Tomorrow (June 8), Arts & Crafts will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the all-day Field Trip festival. We're taking part in the party, too: below, we've compiled 10 notable moments in the Toronto label's history, some of which intertwine with our own.
Ten Notable Arts & Crafts Moments:
10. March 1999 - A Cover Story
Leslie Feist and Brendan Canning appear on the cover of Exclaim! together, in bed with their bandmates in By Divine Right.
"We were about to open up some 'surprise' Tragically Hip shows in southern Ontario," Canning says of his tenure in By Divine Right with Feist. "Like any band experience, you have your ups and downs. If I can speak of the ups at that particular time, I think everyone in By Divine Right felt like we had something special — just not special enough to keep it together, I guess."
9. 2000 - Connected Social Scene
After Kevin Drew and his friend Canning begin experimenting with Tortoise-influenced instrumental music, songwriter Jason Collett mentors Drew, encouraging him to write lyrics and sing songs.
"When Broken Social Scene first started gathering in Kev's basement, it was all instrumental jams," Collett recalls. "Kev had asked me to come along, but I wasn't interested in instrumental jams so much. He'd come by my place, though, and sit in the kitchen spitting out these nuggets of made-up songs on the fly, silly stream-of-conscious lyrics chock full of hooky melodies. He didn't take it seriously at the time, but I really liked his voice and told him I'd come jam if he was singing songs.
"The thing that most impressed me about the band when the singing began was how the vocals were treated like just another instrument. Coming from a very traditional place as a songwriter, this struck me as very freeing. Lyrics are often clunky and can get in the way of the music, especially when you start thinking about them, which is hard not to do. There was no time for this in BSS; the train was already leaving the station. Those first songs articulated from the gut, they were never afforded the luxury of second thought. I think this was key to how those songs resonated with people."
When asked to contemplate Collett's role in the early days of BSS, Canning is momentarily puzzled. "If I could remember his famous advice maybe we'd be further ahead of the game," he says. "As far as what Jason added, you can't really measure that kind of thing, because we were becoming such a tight unit in the early stages that you just wouldn't want to fuck with the formula."
8. Saturday April 14, 2001 – Finally Broken
At Exclaim!'s ninth anniversary party, an early incarnation of Broken Social Scene performs a set at the Big Bop.
"It was definitely an early incarnation but wasn't our first gig, to be certain," Canning explains. "Or do you mean the first gig using the name Broken Social Scene? That could be true. It was John Crossingham's first gig; that much is true. Dan Snaith from Manitoba, who later became Caribou, was DJing.
"It was probably our most space-rock-y type of show. We may have been playing behind a curtain for some of it, with Christopher Mills doing visuals, as he was known to do at a few of our gigs back then. What later became 'Late Nineties Bedroom Rock for the Missionaries' and 'Shampoo Suicide' got their first run at this show. There was another tune called 'Give 'Em Something to Work With, Boys' that never saw the light of day past that gig. Oh yeah, at some point in the evening, a TTC bus shelter was smashed."
7. Saturday, April 1, 2000 – Leslie "Bitch Lap Lap" Feist
A year earlier, Feist plays the role of hype woman, Bitch Lap Lap, for Peaches.
"Bitch Lap Lap was a non-stop erotic hyper lil' sister-type hype girl," Peaches says. "Her make-up was one black eye and a teenage tracksuit. All the pics for my Teaches of Peaches album artwork, which include pics of Taylor Savvy and Bitch Lap Lap, were taken at that show. It was extreme chaos! Shary Boyle also got on stage with red boxing gloves and just pummelled us all."
6. Fall 2002 – The Other Other Man
At a Toronto BSS show, former couple Feist and Andrew Whiteman perform a version of Sloan's "The Other Man" with composer Chris Murphy in the audience. Murphy originally wrote the song about how his relationship with Feist caused her to eventually leave Whiteman.
"I had played a songwriter circle thing the night before that show at the Rivoli club," Whiteman recalls. "I 'Elliot Smithed' Sloan's song of angst and turned it a bit more inward. I guess I surprised a few people by playing it — it's always interesting when you hear musicians do an unexpected cover, especially when they bring a new flavour to the dish.
"I think Brendan and Kevin — maybe Justin too — were at the Rivoli show and really dug it. It was Kev and Brendan's idea to play it the next night as well. The older Social Scene days had a significant amount of 'What the hell is going on!? Let's change the show at the last minute!'-type of energy. It was okay the next night, but maybe the ambush element lost a bit of its thrill."
