POP Montreal 2005: Broken Social Scene with Islands and Jad Fair and Lumberob

October 21, 2005
Métropolis
Montreal, Quebec

My first concert was Broken Social Scene at POP Montreal 2005. A friend of mine was going to Montreal to scout McGill, and another friend of ours - the biggest BSS fan I know - and I decided to tag along for the show. The trip was also my first time out of my home province Nova Scotia, so it was a pretty special trip, although it wasn't the last time I flew from Nova Scotia to Montreal for a concert (see a future Raconteurs recap which, coincidentally, also took place at Métropolis).

Three acts performed prior to Broken Social Scene that night: some lame-assed DJ, Jad Fair and Lumberob and the then-recently-formed Islands (the short-lived indie "it" band, Montreal's own Unicorns, had split up less than a year prior). The DJ was completely forgettable (as most DJs are to me), but Jad Fair and Lumberob were really flippin' cool - and interesting. Lumberob mutilated his voice, screaming and screeching over Jad Fair's layers of pedal-fed guitar-distortion to create insane wall-of-noise sound-collages. I don't think Islands even had any official material out at that point, but they were pretty good musically. Founding member/core songwriter/singer/former Unicorn Nicholas Thorburn was quite a dick though. I remember him having gotten pissy at the crowd for having been too loud during the "quiet sentimental part" or whatever he called it.

After Islands (and five hours after having arrived at Métropolis), it was time for the band I flew an hour to see. Broken Social Scene were in top form that night. Almost every member I could have thought of was there, including all the girls (Metric's Emily Haines, Feist and Stars' Amy Milan). The only exception was Jason Collett. The only reason he missed the show was because he was with his wife who was, as the band was playing, giving birth. Founding Scenester Kevin Drew actually stopped the show to call Jason via cell phone and got the entire audience to shout "PUSH!!!" over and over.

The only thing I wished we did differently that night was to have gone as close to the stage as possible instead of sit waaaaayyyyy the hell up in the balcony (at least we sat in the front row). Note the past tense, however: I used to wonder why the hell we decided to sit up in the balcony, but I've recently reminded myself that by the end of the night, we had been at the show for seven fucking hours. I don't remember thinking anything of it then, but, especially after going to shows all the time now and lately not even caring much to catch opening acts mainly in order to reduce wait time, I can't imagine standing for so long to wait for a headliner. Hell, two openers usually kill me, but then, I don't usually know who they are. At least I was excited for Islands, as unfamiliar as I was with them at the time, and thought Jad Fair and Lumberob sounded like they might have been good in the festival program.

All cab, plane and car ride home the next day, fond memories of the night just passed still percolated in my head, the realization that "Holy fuck, I just saw Broken fatherfucking Social Scene!!!" still yet to sink in. The memory definitely became clearer and realer when I managed to download a recording of the show. Poor quality as it is, and as rarely as I thus listen to it, there could scarcely have been a better memento of that night in Montreal that I'll never forget.

For more photos of Broken Social Scene and Islands from POP Montreal 2005, click here.