A happily subdued song on wax, “Cause=Time” became an all-out rocker live, with everyone on the crowded stage breaking out their best rock star moves (I was momentarily afraid one would trip and they would fall like dominoes). Caught up in the rockin’ good time that followed, it seems that Drew completely forgot about the bad review.They started out with quiet number (it could have been a wacked-out version of You Forgot It in People‘s first track, “Capture the Flag”), which saw Drew lifting lyrics from New Order’s “Love Vigilantes”, turning the story of a lonely soldier into the story of a touring family man: “I want to see / my family / my wife and child / waiting for me.” It was without a doubt the evening’s most “arty” moment, and, despite whatever criticisms have been leveled against them, the only time Broken Social Scene “copied” anything.After that initial lull, the band launched into a surprisingly raucous version of “Cause=Time”. He later explained that he had intended, in response to a review that called BSS “a copycat band,” to dedicate each song to a Chicago band that influenced him. Kevin Drew, one of the band’s four lead vocalists, its keyboardist, and sometime guitarist, announced that they “own way too many records from Chicago,” and this show was to be a tribute to Chicago music.

Veterans of the Toronto art-rock scene come together for the explicit purpose of making good, smart, pop music, Broken Social Scene seemed genuinely surprised and bemused to see a packed crowd of Americans before them. Case in point: Toronto band (sorry - “music collective”) Broken Social Scene, whose 2002 Canadian alternative smash You Forgot It in People is only now gaining momentum in the States.Ten band members (not including guests) are credited on You Forgot It in People, so it was a little surprising when only six took the stage on a Thursday night at Chicago’s Empty Bottle.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: In the new millennium, nothing is better for rock ‘n’ roll than large numbers of Canadians.

Best broken social scene songs