As for Murphy, his memories of this incident are foggy. "It sounds familiar," he says. "I do know that Andrew has played 'The Other Man' before, but I don't know if I've seen him do it or if someone told me that. It is possible that I saw that show and I can't remember. I do know that I dreaded seeing Andrew for a long time, but I don't anymore. I would also like to say that I went with Leslie to [see] Andrew's band AroarA play when we all happened to be in NYC last fall and they were amazing. All's well that ends well."
5. December 1, 2002 – The French Connection
Arcade Fire play one of their first big shows, opening for Royal City and Broken Social Scene at la Sala Rossa in Montreal. This was a significant confluence, as Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury and Royal City's Jim Guthrie grew up playing music together in Guelph, ON, while Broken Social Scene's Feist was briefly a member of Royal City.
"It seems most big cities are made up of hungry hearts that want to get out of the smaller towns they grew up in," Guthrie says. "Moving from Guelph to Toronto in the early 2000s taught me that there's always a larger community to embrace if you allow yourself to pull up your roots and plant yourself somewhere else. We were all packs of nomadic artists moving around in different bands, looking for a home.
"Back then, the Toronto music scene was already pretty vibrant, and the fact that everyone I knew was moving there (or Montreal) made it easier to slip into. Toronto and Montreal have always had killer music scenes and the fact that this show happened is a testament to that.
"To be honest I don't remember much about this show. The fact that I remember so little speaks to the innocence of it all. It was friends making music for friends and other new potential friends came to watch the show and that happened every night all over Canada. We've all gone on to reach other communities internationally and that's crazy to think about now."
Canning reflects, "I always liked playing la Sala Rossa in Montreal. Super vibe, good times. My fondest memories of Montreal fall around that time. Kevin and Justin were both raving about Arcade Fire that night. In my typical fashion, I missed the openers because I was enjoying a meal with friends, and food always comes before rock'n'roll in my books. I likely missed Royal City as well. Both terrific bands — my bad for moving at Canning's version of mach speed."
4. May 22, 2004 – Keep on Rockin' in the NDP World
Jack Layton and Olivia Chow join Constantines onstage for a version of "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" at an NDP fundraiser at Palais Royale in Toronto.
Says the band's Bry Webb: "I remember getting a call while we were on tour somewhere in the Prairies, saying that the Sadies had been asked to play Jack Layton's campaign launch party at Palais Royale, and said they would do it if we would do it. So we got it in our heads to come up with a condition of our own. We said we'd do it if Jack Layton and Olivia Chow would sing 'Keep on Rockin' in the Free World' with us. To our surprise, they agreed. I think it was a friend of Tyler [Clark Burke] and Lisa [Moran] of Three Gut [Records] who ultimately made it happen.
"It was such a strange place for the Constantines to perform, actually. I remember feeling pretty under-dressed. Mr. Layton and Mrs. Chow were very warm and fun-loving though, despite the demands that were likely put on them at the time. I recall seeing headlines side-by-side the next day, one stating something about Paul Martin appearing with Bono during his campaign, and the next saying something like, 'Layton Takes the Stage with Unknown Rock Band.' I'm not sure if we were any boost to the man's campaign, but it was an honour to share the stage with some good people on an auspicious night in their careers."
3. November 3, 2007 – (Inter)National Television
Feist performs on SNL, bringing some Toronto friends (not necessarily singers/musicians) onstage with her. This precedes appearances on Sesame Street and The Colbert Report Christmas Special in 2008 and The Muppets in 2011.
"It's generous of you to say I wasn't really known as a singer," Tyler Clark Burke, visual artist and co-founder of Three Gut Records, says now. "Up until that point, I only knew how to sing 'Happy Birthday.' I think several things came together for the SNL show. Leslie needed some back-up singers quickly, and it turned out they all needed to be Americans. I was flying up to stay with her during the show and I was a terrible singer and American — apparently my citizenship trumped talent.
"I recall that I flew in just before the first live rehearsal and I met up with a couple of friends (and other American recruits) in the hallway for our rehearsal. Most of them had been practicing for days, and I still didn't even know the words to the song — I know, I know, terrible friend. On top of this, I had to figure out the claps, which was unnecessarily difficult for me. But after twenty minutes of practice, we went out to the first live rehearsal in front of an audience.
