concert review

SKIRBALL CENTER, NEW YORK, NY — SEPTEMBER 4, 2008 Thursday night was proof that some things do, in fact, happen for a reason. This past July I was unable to attend the Siren Music Festival on Coney Island because one of my really good friends was having a surprise party, or rather his mother was throwing him a surprise party to celebrate his 18th birthday and recent acceptance to college. The bash was held in Long Island and it would have been impossible to attend both occasions. This was thoroughly disappointing because Broken Social Scene was headlining and I had been itching to see them for three years. Furthermore, the festival was free and that is golden to a broke college student. But, alas, I could not miss my friend’s bash so I consoled myself with the fact that other people were missing out on the musical festivities occurring at Coney Island for the same reason.

So it was quite the pleasant surprise when BrooklynVegan, an online blog created by a vegan from Brooklyn, reported that Broken Social Scene, along with the French Kicks and Pattern is Movement, were to play this year’s mystery show at NYU for free (free is a relative term here considering I’m $30,000 deep because of the university).

I presented my voucher to one of the Program Board members in exchange for a ticket and went in with a couple of friends. We took our seats at the Skirball Center and anxiously waited for Pattern is Movement to take the stage. I was curious to see how the opening bands would turn out; I had never heard Pattern is Movement and had not listened to the French Kicks in a few years, but last year’s surprise show included the likes of Aloha and Beirut, both of which I actually really enjoy.

Pattern is Movement came out at around 8:20pm. They are a duo consisting of two jolly, fat men (one on drums, one on keyboards) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They seemed very happy to be performing at NYU and made it very clear that they hoped we enjoyed the show. Unfortunately, for me and for them, I did not enjoy it. Their music was too erratic and their songwriting too disjointed for my ears to really grasp what they were trying to do. At times I would find myself bobbing my head but these moments were fleeting and I would quickly return to a state of boredom and confusion even. At one point the lead singer, Andrew Thiboldeaux, decided he wanted to change the pace and informed us that the song they were about to play was “smoother for sex time.” The song, “Sea Captain,” was not my cup of tea and I would certainly not play it during sex, regardless of its playful piano line, but his comment got me thinking. Pattern is Movement plays music that contains a series of climaxes (loud drums and even louder vocals) but no foreplay, nothing to really elevate the moment.

French Kicks performed next and once again I found myself somewhat bored. I actually enjoy French Kicks. They play agreeable and melodic tunes that I see myself listening to in a car on a spring roadtrip, but not when I am positively dying to see the band performing after them.

Finally, it was time for Broken Social Scene. Various mic stands were placed on stage and Brendan Canning, white beard and all, stepped out with around 10 other Canadians. They greeted the crowd and almost immediately broke into “Chameleon, ” a song from their latest Broken Social Scene Presents’ album. Seeing the way the amorphous Broken Social Scene (they have several more members but typically don’t play shows with all of them) were able to play with and off of one another so seamlessly and harmonically amazed me considering that Pattern is Movement were unable to do so and they only consist of two members. It was also thrilling to hear classics like “7/4 (Shoreline)” and “Fire Eye’d Boy” performed back to back. “Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl,” sang by a new face, was especially sweet to hear because it brought back memories from my high school days.

Other highlights included Kevin Drew having a hissy fit and leaving the stage after a minor technical malfunction, seeing Danny Masterson’s short self lurking on the side of the stage, and of course hearing “What the hell. Get on stage,” which obviously caused a multitude of students (myself included) to barricade the stage and dance frantically for the last few minutes of the night’s show.

Ted Leo, last year’s mystery show performer, sure as hell did not do that.

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