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Rachel Firgens Contributing Writers Debauchery in Madison, museum-hopping in NYC, cow tipping in Toledo? No, we stuck around for fall break for no other reason than poor planning. So, tempting fate at ticketmaster.com, Rachel boldly charged $17.58 (x2) to her mom’s credit card, in hopes the Feist/Broken Social Scene show at First Avenue would validate her decision to stay in the Cities (and ignore her IS reading for another night). With home in Edina as her only alternative, Annie, seeker of cheap thrills, agreed to join Rachel and her flatmate Lis that Saturday night for what proved to be a “transplendent” concert experience.

Opener Leslie “I-only-answer-to-my-last-name” Feist was a vision in white as she showcased a lovely voice and quick wit, while revealing she didn’t know a damn thing about Minnesota: “Is it always 60 degrees and beautiful?” she naively asked. Highlights of her set were Ron Sexsmith cover “Secret Heart” and “When I Was a Young Girl” (complete with hand motions), both from her celebrated debut “Let It Die.”

“The Feist experience is really two-fold: on one hand, there’s an infectious girlish quality, while at the same time, the music conveys her self-aware sophistication,” Rachel waxed philosophical. It wouldn’t be the last we’d see of Feist; she’d return after the break with her other band and Canadian countrymen, “supergroup” Broken Social Scene (henceforth: BSS).

The three of us had high hopes as the movie screen ascended to reveal a quartet of horns. We weren’t sure if we’d be treated to the atmospheric shoegaze aesthetic of BSS’s 2001 debut, Feel Good Lost, or the indie rock sensibilities of their acclaimed 2003 follow-up, You Forgot It in People, And their most recent self-titled effort released in October. Delightfully, what followed was the latter, complete with rock star jump kicks and up to 12 band members on stage at a time. BSS rewarded said planning inability with a show of over two hours and a satisfying balance of old favorites, new tracks and near-acrobatics as members entered and exited the suddenly tiny First Ave. stage.

As foreshadowing of the almost 3-D sound the band would produce later in the show, frontmen Brendan Canning (also of By Divine Right) and Kevin Drew immediately brought a tangible energy to stand-outs, “KC Accidental,” and “Cause=Time.”

The pace was a bit at odds with the somewhat awkward inclusion of dreamy “Anthems for a 17 Year-Old Girl” (sung a bit too absently by new girl Lisa Iforgetherlastname) but picked up with tracks from the new album “Major Label Debut” and “Ibi Dreams of Pavement,” not to mention the reappearance of Leslie Feist for “7/4 (Shorelines)” and the fantastic “Lover’s Spit.” What is typically a delicately tormented rumination on the nature of relationships, “Lover’s” became a guitar-driven, heavy-handed power ballad (including a little slow dancing by Feist and Andrew Whiteman a.k.a. The Apostle of Hustle).

After acknowledging a newfound fondness for Minneapolis, Kevin Drew not only treated fans to a first-time-ever solo rendition of “All My Friends” (found on the bonus EP to Be You and Me, included in the limited edition of last month’s release), but also instructed First Ave techies to turn up the house lights for the last 20 or so minutes of the show, making it seem like less of a concert and more of a house party.

What Broken Social Scene achieves in their recordings–a cacophony of beautiful mini-symphonies with rock-out appeal–is only magnified by the added emotional fervor of their live show. “Truly incendiary….um…incendiary!” was all the depth Annie could manage afterwards. Our only complaint was that the show ended.

Rachel loves to wax and can be reached at [email protected].

Annie’s favorite movie is Annie Hall and doesn’t know what “transplendent” means, either. Contact her at [email protected].