"I recall Paul Simon had shown up with one of his kids to meet Leslie. It was all feeling a bit made-up. Brian Williams was the host — he had requested that Leslie perform — and it was Maya Rudolph's last show.
"Showtime came sooner than anyone of us thought, and I don't really remember much but my burning red cheeks and the moment I missed one of my claps… and dancing at the end. I remember Les and I dancing at the very end of the show together during the whole waving-goodbye thing. Afterwards, there were a series of three after-parties ending well into Sunday morning, but we just went to the first and most staid, and went home to bed. I was exhausted. The tough life of a touring performer."
In lieu of the SNL appearance, which is not available online in Canada, watch Feist and an assortment of special guests perform "1234" on the Late Show with David Letterman in the fall of 2007:
2. March 11, 2008 – Truth and Fiction
Ibi Kaslik (immortalized by BSS in the song "Ibi Dreams of Pavement") violates the Arts & Crafts circle of trust by writing a novel called The Angel Riots, whose less-than-flattering characterizations and plot (an aspiring Montreal art-rock band strives to 'make it,' soaked in lots of drugs, sex, infidelity, pretension, and blind ambition) are apparently based on members of Stars and other A&C associates. The Angel Riots precedes Stuart Berman's thorough oral history, This Book is Broken: A Broken Social Scene Story, which, according to Kaslik, purposefully did not seek her insights.
"The truth is I don't have a relationship with Arts & Crafts, and their associated artists," Kaslik says now. "I became persona non grata prior to the release of The Angel Riots and, by the time the book came out, I was completely estranged/alienated. They labeled it a lot of things. I guess it was okay to write a song called 'Ibi Dreams of Pavement,' but to write about a theme I was familiar with was unforgivable, in their view.
"Another thing that happened was that when people reached a certain amount of fame — which is kind of hilarious, if you think about the Canadian star system or lack thereof — they don't want to be told to take the garbage out, reminded of how awkward they were in high school, or called out on their shit. As an old friend from high school to many of the people in those bands, I didn't toe the star-fucker line; I held them accountable for bad artistic and moral choices and nobody seemed to respond well to the ebb of constant adulation, or accountability. I couldn't play the role of audience anymore, so I was simply ejected.
"I have a lot of problems with Berman's book, where I was literally cut out of many photographs and stories, not interviewed, because I would reveal unsavoury things about the big happy Broken Social Scene family. I think I even took a few pics and was not credited. But whatever, it was a hundred years ago. I wish them well on further exploits and exploitations. Everyone can believe the lie; I'm done."
As for Berman, he takes a diplomatic perspective on Kaslik's stance. "Writing This Book Is Broken was a challenging process of juggling the voices of a band with 15-odd members and those of their many, many peers, and piecing their stories together into a semi-coherent narrative in a very finite space," he explains. "Along the way, difficult decisions had to be made about who was included and who was not.
"Ibi is mentioned in the book as a part of the Etobicoke School of the Arts gang, and every effort was made to provide proper credit for the photos, however, many were literally salvaged from band-mates' shoeboxes, and not everyone could remember who took certain photos from 15 years prior. Also, it's pretty clear by the end of the book that Broken Social Scene is not always one big happy family. Marriages have fallen apart, people have been arrested, and friendships among band members have been strained."
1. March 27, 2011 – The Revolution Will Be Televised
During Broken Social Scene's internationally televised performance of "World Sick" at the Junos, Andrew Whiteman flashes a "VOTE HARPER OUT NOW" message, written on his guitar.
"It was actually written on gaffer tape on the front of my guitar," Whiteman recalls. "I dunno how the folks up in the camera booth missed it, unless of course they were in agreement with my political bluntness, which is entirely possible... in that case, ladies and gents, I stand with you.
"Anyway, I didn't tell anybody except for our tech Aaron, who did the tape/marker job, because well, why bring it up? It would've made waves before the performance. But the opportunity was too good to waste. I was doing what Bob Wiseman would do. Or Joel Gibb. I was doing my duty as a voting citizen of our democracy. They sure know about that in most other countries in the world, those where consumerism and celebrity haven't entirely softened the collective sense of outrage.
"Not surprisingly, no one gave me any flack, because we're all connected to the arts... the 'costly, expendable, cut-music-programs-from grade-school'-type arts.
"More importantly, Harper's policies continue to be absolutely shortsighted and, looking from a global as well as local socialist and conservative perspective, he is nothing short of dangerous. He must be voted out and kept in a tiny hunting lodge with his terror-seeking lap dogs and his wild rose cronies."
