so i'm reading this review of a broken social scene show in new york...

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...and it said that they played for 2 and a half hours!!!! that's a long time. are they a jam band or something? i thought they were some sorta indie pop group. (i have never heard them) are they like the springsteens of indie pop? i can't think of too many people i would want to watch for that long. can you???? i can't. is this a normal length of time these days? (i don't get out much)

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 28 January 2006 23:46 (twenty years ago)

They're definitely a jam band. Art-rocky jams with pop choruses thrown into the mix. Not "indie pop", certainly. They're on Dinosaur Jr's day at All Tomorrow's Parties, if that tells you anything.

People have been known to get bored, yeah, obv., but others really dig what they're doing.

But 2.5 hours is a long time!

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Saturday, 28 January 2006 23:52 (twenty years ago)

they played one show in english and one in french.

― keyth (keyth), Saturday, 28 January 2006 23:56 (twenty years ago)

What, no show in Sigurroswibblyian?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 28 January 2006 23:58 (twenty years ago)

ive been makin sum stuff lately w old bb videos for dvds and i cant believe how long we used to play..an hour an half?interminable..now 29 mins seems perfect and th crowd usually does too..i re read a thread on long cds and th cry was to edit it as u wish..but at live shows it often seems like th editor has fallen asleep...maybe i wood feel diff if i was a bss fan

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:01 (twenty years ago)

you don't have to tell me how long bunnybrains shows used to be. oy vey.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:03 (twenty years ago)

shut up
u love it

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:04 (twenty years ago)

'samatter, Scott, didn't you like the three hour bass solos?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:06 (twenty years ago)

people would be falling on the floor in a heap. oh, it was awful to see.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:07 (twenty years ago)

my brother will tell you that I'M the one who told him to make things short and sweet. to ATTACK with everything you've got and then run for the hills. never outstay yer welcome. baffle them with dirty bombs. changes the whole dynamic. more memorable if you ask me.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:11 (twenty years ago)

Their Toronto show was three hours long (according to a glowing review in a local paper). I'm a fan, but that's too damn long. I saw them play a two hour show in 2004 that featured nearly every track from both "You Forgot It In People" and the self-titled newer one and it was also too long.

I could count on one hand the number of bands that I would want to see play for three hours.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:11 (twenty years ago)

yes yes yur the one ,u made it all better,how about i got a lil tired up there myself throwing debris and whatnot at th audience..u should come see our boston/providence this spring scott if u want to witness th fruits of yur brevity essay

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:14 (twenty years ago)

to ATTACK with everything you've got and then run for the hills

The Ironbrains

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:14 (twenty years ago)

yu will be happy to know skot i have buddy rich esque rules regarding th tyme spent onstage and if anyone breaks them its out th door onto th union line for yur check....i didnt bore myself back then cuz i was more toxycated..but now i feel a biological clock go off and a tingling sensation w/out aid of an egg timer

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Sunday, 29 January 2006 00:20 (twenty years ago)

they usually play way too long. seeing them at intonation was fantastic, because they were limited to about half an hour. i cant imagine seeing them for 2 hours, they dont have enough good ideas to fill a set that long. damn hippies

― sovietpanda (sovietpanda), Sunday, 29 January 2006 01:03 (twenty years ago)

http://images.southparkstudios.com/media/images/902/902_cartman_concerned.jpg

― Zimmer026 (Zimmer026), Sunday, 29 January 2006 01:38 (twenty years ago)

of course they play too long. everything a band can do wrong, they do and then some. i honestly cannot think of a single thing they have ever done right. they are truly the worst band of all time.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Sunday, 29 January 2006 21:10 (twenty years ago)

that is just such a silly thing to say.

― rockaction (rockaction), Monday, 30 January 2006 05:50 (twenty years ago)

He's kind of right.

― adam (adam), Monday, 30 January 2006 05:53 (twenty years ago)

Saw them...oh, two-ish years ago. Has the length of their set evolved over time? I can't remember anything unusually long about the '04 show.

― mox twelve (Mox twleve), Monday, 30 January 2006 08:20 (twenty years ago)

I saw them play a two hour show in 2004

missed this.
they were alright, don't remember any extraordinary length, but maybe that's because all I remember about that show is Torq from Stars running to the front of the stage yelling, "the fags are taking over!" and then continually talking about this for the remainder of their set.

― mox twelve (Mox twleve), Monday, 30 January 2006 08:25 (twenty years ago)

I was at the Thursday show and amazed that they were able to carry their 2 and a half hour performance...part of it had to do with the variety of singers, but their confidence also pushed the material past its album quality...they nailed every peak with staggering enthusiasm, and were only moderately bothered by the intruding 4/4 bump fron Webster Hall's basement

― Space Is the Place (Space Is the Place), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:32 (twenty years ago)

FINALLY some band is brave enough to pick up the GBV baton and run with it. For too long.

― David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:24 (twenty years ago)

I was at the Friday show and it was pretty good, tho I'm not in love with the more jam-tastic elements. After 90 minutes or so, Kevin Drew asked the time and sez "Wow! our shortest show yet," then brought things to a screeching halt by jabbering on for 15 minutes before they resumed. Fuckin' stoners. (I'd forgotten all about their producer getting a pot-buy beatdown last time in NY.)

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:06 (twenty years ago)

When they played MEG in Montreal, I was on the bill as a DJ, and the one positive aspect about their 3 hour long set (maybe more?) was that it meant there was more time to leisurely consume their rider...

― Jay Watts III (jaywatts), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:10 (twenty years ago)

of course they play too long. everything a band can do wrong, they do and then some.

as someone who totally loves the self-titled album, i kinda actually agree. bss' whole schtick - esp recently - is to do everything in excess. ten thousand tracks mixed down for every prechorus, codas spiralling in and out of chaos...hate it or love it, it would seem sort of out of character to play those beautifully out-of-control songs in a tight 30-minute set.

besides you can just leave if it's going on too long, right?!

― swvl (vozick), Monday, 30 January 2006 18:44 (twenty years ago)

Do they have a home tapers section yet?

― mcd (mcd), Monday, 30 January 2006 19:17 (twenty years ago)

I'm seeing them in Belfast a week on Friday and now kind of apprehensive!

― Cracks (Crackity), Monday, 30 January 2006 22:46 (twenty years ago)

Broken Social Scene are not a jam band. Yes, some of them have beards. But their songs are long (eg., "It's All Gonna Break") more because they connect lots of different song fragments. If they're a jam band, so are Fiery Furnaces or Super Furry Animals. There's no real prolonged instrumental breaks, and if there are, it's more a repetitive motif to build up or fade out a song (like Spiritualized) rather than show off bass-solo chops. There are no bongos or funky organ solos or blues licks. Yes, their shows are long, but that's more because Kevin Drew can't keep his mouth shut.

― ice hockey hair, Monday, 30 January 2006 23:21 (twenty years ago)

"There are no bongos or funky organ solos or blues licks."

This is Little Feat! And I could watch them play for 4 hours. For real. They are that good.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 30 January 2006 23:30 (twenty years ago)

If they're a jam band, so are Fiery Furnaces or Super Furry Animals.

Yes.

― adam (adam), Monday, 30 January 2006 23:33 (twenty years ago)

they usually play way too long. seeing them at intonation was fantastic, because they were limited to about half an hour

OTM - when I saw them at Olympic island in Toronto, they had a little under an hour to play, which was a nice length and made for a great show. The two other times I've seen them, they've really, really dragged. The worst is when they start noodling around with the old Feel Good Lost material...

― Jack L., Monday, 30 January 2006 23:42 (twenty years ago)

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