Broken Social Scene with Frightened Rabbit- Pabst Theater, 9/27/17

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

Canadian indie rock juggernaut Broken Social Scene brought their nine piece multi-instrument party to the Pabst Theater, playing a blistering nearly two hour set on Wednesday night.  Touring for the first time in nearly six years in support of their most recent release, 2017's Hug of Thunder, Broken Social Scene brought out all the stops and played a career retrospective of tunes. Arguably one of the most dexterous bands around, Broken Social Scene's members frequently traded off instruments and lead vocal duties.

With founders Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew front and center, the super group ripped through classic tracks like "KC Accidental," off of 2003's You Forgot It People and "7/4 (Shoreline)" from 2005's self-titled release to kick off the show.  New front-woman Ariel Engel's superbly soulful vocal range helped replicate the magic of former Broken Social Scene members, including most noteworthy, Leslie Feist, as she dove head first into older material.  While Engel did a stellar job reinterpreting older tracks, she stood out even more on the smattering of tracks Broken Social Scene from Hug of Thunder, .  The poppy "Halfway Home," and slinky "Hug of Thunder," and softly introspective "Skyline" were stand outs of Broken Social Scene's most recent material.

The highlight of the concert, however, was the ending of the main set, where Kevin Drew quipped with the crowd, "Alright folks, here come the jams," before Broken Social Scene launched into a set finale with a ruckus rendition of "Almost Crimes" transitioning fluidly into "Cause=Time" from You Forgot It People, and then ending the main set with "It's All Gonna Break" off of Broken Social Scene.  The combination of these three tracks weaved together created a solid tapestry of sound that had the crowd bobbing their heads, throwing fists in the air, clapping along, and enjoying a heavenly state of pure rock catharsis.

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

For an encore, Engel tackled Broken Social Scene's arguably most well-known tune "Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" (also dusted off from You Forgot It People) before closing the entire show with, "a song to make you want to go out and make a difference in the world," per Kevin Drew, the foot stomping show stopper, "Meet Me in the Basement" from 2010's Forgiveness Rock Record.  For the encore, Broken Social Scene invited Radio Milwaukee's Amelenda Burich to join the band on viola.  She did an amazing job using her classical chops to enhance the songs.

Opening for Broken Social Scene was Scotland's Frightened Rabbit.  Frightened Rabbit made a point of complementing Pabst/Riverside/Turner Hall Group's chef extraordinaire, Kevin Sloan, before launching into a forty five minute set which included a cross section of new tracks from this year's EP Recorded Songs, along with a retrospective of earlier material.  Having seen Scott Hutchinson and company before, Frightened Rabbit brings an emotionally gripping level of intensity to their performance.  Highlights included "Get Out,"off of 2016's Painting of a Panic Attack  and their most well-known hit, "Woodpile" off of 2013's Pedestrian Verse.  While it was a little unusual to see Frightened Rabbit in a support role, they performed a solid set and provided great support to get the crowd engaged before Broken Social Scene.

photo courtesy of Pabst/Riverside/Turner Hall Theater Group

Click here for Broken Social Scene's Setlist from their Milwaukee show on 9/27/17

Spoon- Riverside Theater, 9/13/17

At the inaugural Eaux Claires festival in 2015, Justin Vernon and company created a field journal for the festival with brief descriptions of the artists performing.  For Spoon, Vernon and his crew simply wrote: "Category: American rock band. Category closed."  There is no better description really to describe Spoon.  They are all things rock 'n roll, with melodies that burrow deep into your ears, a front man, in Britt Daniel, who oozes rock 'n roll swagger while remaining unbelievably humble, and a band that has endured more than two decades of performing and recording to get them to this point in their career.

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

Simply put- Spoon are masters of rock.  Being one of the most consistent bands of the past two decades, it is arguably impossible to find a Spoon album that disappoints listeners.  This year's Hot Thoughts, like the six other Spoon records released from 2001 on, will make frequent appearances on many music fans' top albums of the year lists, including mine.  Building on the increased production and nuances that punctuated tunes on 2014's They Want My Soul, Hot Thoughts delivers a collection of well-crafted, infectious tracks that deal with trying to find meaning amidst the confusion found in our modern world.  Hot Thoughts, also sees Spoon creating more soundscapes to pair with their catchy guitar driven tracks, and may be their most ambitious record since 2005's Gimme Fiction, in terms of sonic risk taking.

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

The increased emphasis on production translated well into Spoon's live performance, as they delivered the most memorable show I've seen them perform to date.  With screens, lights, and rock star effects, Spoon entered the Pabst, not as a buzz band, but as a bonafide rock 'n roll jugernaught. New tracks from Hot Thoughts stood up masterfully amid a plethora of career spanning songs during Spoon's hour and forty-five minute performance.  Hot Thoughts highlights included set opener, "Do I Have To Talk You Into It," which got the crowd on their feet with heads bopping.  "Pink Up," a track that employs some "Radioheadesque instrumentation" and heavy layering, translated even better live than it does on the record, and was a jaw dropping performance to witness live.  Spoon had so much confidence in this experimental track that they saved it until the encore.

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch

Moreover, other tracks from older Spoon releases got revved up re-workings to fit with Spoon's new production set up.  "The Beast and Dragon, Adorned," perhaps my favorite Spoon track, off of 2005's Gimme Fiction record was performed under heavy layers of red lighting.  Likewise, fellow Gimme Fiction stand-out "My Mathematical Mind" was draped in green hues of light and turned into a poignant mid-set jam.  "Don't You Evah" and "The Underdog" sounded fresh and rejuvenated even though they've been Spoon set list staples for a decade.  With an encore performance that featured a show closing, foot stomping rendition of "Rent I Pay," off of 2014's They Want My Soul, the jam-packed capacity crowd buzzed amongst themselves while exiting the Pabst Theater, knowing that they experienced something special-- an American rock band at the height of their powers.

Opening for Spoon was Twin Peaks.  They provided a solid set of high octane pop punk and garage rock tunes that jammed.  Twin Peaks, in many ways, was a perfect opener for Spoon as the Chicago, Illinois based quintet also oozed rock 'n roll at its pure essence.   The reckless abandon of guitarist and vocalist, Caiden Lake James made Twin Peaks a most enjoyable band to watch.  Their set featured a heavy amount of tunes from their most recent release, 2016's Down in Heaven.  Twin Peaks received a loud and appreciative reception from the capacity crowd at the Pabst, the majority of which were standing up admiring the raw energy of a hard-working band on the rise.

photo courtesy of Gigshotz by Stephen Bloch