Boards
J Mascis & Broken Social Scene
was this gig reported here? sounded great:) from chromewaves.net:
The show, scheduled the night before both BSS and J Masics were scheduled to throw down at the annual Olympic Island fete, was a fundraiser for the Amma Foundation - a charity to which Mascis has not only written a song ("Ammaring") but also recorded an entire CD of devotional songs (J + Friends Sing And Chant For Amma).
While there were surely some in attendance strictly on the basis of the BSS component of the lineup, the night was unmistakably J's. Call them whatever you want - as far as I'm concerned, that was Dinosaur Jr up there. Kevin Drew often doubled J's vocals but only occasionally took lead and if he never strapped the guitar on at all, you wouldn't have noticed. Also onstage were Brendan Canning on bass and Bill Priddle on guitar and two drummers - BSS's Justin Peroff and Mascis' Fog bandmate George Berz Kyle Spence. Rather than take the dueling percussionist route, Peroff and Berz Spence played pretty much the same thing beat for beat - probably unnecessary but they were so tight that it became that much more impactful. And in very un-Broken Social fasion, guests were kept to a minimum. Charles Spearin and Ohad Benchetrit added trumpet and flute to "Thumb" (probably added to the set just to get trumpet and flute in there) and Feist came out for chorus vocals on set-closer "Get Me".
Unlike the Dinosaur Jr reunion tour last year which stuck to the Barlow-era material, this night's set list read like a greatest hits package. Every album in the J's discography was represented save for the bookends - Dinosaur and Free So Free - and were executed with the perfect amount of passion and slop. After all, no one wants precision and tidiness from Dinosaur Jr. But if you asked me even a month ago if I ever expected to hear "Start Choppin'" or "Feel The Pain" live, I'd have said no - how sweet it is to be wrong. Thanks to a curfew the patter was kept to a minimum as the band powered through a setlist on only three days of rehearsals but were compelled to return for an unrehearsed encore of "Alone" off Hand It Over. While not exactly a crowd-favourite, it's three chords and a crapload of soloing so it wasn't too hard to get the Scene up to speed.