Superconnected.

Thursday's Broken Social Scene concert can be summed up in one word: epic.

Pretty much the whole BSS family made the show. The only person that I could see that was missing was Emily Haines from Metric, although I suspect she made Friday's show.

The opening band was Superchunk. I'd never heard of them, but I thoroughly enjoyed their 45-minute set. Their music reminded me of the type of fuzzy indie rock that I listened to in the early 2000s. I could picture their stuff coming out of my discman's headphones as I walked around campus.

After Superchunk, they closed the big red stage curtains, which sort of upped the drama. What exactly was going on behind those curtains? How much equipment would they need to accommodate the full line up?

The show started abruptly. The in-between music was still playing as the red curtains opened, and wow, there they were... the current regular members of Broken Social Scene. They launched into World Sick which is a great show opener, as it is a great album opener on their latest album, Forgiveness Rock Record.

The second song of the set was the first BSS song I ever loved: 7/4 Shoreline. And that's when two of my favourite women, Leslie Feist and Amy Millan, took the stage. I was in heaven.

Following that was a bunch of songs from FRR like Texico Bitches, Forced to Love, All to All, and Art House Director. The lineup on stage kept varying. Sometimes the horn section would be there, sometimes not. Sometimes there'd be two drummers, sometimes one. Sometimes you'd count and realize there were ten people singing. My concert pal, just new to the BSS universe from a mixed CD that I made her, said "Wow! Every song is completely different!" And that, right there, summarizes the brilliance of BSS. That, and the fact that they are all about friends, and family, and the city of Toronto.

There was a turning point in the show where it went from awesome to epic. BSS played the instrumental Feel Good Lost from their first album of the same name. Then, they seamlessly flowed into Superconnected from their eponymous album. That was the point where I realized this was one of the best shows I'd ever seen (and I've seen a lot of shows). During that song, I held onto each and every word that Kevin Drew sang.

Amy and Lisa stepped into Emily's shoes for Anthems for a Seventeen-Year Old Girl, which Kevin introduced as "the BSS song most associated with Toronto." (Oh, and you'll notice that I'm just going on first name basis now with everyone in the band.) That is probably my favourite BSS song hands down, and I was so happy to sing along to every word. After that, we were treated to a stripped down version of Lover's Spit.

At one point, Feist took centre stage with her guitar and sang I Feel it All. It was great. Another highlight was The Sweetest Kill. That's a BSS song that I didn't much care for, until I heard it live. That happens to me so often: I'm completely meh about a song, but then I love it once I've heard it live. I should coin a name for a phenomenon.

The absolute climax of the show was the finale: the instrumental Meet Me in the Basement. There were a tonne of people on stage, and I couldn't keep myself from humming along with the melody. Near the end, the band would stop playing, and Kevin would thank the audience, and then they'd launch back into the song. At the very end, Kevin said (and I paraphrase) "Toronto, what are you going to do to change what's happening the city? Whatever you do, I hope it sounds like this" and then the band finished the song with a flourish. I loved it.

The encore was great as well. BSS played for a full 2.5 hours, I believe, and it was breath-taking. I can't wait to see them again. I've never gone to the traditional summer show on the Island, but you know I'll be there this year.

I was effing exhausted the next day. I'm not accustomed to going to a long, loud, stand-up rock show on a school night. My last few school night shows have been at theatres and churches and the like. One kid looked at me during first period and said "Miss, you look tired. You look like you wanted to stay home today." He was right. I was tired, but extremely happy.

Anyway, last night was my work Christmas party and I was still visibly tired. I even went home before the after-party, which shocked and confused many. I'm going to have to work hard to redeem myself in the new year.

Well, that's my BSS review. But kids, it's not over yet. I still get to see Jason Collett (who was also on stage during the show) next week. I've been promised special guests. I bet some of them will be from the BSS family. Yay!