Bizarre BSS show in Knoxville on weekend

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Found this review from the Sunday night show in Knoxville. I think these guys are losing it and we're not gonna be seeing Broken Social Scene again; I think the hiatus will be permanent. The egos and livers need to find another muse it sounds like.

I saw BSS last night in Knoxville, TN and was really disappointed. When I saw them in Boston last year, they were incredible live and one of the best shows I'd seen in a long time. What I saw last night was nowhere near the heights of last year's show. They started out by insulting Knoxville for being a lame town because no one was out and about during the day because everyone in town was at the UT-Alabama game or wathching it on TV (one of the biggest home games of the year in a football obsessed town). Yes, Knoxville's not as cool as NYC or Toronto, but there's no need to drop into someone's town and insult the people who paid good money to see you.

At the outset of the show, Kevin Drew said that this show was going to be "60% talk, 40% rock", which I thought was a joke... turns out he really meant it. They spent a lot of time just talking about random stuff throughout the set, one which didn't seem well thought out and being played off-the-cuff many times when they did actually play tunes. At another point, BSS complained about the tickets being so expensive ($30) but then turned around and said that they set the ticket prices. WTF? If you didn't like the price point, why did you set it at that? The final straw came during the lone "encore". Instead of coming out to play some songs, they decided they wanted to pretend they were an episode of "Inside The Actor's Studio", pulled 2 chairs out onto the stage, and Kevin Drrew proceeded to "interview" Brendan Canning about fictional movie projects he was involved in. It would've been funny if they did it for a couple minutes, but I swear to God they did this bit for damn near 10 minutes! At one point someone in the audience got annoyed and yelled out, "Play some songs!" after which Kevin said if she didn't like what they were doing, then she was free to leave. At the end of their "bit", he did seek the girl out in the audience and gave her a hug (she didn't leave), and then they proceeded to end the show by playing a perfunctory version of "It's All Gonna Break".

I was irate by the end of the show that they behaved like this. Yes, the show wasn't sold out, but as Kevin Drew said at the outset of the show, "It doesn't matter who didn't come, because you came, and we've come to play for you." Well then, how about playing some damn music for the people who shelled out $30 a ticket for you! I feel like they played a half-assed show because Knoxville isn't a primary touring market and that they wouldn't have pulled shit like this if they were playing a show in NYC, Boston, LA, Chicago, etc. They also ended the show saying the same thing they apparently did in Atlanta, elling us that they'll be taking a long break soon and imploring us to "remember we came here for you." Honestly, if they're gonna pull crap like this, I'd rather not remember.

[zero]

That doesn't sound like them losing their shit. That sounds like them amusing themselves in a ghost town on a football home game day and probably in a really funny way (at least if you're from Toronto). It's just funny and it's not like the crowd didn't get a goodish show out of it.

[MarcO]

the best advice ever: shut up and play your guitar.

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i've read reviews of maybe half the shows on the current tour and it seems to me, secondhand albeit, that they're either starting to really hate each other for real, life on the road has been tough, the alcohol is too free-flowing, drew is a egomaniac, or a combination of above

Seems like kevin is isolating himself from the band with attitude, spearin is forgetting his parts, whiteman is falling over drunk, and millan is surlier than usual.

but it's all secondhand from reviews on the internet, it could be nothing. if i was at that knoxville show i'd be pretty pissed though.

[zero]

I still think I would've dug it. Just not something to do in fucking Tennessee. I buy this take though.

they're either starting to really hate each other for real, life on the road has been tough, the alcohol is too free-flowing, drew is a egomaniac, or a combination of above

[balogna pogna]

I can't imagine the pressure they are under. I mean they are changing the face of music for centuries to come and everyone's eyes are on them.

[balogna pogna]

I can't imagine the pressure they are under. I mean they are changing the face of music for centuries to come and everyone's eyes are on them.

Sorry, I meant to say, I can't believe that so many people see so much in them. I guess I'm delusional from the flu.

[ollie]

I can't imagine the pressure they are under. I mean they are changing the face of music for centuries to come and everyone's eyes are on them.

That's rich.

[timouse]

I can't imagine the pressure they are under. I mean they are changing the face of music for centuries to come and everyone's eyes are on them.

shouldn't that have been in purple?

[Del]

...and millan is surlier than usual.

That's just how I like her!

[c-towns]

I can't wait till they collapse and take all their bands with them, except reverie sound revue, they were cool.