Today, beloved Toronto collective Broken Social Scene have announced a run of North American shows for this fall. The tour is in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the group’s breakthrough album You Forgot It In People, a record that pushed indie rock far beyond its noisy ’90s slacker roots toward a more sonically expansive, emotionally expressive vision. Full tour dates are listed below; these shows will see the band playing the album, as well as some fan favorites, and – in typical Broken Social Scene style – probably some new tracks too. Tickets are available on Friday, May 6th at 10 am local time.
In further celebration of the seminal album’s anniversary, the group have also paired up with Z2 Comics and writer Lonnie Nadler to channel each track from the record into a sequential art ensemble – Broken Social Scene: You Forgot It in People, The Graphic Novel. Paralleling the confluence that led a community of Toronto musicians to craft a winding audio epiphany, this project unites one writer and 13 artists to create a series of intertwining vignettes inspired by You Forgot It In People. The graphic novel bundle will also include two musical extras: the first is a 10-inch vinyl of You Forgot It In People’s classic song “Lover’s Spit”— featuring both the album version and the stripped back, b-side version featuring Feist on vocals; the second is a cassette mixtape of unreleased instrumental compositions.
Once a two-person basement recording project, Broken Social Scene came to life onstage as a shadowy improvisational entity with a revolving-door roster, each concert a wholly unique experience dependent on the room, the weather, what they ate for dinner that night, and who was dropping in to play. Where the band’s 2001 debut album, Feel Good Lost, presented BSS as an anonymous ambient project that reflected its humble, homespun origins, their electrifying live performances from that era rallied an extended family of performers with roots in post-rock (Justin Peroff; Do Make Say Think’s Charles Spearin), Latin jazz (Andrew Whiteman), art-folk (Feist), synth-pop (Amy Millan and Evan Cranley, also of Stars), dance-punk (Metric’s Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw), and country rock (Jason Collett). Out of this collection of incredible talent, You Forgot It In People – and Broken Social Scene as we now know it – was born.
Most recently, BSS released Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities, a career-spanning collection of B-sides, rarities, and outtakes pulled from 20 years of 7-inches, compilations, soundtracks, and hard-to-find releases.
Tour Dates
9/23 – Vancouver, BC / Commodore Ballroom
9/24 – Seattle, WA / Paramount
9/26 – Portland, OR / Wonder Ballroom
9/27 – Portland, OR / Wonder Ballroom
9/29 – Sonoma, CA / Gundlach Bundschu (Barn)
9/30 – Oakland, CA / Fox Theatre
10/2 – Dana Point, CA / Ohana Festival
10/4 – Sante Fe, NM / Meow Wolf
10/5 – Denver, CO / Summit Music Hall
10/7 – Iowa City, IA / Englert Theatre
10/8 – St. Paul, MN / Palace Theatre
10/9 – Chicago, IL / Thalia Hall
10/10 – Chicago, IL / Thalia Hall
10/12 – Philadelphia, PA / Union Transfer
10/13 – Washington, DC / Lincoln Theatre
10/14 – Washington, DC / 9:30 Club
10/15 – New York, NY / Webster Hall
10/16 – New York, NY / Webster Hall