Watch a strategically-edited version of this performance here:
Ten Notable Arts & Crafts Moments:
10. March 1999 - A Cover Story
Leslie Feist and Brendan Canning appear on the cover of Exclaim! together, in bed with their bandmates in By Divine Right.
"We were about to open up some 'surprise' Tragically Hip shows in southern Ontario," Canning says of his tenure in By Divine Right with Feist. "Like any band experience, you have your ups and downs. If I can speak of the ups at that particular time, I think everyone in By Divine Right felt like we had something special — just not special enough to keep it together, I guess."
9. 2000 - Connected Social Scene
After Kevin Drew and his friend Canning begin experimenting with Tortoise-influenced instrumental music, songwriter Jason Collett mentors Drew, encouraging him to write lyrics and sing songs.
"When Broken Social Scene first started gathering in Kev's basement, it was all instrumental jams," Collett recalls. "Kev had asked me to come along, but I wasn't interested in instrumental jams so much. He'd come by my place, though, and sit in the kitchen spitting out these nuggets of made-up songs on the fly, silly stream-of-conscious lyrics chock full of hooky melodies. He didn't take it seriously at the time, but I really liked his voice and told him I'd come jam if he was singing songs.
"The thing that most impressed me about the band when the singing began was how the vocals were treated like just another instrument. Coming from a very traditional place as a songwriter, this struck me as very freeing. Lyrics are often clunky and can get in the way of the music, especially when you start thinking about them, which is hard not to do. There was no time for this in BSS; the train was already leaving the station. Those first songs articulated from the gut, they were never afforded the luxury of second thought. I think this was key to how those songs resonated with people."
When asked to contemplate Collett's role in the early days of BSS, Canning is momentarily puzzled. "If I could remember his famous advice maybe we'd be further ahead of the game," he says. "As far as what Jason added, you can't really measure that kind of thing, because we were becoming such a tight unit in the early stages that you just wouldn't want to fuck with the formula."
8. Saturday April 14, 2001 – Finally Broken
At Exclaim!'s ninth anniversary party, an early incarnation of Broken Social Scene performs a set at the Big Bop.
"It was definitely an early incarnation but wasn't our first gig, to be certain," Canning explains. "Or do you mean the first gig using the name Broken Social Scene? That could be true. It was John Crossingham's first gig; that much is true. Dan Snaith from Manitoba, who later became Caribou, was DJing.
"It was probably our most space-rock-y type of show. We may have been playing behind a curtain for some of it, with Christopher Mills doing visuals, as he was known to do at a few of our gigs back then. What later became 'Late Nineties Bedroom Rock for the Missionaries' and 'Shampoo Suicide' got their first run at this show. There was another tune called 'Give 'Em Something to Work With, Boys' that never saw the light of day past that gig. Oh yeah, at some point in the evening, a TTC bus shelter was smashed."
7. Saturday, April 1, 2000 – Leslie "Bitch Lap Lap" Feist
A year earlier, Feist plays the role of hype woman, Bitch Lap Lap, for Peaches.
"Bitch Lap Lap was a non-stop erotic hyper lil' sister-type hype girl," Peaches says. "Her make-up was one black eye and a teenage tracksuit. All the pics for my Teaches of Peaches album artwork, which include pics of Taylor Savvy and Bitch Lap Lap, were taken at that show. It was extreme chaos! Shary Boyle also got on stage with red boxing gloves and just pummelled us all."
6. Fall 2002 – The Other Other Man
At a Toronto BSS show, former couple Feist and Andrew Whiteman perform a version of Sloan's "The Other Man" with composer Chris Murphy in the audience. Murphy originally wrote the song about how his relationship with Feist caused her to eventually leave Whiteman.
"I had played a songwriter circle thing the night before that show at the Rivoli club," Whiteman recalls. "I 'Elliot Smithed' Sloan's song of angst and turned it a bit more inward. I guess I surprised a few people by playing it — it's always interesting when you hear musicians do an unexpected cover, especially when they bring a new flavour to the dish.
"I think Brendan and Kevin — maybe Justin too — were at the Rivoli show and really dug it. It was Kev and Brendan's idea to play it the next night as well. The older Social Scene days had a significant amount of 'What the hell is going on!? Let's change the show at the last minute!'-type of energy. It was okay the next night, but maybe the ambush element lost a bit of its thrill."
