Broken Social Scene and Bass Fiction

So last night at Esplanade, I went to see Broken Social Scene. They were a bit like The Doors in a way - they seemed to lock into an idea and then keep playing it for about 7 minutes, then pause and have another idea. There were some great ideas in there, but I realised I really like my ideas to come thick and fast. You know, like Bohemian Rhapsody or Paranoid Android. I need an idea every thirty seconds! Or a gig that's 14 times as long as normal. And a fast forward button!

Some of the talking in between songs was pretty unnecessary. "Singapore! You're doing ok!" (1) and "Some people don't come here because they think it's a scary place. It's not a scary place!"(2). It all seemed to smack of someone who thought he was playing somewhere where people would have to spend a year's wages on their ticket price. And he kept calling us Singapore, and casually dropping it into the 'conversation', like he was down the pub, stood at the bar with his old friend, a city-state of four million people, stood next to him with a pint in its hand. It's something only rock stars can get away with, and then it's a matter of personal taste. But other than that he seemed to be having fun with the crowd. Towards the end he ran up to the back of the auditorium and stood on the top of something, gesticulating wildly at the crowd to get them to cheer a bit more. And the horn section managed to learn a few things in between songs, and then come out and play them, which was entertainment enough. Despite the comments on Singapore, I'd probably catch their show at a festival over some random band I hadn't heard, and I'd recommend it to fans of The Doors, especially when you've snorted a pile of marijuana pills and injected a bunch of crack. Naturally that's not an option in Singapore.

Bass Fiction was one man playing with electrical devices and decks, and one man standing defiantly in front of, and sometimes among, an audience of about a hundred people. There was more bass than one can comfortably concieve in a room of that size, and more stage presence from that one man than from the half dozen in the previous show. I really liked the idea of it, and it's the most unusual event I've attended in Singapore. But it was loud and repetitive, and I was tired, so I only caught about half of it. I'm expecting Alec or Michelle to tell me how great the second half was when I see them this evening.

(1) Singapore's economy is growing faster than Canada (where BSS hail from) these days, and GDP is actually likely to be higher in Singapore than Canada in 2008, and may have been in 2007. Singapore has incredibly low crime, no problems with drugs and an efficient public transport system, excellent cheap food, a wide range of culture, arts and entertainments events and venues. It is hosting a formula one race this year, it's building a new sports stadium I think, and has a casino on the way - there's anything you'd expect from a city of its size and more. I don't know if that was what he meant, but if it wasn't, it still smacks of damning with faint praise, or ignorance at the least. I doubt he would have described Melbourne, Barcelona, Hamburg, Montreal or Houston as "doing ok".

(2) Singapore, as I already mentioned, has practically zero crime. The streets are safe, all over town, at all times of the day. It's only scary if you happen to forget the pot/pills/powder you packed into your suitcase last time your band went on tour, and it's not like they don't warn you what happens if you do.