Metric, Broken Social Scene and Stars Turn RBC Amphitheatre Into a Celebration of Canadian Indie Rock

There was a pretty good chance that anyone walking into RBC Amphitheatre on August 7 knew they were in for something special. What I wasn’t expecting was just how many people would be there to see it, especially on a night that also marked the opening of Rush’s “Fifty Something” reunion tour at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The venue was packed from the front of the stage all the way back to the lawns, with fans filling the seats well before Metric was scheduled to take the stage. On paper, a night featuring Stars, Broken Social Scene and Metric was an impressive lineup. In person, it felt more like a gathering of old friends who had finally managed to get everyone in the same room at the same time.

These three bands have been connected for decades, both musically and personally, and that history was impossible to miss throughout the night. Members crossed between stages, voices and instruments appeared in unexpected places, and songs that might normally belong to one band suddenly became something much bigger.

Stars were first, delivering a set that immediately established the emotional side of the evening. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan have always had a way of making even the largest room feel surprisingly intimate, and songs like “Elevator Love Letter,” “Dead Hearts” and “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” gave the early arrivals plenty of reason to put their conversations on hold.

“Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” was a particularly memorable moment, with Gentleman Reg joining the band on stage. By the time Stars finished, it was already becoming clear that this wasn’t going to be a typical opening set where the first band simply warms up the crowd for the headliner.

Then came Broken Social Scene.

Calling BSS a band almost doesn’t seem to cover it. They are more like a musical family, and that was exactly how they came across on stage. The set moved between sprawling arrangements and looser, more unpredictable moments, with “Cause = Time,” “7/4 (Shoreline),” “Hug of Thunder” and “KC Accidental” showing why the collective has remained such an important part of Canada’s indie music story.

The connections between the three acts became even more obvious as the set progressed. Torquil Campbell joined the band for “Fire Eye’d Boy,” while Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw appeared for “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl.”

It wasn’t simply guest appearances for the sake of adding a familiar face. These musicians clearly know each other, and there was an easy chemistry on stage that you can’t manufacture.

By the time Broken Social Scene wrapped up, the audience was more than ready for Metric.

Emily Haines, James Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott-Key came out with the confidence of a band that knows exactly how to command a venue this size. Metric’s set was bigger, louder and more visually driven, but it never lost the personality that has always separated the band from the pack.

Before Metric took the stage, “Real Good Time Together,” the Lou Reed cover, played over the PA. Once the band came out, they wasted little time getting the crowd moving, launching into “Victim of Luck,” followed by “Oh Please” and “Youth Without Youth.”

“Monster Hospital,” “Poster of a Girl,” “Now or Never Now” and “Synthetica” all landed with a crowd that clearly knew these songs well.

There were also plenty of visual touches throughout the performance, including live drum and keyboard camera shots projected onto the big screens. During “Now or Never Now,” confetti cannons fired into the air, turning the RBC Amphitheatre into a brief storm of paper while the band continued driving the song forward.

But the biggest moments of the night weren’t necessarily the ones Metric created on their own.

Amy Millan returned to the stage for “Breathing Underwater,” giving the song an entirely different character. The collaboration was especially fitting considering the friendships running through the entire evening.

Then came “Synthetica,” with members of Broken Social Scene’s horn section joining Metric on stage.

And then came “Loyal.”

With Broken Social Scene and Stars joining Metric, the stage suddenly became a snapshot of the entire night. Musicians who had spent years working alongside one another were standing together in front of a packed Toronto crowd, turning the final stretch of the show into something that felt less like a concert and more like a celebration.

Before the final song of the night, Haines spoke about how unlikely this night once seemed. She talked about the years of friendship between the musicians and how something that had felt almost impossible eventually became real.

Looking around the RBC Amphitheatre, it was easy to understand why that meant so much.

This wasn’t just three successful Canadian bands sharing a bill. There was history here. There were friendships, musical partnerships and years of memories connecting the people on that stage.

And the audience knew it.

“Gimme Sympathy” and “Combat Baby” brought the main set to a close before Metric returned for an encore featuring “Help I’m Alive” and “Black Sheep.”

By then, the point of the evening had already been made.

Toronto had been given a rare opportunity to see three bands with deep connections to the city’s music community share one stage, not as strangers passing through on the same tour, but as friends who genuinely seemed happy to be there together.

And judging by the crowd that stayed right through to the end, Toronto was pretty happy to have them.

A huge thanks to Niyati Jain at Live Nation for the accreditation.

Metric

Broken Social Scene

Stars

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Drew Osborne

I’m Drew, the founder and editor of Front of the Stage. I have a strong love for music and photography, which started at a very young age. There’s just something I love about experiencing live music and capturing memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s how Front of the Stage came to be.