As for Murphy, his memories of this incident are foggy. "It sounds familiar," he says. "I do know that Andrew has played 'The Other Man' before, but I don't know if I've seen him do it or if someone told me that. It is possible that I saw that show and I can't remember. I do know that I dreaded seeing Andrew for a long time, but I don't anymore. I would also like to say that I went with Leslie to [see] Andrew's band AroarA play when we all happened to be in NYC last fall and they were amazing. All's well that ends well."
5. December 1, 2002 – The French Connection
Arcade Fire play one of their first big shows, opening for Royal City and Broken Social Scene at la Sala Rossa in Montreal. This was a significant confluence, as Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury and Royal City's Jim Guthrie grew up playing music together in Guelph, ON, while Broken Social Scene's Feist was briefly a member of Royal City.
"It seems most big cities are made up of hungry hearts that want to get out of the smaller towns they grew up in," Guthrie says. "Moving from Guelph to Toronto in the early 2000s taught me that there's always a larger community to embrace if you allow yourself to pull up your roots and plant yourself somewhere else. We were all packs of nomadic artists moving around in different bands, looking for a home.
"Back then, the Toronto music scene was already pretty vibrant, and the fact that everyone I knew was moving there (or Montreal) made it easier to slip into. Toronto and Montreal have always had killer music scenes and the fact that this show happened is a testament to that.
"To be honest I don't remember much about this show. The fact that I remember so little speaks to the innocence of it all. It was friends making music for friends and other new potential friends came to watch the show and that happened every night all over Canada. We've all gone on to reach other communities internationally and that's crazy to think about now."
Canning reflects, "I always liked playing la Sala Rossa in Montreal. Super vibe, good times. My fondest memories of Montreal fall around that time. Kevin and Justin were both raving about Arcade Fire that night. In my typical fashion, I missed the openers because I was enjoying a meal with friends, and food always comes before rock'n'roll in my books. I likely missed Royal City as well. Both terrific bands — my bad for moving at Canning's version of mach speed."
4. May 22, 2004 – Keep on Rockin' in the NDP World
Jack Layton and Olivia Chow join Constantines onstage for a version of "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" at an NDP fundraiser at Palais Royale in Toronto.
Says the band's Bry Webb: "I remember getting a call while we were on tour somewhere in the Prairies, saying that the Sadies had been asked to play Jack Layton's campaign launch party at Palais Royale, and said they would do it if we would do it. So we got it in our heads to come up with a condition of our own. We said we'd do it if Jack Layton and Olivia Chow would sing 'Keep on Rockin' in the Free World' with us. To our surprise, they agreed. I think it was a friend of Tyler [Clark Burke] and Lisa [Moran] of Three Gut [Records] who ultimately made it happen.
"It was such a strange place for the Constantines to perform, actually. I remember feeling pretty under-dressed. Mr. Layton and Mrs. Chow were very warm and fun-loving though, despite the demands that were likely put on them at the time. I recall seeing headlines side-by-side the next day, one stating something about Paul Martin appearing with Bono during his campaign, and the next saying something like, 'Layton Takes the Stage with Unknown Rock Band.' I'm not sure if we were any boost to the man's campaign, but it was an honour to share the stage with some good people on an auspicious night in their careers."
3. November 3, 2007 – (Inter)National Television
Feist performs on SNL, bringing some Toronto friends (not necessarily singers/musicians) onstage with her. This precedes appearances on Sesame Street and The Colbert Report Christmas Special in 2008 and The Muppets in 2011.
"It's generous of you to say I wasn't really known as a singer," Tyler Clark Burke, visual artist and co-founder of Three Gut Records, says now. "Up until that point, I only knew how to sing 'Happy Birthday.' I think several things came together for the SNL show. Leslie needed some back-up singers quickly, and it turned out they all needed to be Americans. I was flying up to stay with her during the show and I was a terrible singer and American — apparently my citizenship trumped talent.
"I recall that I flew in just before the first live rehearsal and I met up with a couple of friends (and other American recruits) in the hallway for our rehearsal. Most of them had been practicing for days, and I still didn't even know the words to the song — I know, I know, terrible friend. On top of this, I had to figure out the claps, which was unnecessarily difficult for me. But after twenty minutes of practice, we went out to the first live rehearsal in front of an audience.
"I recall Paul Simon had shown up with one of his kids to meet Leslie. It was all feeling a bit made-up. Brian Williams was the host — he had requested that Leslie perform — and it was Maya Rudolph's last show.
