang lead a few times and did some solos. Right in front of me, and most intriguing to me was Charles Spearin who played a double neck guitar/ bass.  I’d never seen one quite like this.  It was really small, but Spearin jumped back and forth between bass and guitar throughout the set.  Sam Goldberg also played guitar but switched off to bass once in a while.  During the first song, Cuase= Time, all three–Goldberg, Spearin and Whiteman all played the solo together.  Brendan Canning mostly played bass, but occasionally played guitar and keys.

Kevin Drew was center stage wearing a baseball at that said Captain, which I found amusing.   He was definitely the captain, introducing new people and telling stories between songs.  He also sang most of the songs, but not all of them.

In addition to this core lineup, were various people who came on stage to play percussion.

For the second song, 7/4 a woman came out on stage.  I didn’t recognize her but she is Jill Harris who has been singing with them for about five years.  She has a lovely voice.  They played three songs from the new album.  The upbeat and rocking Paying for Your Love included a bountiful horn section that included Evan Cranley and Torq Campbell from Stars.  Cranley is a regular member of both bands, although he plays bass in Stars and plays trombone (mostly) in BSS.  There was also a saxophonist (David French, I suppose) and a second trombonist for the entire set.  There was also a French horn for a few songs.

Kevin said that they had just put out the new album and this was the single from it.  They played Not Around Anymore, which sounded great live and was actually the only song that I completely recognized.

Then Kevin told us that he had met Amy Millan at summer camp when he was 13 and they have been friends ever since.  He called Amy out to sing the song Hug of Thunder.  It was great to see Amy again.  And she stayed on stage for the rest of the set.  So at a few pints during the set at least half of Stars was on stage.

I was intrigued that they played two songs from 2007’s Forgiveness Rock Record, an album that I didn’t know existed until I just looked it up. But I really enjoyed both songs, particularly Texico Bitches which had a really fun “Whoo” part that we all enjoyed singing along with.  Torq from Stars had been out for a few songs (on trumpet) but he came out to sing some verses with Brendan for Fire Eye’d Boy.

By the time the final new song of the set, The Call, started nearly everyone in the building was on stage.  Kevin also mentioned that the creator of the Arts + Creafts record label (where most of them got their start) was in the audience tonight.  I thought he might invite him on stage as well but instead we just gave him some applause.  Then Kevin said that he had to thank Metric for organizing this tour and that he was especially thankful to Emily Haines and James Shaw (who is considered a regular member of BSS as well) for being there form the beginning.  Emily sang their first hit “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl.”   They both came out and Emily sang the cool, hypnotizing lyrics.  Jill and Amy sang along (as did the audience) and it was great.

Although Emily and James left to get ready for their set, everybody else who had been on stage came out for the final song Ibi Dreams of Pavement.  It’s a ramshackle song with lots of people singing.  It was fun and a great way to end.  As was the moment that Kevin started singing Total Eclipse of the Heart in Bonnie Tyler’s memory.

It was such a fun, warm and welcoming set.  It felt so much like a bunch of friends playing song for and with each other.  And I totally understand why the folks in front of me have seen them 20 plus times.  There was an interesting moment after the set when Whiteman personally handed his setlist to the boy in front of me.  There seemed to be some kind of acknowledgement between them, although I have no way of knowing what was going on.  When I asked if I could get a picture of that one, the mom joked Yes, but we’re not offering you that one.  I love when I meet nice people at a show.  And I’ll definitely go to a future Broken Social Scene show if they come back again.