Look up, look way up and what do you see? Leslie Feist, singing to me.
Still one night to go and the highlight of the weekend has already occurred. The Broken Social Scene performance simply blew everyone away. It included nearly the entire crew throughout the night, including Amy Millan from Stars, producer Dave Newfeld and of course, the lovely and amazing Leslie Feist playing on several songs over the course of a setlist that included the best songs from BSS’s three albums.
I don’t usually gush about artists (although, I may have drunkenly rambled on about the good ol’ days to Sloan’s Chris Murphy last night. Sorry, Chris!), but I can’t help but admire a group of talented musicians that can get 15 people - six guitarists! - on stage at once and still make it sound awesome. Whereas the new album may have plodded in some parts, the material worked much better live, infused by a capacity crowd who lapped up every minute and a corps of players whose camaraderie served to drive their tunes to the next level.
The rain didn’t damper our spirits – or should I say, the flow of spirits – as we walked down to Reflections to see Sloan play at midnight. Unfortunately, the line-up did what the rain couldn’t. Word was the fire marshals and liquor inspectors were cracking down around town, which meant that the club was closed to anyone without a pass, placing my friends squarely in that category. However, when I went inside to take a picture, the bar was half-full and could have accommodated at least another 100 fans.
Those lucky enough to get inside were treated to an intimate, yet fiery show from the east coast prodigal sons. They were followed by a sweet set of upbeat house-infused tracks by Toronto duo MSTRKRFT that got the indie kids leftover from Sloan, the dance regulars, and industry types going on the dancefloor.
All in all, it was another great night and another great party, one after another.
