Broken Social Scene, Tipitina’s, New Orleans

The Tuesday after Valentines Day, Broken Social Scene play Tipitina’s. One of New Orleans most venerable musical institutions, the audience is out in full force. The room is packed from floor to balcony, every single person buzzing with the excitement of the show. The band play for a decently epic two hours and seem to love every minute of it, even though there are comments about being too old for wild stage dancing.

Having been together for a dozen years, you would expect Broken Social Scene to be at home on stage, and they are, but it’s crazy how much: the whole venue feels like a gigantic living room, comfortable and relaxed. The ease of which they play together, the contentment they convey, is a little out of control. Maybe it’s just the scene; everyone grinning, dancing wildly and having a raucous good time. It’s rare to go to an open and happy show that retains a sense of attentiveness and thoughtfulness, without an edge of cynicism.

The band’s sound is intrinsic to what rock music sounds like in this millennia, running the gamut of what is going on out there today, yet they’re still fresh and important. They are able to hold the audience’s attention even through their purely instrumental songs, while musicians come on and off as a nod to the fluidity of their line-up. They seem to ooze off the stage on all sides; Kevin Drew even spends some time in the photo pit, kissing a girl on the cheek, stealing someone else’s sunglasses, all with that nonchalance and playfulness so readily available in their music.

Each member of Broken Social Scene is so obviously a musician first and a performer second, but that they have been playing live for so long has merged the two states in a fundamental and interesting way. A collective is a very good way to describe them, as not only is the physical line-up fluid but their responsibilities are as well: changing up what instruments they play; Lisa Lobsinger coming on for specific songs and then leaving for others; Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew switching off lead singer responsibilities. They do however taunt the audience with a banjo that never gets played, which is a shame. Broken Social Scene with banjo would have been pretty cool.