Give Thanks to Canada for Feist

It Happened Last Night

SAN FRANCISCO: The Broken Social Scenester offers pure perfection in the first of two nights

By Spin Staff 06.27.07 3:00 AM

If perfection is said to be attained in small degrees, the first one was the unseasonably warm evening outside the Fillmore last night (June 26), where scalpers were offering $100 tickets for the first of Feist's two-nights in San Francisco. After other small perfections -- the venue's complementary supply of particularly crisp apples and warm opening set by Grizzly Bear -- the Canadian songwriter appeared under the light of a disco ball and the degrees grew larger; especially with the spotless presentation of her recent LP, The Reminder, which started with the elegant "So Sorry." After other charmers, such as "My Moon" or "Feel It All," the crowd's radiant approval infected the singer herself, whose exuberance was certainly not above a little air drumming. Since things were going so flawlessly, it seemed on par when Feist's randomly-selected audience member, 18-year-old Melissa Wong, made an unscripted offering of Debussy (note: 30-year old dudes in All-Stars whooping for French piano music -- surreal) and the encore brought a cameo from Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew. In a word: perfect. NATE CAVALIERI / PHOTOS BY MUHAMMAD ASRANUR

We asked: Since Feist is from Canada, what is your impression of our neighbor to the north?

Name: Lauren Harwell
Age: 32
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Art director
"Can I just say 'Blame Canada'?"

Name: Abbey Campbell
Age: 32
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Unemployed screenwriter
"David Duchovny is from Canada. David Duchovny is hot."

Name: Maya Seely
Age: 31
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Product development
"Canadians have a lot of pride."

Name: Ron Almgren
Age: 24
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Concierge
"It's progressive, beautiful and cold. I love Montreal."

Name: Jose Wly
Age: 32
Hometown: Salvador, Brazil
Occupation: Ph.D. student in biology
"Feist doesn't seem Canadian, she seems to have more of a European style. Also, Canadian Airlines is great."

Name: Amelia Xenakis
Age: 21
Hometown: Sacramento, CA
Occupation: Starbucks supervisor
"There are no words to describe how I feel about Canada. I went there for my 19th birthday 'cause that was the drinking age -- I fell in love it. I wish I was Canadian."

Name: Jason Chaput
Age: 25
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Occupation: Works for a non-profit
"Canada is America's hat. It's like a hat on top of America. Canadians have talent, but Americans never give them credit for it."

Name: Jessica O'Neill
Age: 24
Hometown: Wyckoff, NJ
Occupation: Physical education teacher
"I've been to Canada, once on a 7th grade trip. I ordered 'La Big Mac.'"