Spanning 23 North American dates, the All the Feelings tour brings legacy indie-rock outfits Metric, Broken Social Scene, and Stars together on stage. The rolling revue reached its North American apex with a hometown celebration at the RBC Amphitheatre on August 7, marking a quarter-century of shared musical history.
Talk to Toronto music fans of a certain vintage, and their gaze grows wistful as they reminisce about the early 2000s—a time before digital disruption, when community reigned and creativity thrived. Many of the acts that emerged from that fertile era became a vital part of the city’s cultural fabric, not least the shape-shifting indie-rock collective Broken Social Scene. The band, initially started by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning before evolving into a much larger group, became known for an all-in-the-family vibe where members continually nurtured outside projects. Emily Haines and James (Jimmy) Shaw experimented with the synth-pop sounds of Metric, Amy Millan and Evan Cranley joined dream-pop purveyors Stars, and Leslie Feist rode her cut-crystal voice and intricate guitar melodies to a breakthrough in Europe. Twenty-five years later, through albums, breakups, makeups, and marriages, the three bands joined forces once again for the All the Feelings tour, concluding its North American run at the RBC Amphitheatre on August 7.
Shared Roots in Toronto’s Funded Artistic Programs
The ties that bind these three bands run deep, tracing back to teenage friendships formed in Toronto’s early-2000s indie music and arts scene. Amy Millan and Emily Haines met on the very first day of Grade 11 at Etobicoke School of the Arts, both entering midway through high school and initially getting lost on their way to music class. Millan met Kevin Drew that summer, and later met Evan Cranley in Grade 12 when he walked by carrying a trombone. Cranley met Shaw at age 14, learning to play guitar together in local parks by picking out Pink Floyd and Bob Marley covers. In retrospect, Cranley theorized that Toronto provided a uniquely nurturing ecosystem for young artists, pointing to funded artistic programs in schools where art felt ingrained in the city’s identity.
Broken Social Scene’s foundational chapter began as a serene ambient album recorded by Drew and Canning titled Feel Good Lost,
released in 2001 and featuring contributions from a circle of friends. That collaborative circle soon morphed into the collective behind the 2002 breakthrough record, You Forgot It In People.
Accidental. There was an egoless-ness—no ulterior motives besides just the true joy of writing and playing together,
Spearin noted of the collective’s early chemistry. Brendan Canning added that he initially encountered Drew around town handing out flyers or playing gigs, ultimately joining forces after hearing the K.C. Accidental recordings.
Reversing the Bill at Detroit’s Fox Theatre
Nearly a quarter-century after playing together at the 600-capacity club Lee’s Palace in Toronto—where Metric opened, followed by Broken Social Scene and headlining Stars—the dynamic on the All the Feelings tour shifted. At the historic, 5,000-capacity Fox Theatre in Detroit, Metric headlined the evening with higher production values, louder sound, and a longer set, relegating Stars to the opening slot and placing BSS in the middle.
Stars opened the Detroit concert to an audience that filled the venue roughly three-quarters full, featuring a performance anchored by co-lead singer Torquil Campbell and vocalist Amy Millan. The Montreal pop band performed tracks including Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It,
before Campbell brought emotional weight to the stage. At Brooklyn Paramount during the same tour run, Campbell modified the song’s lyrics to address contemporary sociopolitical tensions, urging the crowd to take the weakest thing in you and then beat the bastards with it,
while notably changing the word bastards
to Nazis
to emphasize human connection as a tool for survival. Back in Detroit, Stars’ set moved through tracks like Take Me to the Riot.
Confronting Nostalgia and Modern Realities
Rather than relying purely on legacy acts playing older material, both Broken Social Scene and Metric released new studio albums ahead of the tour—Remember the Humans
and Romanticize the Dive,
respectively. During BSS’s set at the Fox Theatre, Kevin Drew addressed the geopolitical climate between Canada and the United States, offering diplomacy over a recent border dispute regarding the Gordie Howe International Bridge. BSS welcomed guest appearances from Stars and Metric members, though satellite singer Feist did not appear. Jill Harris stepped in to sing Hug of Thunder,
while Emily Haines joined BSS to perform Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl,
closing their performance with a tribute to the late Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler by inserting a snippet of Total Eclipse of the Heart
into Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day).
Metric’s headlining set was spearheaded by Haines and guitarist Jimmy Shaw, who conceived the multiband tour and undertook its financial risk. Opening with Victim of Luck,
Metric contrasted the cinematic aesthetic of Stars and BSS with sleek electronic rock. As Metric closed their encore with 2008’s Help I’m Alive,
the performance underscored the enduring weight of heightened expectations across a quarter-century in independent music.
Tour Itinerary and Upcoming Dates
The North American leg of the All the Feelings tour features 23 total dates, culminating in the Toronto hometown finale at the RBC Amphitheatre on August 7. Following the conclusion of their North American schedule, the three bands are scheduled to continue the tour through Europe and select Canadian dates in the fall.
