Road Report: Broken Social Scene Recharge at Ithaca Falls

Arts & Crafts

Broken Social Scene has embarked on their North American tour in support of 'Forgiveness Rocks Record,' their long-awaited fourth studio album, which features guest vocals from Feist, Emily Haines, Spiral Stairs and Sebastien Grainger. The Canadian rock outfit is joined by the Wooden Birds and the Sea and Cake, and will be checking in with updates from the road all along the way.

In their third entry, Brendan Canning talks about traveling to upstate New York and getting a chance to relax, albeit briefly, at Ithaca Falls. The band eventually travels to Buffalo, where they encounter a very boisterous fan. Read all about it and check out an exclusive postcard-like photo of the band after the jump.
Caption: BSS and The Sea & Cake at Ithaca Falls, Ithaca NY.

We are now back in Toronto (most of us) on the briefest of breaks before we hit the road again and take over the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan this Friday. Sadly, we will miss Nuit Blanche which takes place this weekend and is probably one of the most festive nights this city has to offer. However, coming home to a car-free Sunday in Kensington market was a wonderful thing. But let's back track while the batteries are recharging...

Last Thursday, we arrived a day early in Ithaca, NY for our show at the State Theatre. We hit a serious hot spell on those two days which made for some really great trips to the various falls by both BSS & The Sea & Cake, and some incredible food at the Moosewood Cafe. Most were raving about both the falls and the food. I also spent a great deal of time at Angry Mom's Records while the sun shone bright. Those rare funk records don't find themselves, ya know.

The theatre had been restored (thankfully) in recent years and had escaped demolition thanks to some determined folks, most notably our promoter. Fantastic venue. The show ranked high on the scale, in fact Kevin deemed it his fave TSAC show thus far. We were in good company that night as Howie Gelb (Giant Sand) and Brendan Canty (Fugazi) had something going on at the university that night as well.

The next day in Buffalo the mercury dropped and you could tell everyone was ready for the five day break that lay ahead. However, there were a thousand strong to keep spirits VERY high on a Saturday night.

Definitely the best gig for BSS in Buffalo, and the feeling after that show was that Buffalo cannot be missed on the touring cycle. It may not have the beauty of Ithaca's falls, but it certainly has a spirit that cannot be denied. Just don't expect the folks who came to party to shut up during the ballads...because it just wasn't going to be that kind of party...and to the wasted guy that just couldn't believe BSS played Tai Pei when he was living there, and who wanted to keep talking about it over and over and over again and again...nice to meet you, too.

P.S. Big ups to Intelligentsia for their generosity in giving us heaps of coffee and a grinder so we can be properly caffeinted on this next run through the Midwest.

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