The way the crowd was storming towards the front of the stage at Broken Social Scene’s performance last night, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that this was a free-standing gig — but that was just testament to how amazing a show the Canadian supergroup put on.

Kicking things off with the danceable 7/4 (Shoreline), it was clear right from the start that BSS, led by co-mastermind Kevin Drew, was intent on making sure that this was a night that everyone in attendance wasn’t going to soon forget.

Despite the noted absences of popular members Feist and Emily Haines, the band still got the audience on their feet within mere seconds, and kept them moving for the whole night with favorites like the rocking Fire Eye’d Boy and the sublime Lover’s Spit. But it was the powerful Ibis Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day) that was easily the highlight of the evening, as the crowd sang their lungs out with an unrestrained fervour that urged the band on even more.

“This is tango punk rock!” said Salle Gaveau’s founder and guitarist, Natsuki Kido.

And the quintet from Japan was all that and more. Inspired and influenced by one of Argentine tango’s greatest composers, Astor Piazzolla, Salle Gaveau played a tight and highly stylistic fusion of tango, classical, free jazz and progressive rock guitar with stunning musicality, painting a vivid picture of cascading emotions with their instruments.

Alloy, taken from their debut album of the same name, opened the show with aplomb and intensity, firing up the night with stirring mystique, lulling sonic caresses and impish interplay that often culminated in blistering climaxes.

Natsuki and the band didn’t speak much, but when they did, it was often in bashful jest. “The next song is quiet. One’s that’s not so loud. It’s a very beautiful one, so don’t worry!” announced Natsuki to the amused crowd. Immediately after, bassist Kerisuke Torigoe, who often doubled up as a percussionist, slapping his double bass, launched into a beautiful and mesmerising bass solo, and then was joined by Masaki Hayashi on piano and Natsuki on guitar for the song Arcos. As with many of their compositions such as Tingo, Nullset and Strange Device that followed, the song so moved the audience that a brief moment of still silence vibrated in the air after the last note.

As Salle Gaveau closed the night with a bluey, boogie-woogie tune for the encore, the crowd erupted in riotous applause with a standing ovation. Evidently, the pure spirit of music does have that effect on people.

Sure, he was a charismatic presence on Saturday when he performed with Lee Ritenour and friends—but jazz sensation Kurt Elling’s just as comfortable in an intimate setting, as he showed yesterday at Esplanade’s Singapore Art Café during a brief chat with In the House FM hosts Jack and Rai.

After talking about his expansive influences like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and how his time in church choirs helped him as a singer, Kurt touched upon a topic dear to his heart: vocalese, a style in which the singer creates lyrics to go with prewritten instrumental compositions, and the style in which Kurt’s unusual capabilities as a poet and singer know no bounds. 

Naturally, the session wouldn’t have been complete without a performance from the man himself who, along with his bassist
Rob Amster, was more than happy to oblige with two chilled-out numbers that demonstrated Kurt’s fantastic vocals and the vocalese style - Those Clouds Are Heavy, You Dig? and She’s Funny That Way.