"Showtime came sooner than anyone of us thought, and I don't really remember much but my burning red cheeks and the moment I missed one of my claps… and dancing at the end. I remember Les and I dancing at the very end of the show together during the whole waving-goodbye thing. Afterwards, there were a series of three after-parties ending well into Sunday morning, but we just went to the first and most staid, and went home to bed. I was exhausted. The tough life of a touring performer."
In lieu of the SNL appearance, which is not available online in Canada, watch Feist and an assortment of special guests perform "1234" on the Late Show with David Letterman in the fall of 2007:
2. March 11, 2008 – Truth and Fiction
Ibi Kaslik (immortalized by BSS in the song "Ibi Dreams of Pavement") violates the Arts & Crafts circle of trust by writing a novel called The Angel Riots, whose less-than-flattering characterizations and plot (an aspiring Montreal art-rock band strives to 'make it,' soaked in lots of drugs, sex, infidelity, pretension, and blind ambition) are apparently based on members of Stars and other A&C associates. The Angel Riots precedes Stuart Berman's thorough oral history, This Book is Broken: A Broken Social Scene Story, which, according to Kaslik, purposefully did not seek her insights.
"The truth is I don't have a relationship with Arts & Crafts, and their associated artists," Kaslik says now. "I became persona non grata prior to the release of The Angel Riots and, by the time the book came out, I was completely estranged/alienated. They labeled it a lot of things. I guess it was okay to write a song called 'Ibi Dreams of Pavement,' but to write about a theme I was familiar with was unforgivable, in their view.
"Another thing that happened was that when people reached a certain amount of fame — which is kind of hilarious, if you think about the Canadian star system or lack thereof — they don't want to be told to take the garbage out, reminded of how awkward they were in high school, or called out on their shit. As an old friend from high school to many of the people in those bands, I didn't toe the star-fucker line; I held them accountable for bad artistic and moral choices and nobody seemed to respond well to the ebb of constant adulation, or accountability. I couldn't play the role of audience anymore, so I was simply ejected.
"I have a lot of problems with Berman's book, where I was literally cut out of many photographs and stories, not interviewed, because I would reveal unsavoury things about the big happy Broken Social Scene family. I think I even took a few pics and was not credited. But whatever, it was a hundred years ago. I wish them well on further exploits and exploitations. Everyone can believe the lie; I'm done."
As for Berman, he takes a diplomatic perspective on Kaslik's stance. "Writing This Book Is Broken was a challenging process of juggling the voices of a band with 15-odd members and those of their many, many peers, and piecing their stories together into a semi-coherent narrative in a very finite space," he explains. "Along the way, difficult decisions had to be made about who was included and who was not.
"Ibi is mentioned in the book as a part of the Etobicoke School of the Arts gang, and every effort was made to provide proper credit for the photos, however, many were literally salvaged from band-mates' shoeboxes, and not everyone could remember who took certain photos from 15 years prior. Also, it's pretty clear by the end of the book that Broken Social Scene is not always one big happy family. Marriages have fallen apart, people have been arrested, and friendships among band members have been strained."
1. March 27, 2011 – The Revolution Will Be Televised
During Broken Social Scene's internationally televised performance of "World Sick" at the Junos, Andrew Whiteman flashes a "VOTE HARPER OUT NOW" message, written on his guitar.
"It was actually written on gaffer tape on the front of my guitar," Whiteman recalls. "I dunno how the folks up in the camera booth missed it, unless of course they were in agreement with my political bluntness, which is entirely possible... in that case, ladies and gents, I stand with you.
"Anyway, I didn't tell anybody except for our tech Aaron, who did the tape/marker job, because well, why bring it up? It would've made waves before the performance. But the opportunity was too good to waste. I was doing what Bob Wiseman would do. Or Joel Gibb. I was doing my duty as a voting citizen of our democracy. They sure know about that in most other countries in the world, those where consumerism and celebrity haven't entirely softened the collective sense of outrage.
"Not surprisingly, no one gave me any flack, because we're all connected to the arts... the 'costly, expendable, cut-music-programs-from grade-school'-type arts.
"More importantly, Harper's policies continue to be absolutely shortsighted and, looking from a global as well as local socialist and conservative perspective, he is nothing short of dangerous. He must be voted out and kept in a tiny hunting lodge with his terror-seeking lap dogs and his wild rose cronies."
Watch a strategically-edited version of this performance here: