SINGAPORE

WHO: Broken Social Scene
WHERE: Esplanade Concert Hall
WHEN: Tuesday
ATTENDANCE: 1,600

THERE is no resisting the charisma of Broken Social Scene.

After a previous sell-out gig at the Esplanade (not too long ago, in 2008), the Canadian indie-rock band repeated the feat at the same venue on their second visit.

And, when prompted by founding member Kevin Drew, many of the ecstatic audience members, who were mostly in their 20s and 30s, raised their hands to indicate that they had attended the first performance.

Still, armed with an acclaimed new album, this year's Forgiveness Rock Record, the band had enough current materials to tap on to offer a fresh experience for everyone present.

At 7.45pm, the show kicked off with the catchy guitar riffs that make World Sick, their latest album's opening track, instantly recognisable.

And, with as many as five members - Sam Goldberg, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman and other founding member Brendan Canning, alongside Drew - playing bass and guitars, the barrage of sound leapt from the stage to enclose the listeners in a sonic maelstrom.

In all, a total of nine new songs were performed - from the exuberant Texico Bitches to the hypnotic Sweetest Kill. They were strategically interspersed with older classics, like Stars And Sons and Fire Eye'd Boy, which prompted enthusiastic audience reactions.

For a band like Broken Social Scene, it's a futile effort to pinpoint who's playing what instruments, since the number of members in the collective as well as the touring line-up are often changing.

Moreover, aside from Justin Peroff, who was stuck with drums, the other members shared vocals and displayed their flair with multiple instruments.

For example, Drew sang some of the lead vocals - most memorably on a very stripped- down version of Lover's Spit - and switched between guitar, keyboards and percussion.

David French helped with percussion and horns, while the lone female onstage, Lisa Lobsinger, provided ethereal vocals for tracks like 7/4 (Shoreline), Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl, and the dizzyingly fast All To All, and dabbled with percussion and keyboards.

Aside from a couple of instances of unwarranted audio feedback and screechy electronic effects, the complex layering of sounds held up well in the concert hall.

Despite the formality of the performance space, the feel of the gig was kept casual, as Drew and Canning chatted often with fans as if they were old friends.

As an extended encore of Meet Me In The Basement marked the end of a scrumptious 135-minute set, the band appeared reluctant to leave.

So, it made complete sense when Drew, in a parting shot, gushed to the audience affectionately: "We are in a relationship. We're a couple now."

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