One would think that the male members of supergroup Broken Social Scene have been accustomed to playing second fiddle to its Amazons - particularly when these fair-weather few are blessed with honeyed pipes (Leslie Feist), the odyl of a sixties starlet (Amy Millan), and a quirky penchant for blindfolds (Emily Heines and no - don't ask us).
Fortunately, all it took was a good ol' fashioned guys' night in, for the band's original founders to show us who's truly boss.
"They're really tired," warned one of Mosaic's PR reps, referring of course, to the band's only delegates for this final leg of their world tour.
With a total headcount amounting to just six members - BSS patriarchs Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, lead guitarist Andrew Whitehead, Jason Collett, Justin Peroff, and Charles Spearin - the attendance made a truly modest figure, in comparison to the usual sixteen or eighteen prodigals thronging the stages at Lollapalooza and the Virgin Festival.
With these factors in mind, one couldn't help sidestepping the hype and wondering if these - Juno Award winners, but still! - would be able to deliver.
Suffice to say, Broken Social Scene has not only beaten the odds, it has eviscerated them into a pulp.
For one, not only did these guys manage to launch their set promptly (at 7.30pm on the dot, much to the surprise of straggling latecomers) despite bouts of jet-lag and the absence of Feist and Heine's indie cred, they now also hold the remarkable distinction of being just about the only band known to chivalrously overstep their two-hour time stipulation, by gamely churning out more hit numbers than a Seeburg Jukebox.
Opening the gig with the choice "7/4 Shoreline", Broken Social Scene only had to take the audience through a single refrain, mapped by Andrew Whitehead's stellar guitar licks and Peroff's nifty drumwork, before everyone began abandoning their designated seats and flocking to the aisles.
It also sought a credible albeit temporary substitute - the vivacious Aia (from fellow Mosaic alum, Imago of the Philippines), who, while lacking the signature lilt of the band's female vocalists, emanated a likeable exuberance, which by no means faded even after the band began its second track for the evening, "Superconnected".
Given the inclusive nature of the festival, the set was packaged into a musical bulletin which delighted many an indie-sampling NOOB.
The concert comprised largely of more mainstream fare ("Cause = Time" and "Lover's Spit"), interspersed with snippets from Kevin Drew's solo-side project, such as the heartfelt "Safety Bricks", a cautionary sing-along about "love and responsibility", and "Frightening Lives".
However, diehards waxing nostalgia about their "Feel Good Lost" heydays were accordingly treated to unexpected gems, including the limpid "I'm Still Your Fag".
Much of the stage banter were fuelled by Kevin Drew - a sly dig at those seated at the "top-top"; warbling to several tentative bars of Feist's "1, 2, 3, 4", before admitting to having forgotten the lyrics; a jaunty tour around the foyer before the show's finale.
"We thought we'd just be playing for a club filled with about four hundred people," he said. "We're sorry, Singapore - we had no idea."
Predictably, then, it was Drew who held court with his main-man status, as well as his manic alternating between the keyboards and the guitar.
In fact, his performance at the festival presented a throwback to criticism alleviated against his singing by various critics, at times sounding even more in tune that he did on the band's album.
Yet, drummer Justin Peroff and guitarist Whitehead came close to stealing the show at pivotal moments - the former with a knack for coaxing out raw riffs as shown in "Fire Eye'd Boy" and the closing track, "It's All Gonna Break", and the latter with his military-precise timekeeping during the triumphant tragedia that is "Ibi Dreams of Pavement".
One of the more underrated tracks from their eponymous 2005 album, the rendition represents, in this writer's opinion, the evening's biggest standout and a definitive piece for the band's baroque-rock anterior. Riotous, almost discordant in its initial verses, the final minutes of "Ibi" (christened after published poet and novelist Ibi Kaslik) then blend seamlessly into a cathartic orchestral medley, joined by guest trumpet players Greg Thomas and local musician Daniel Wong.
The end of the concert saw - characteristically - more shenanigans from Drew.
"We've only ever done this once before," he confessed, somewhat sheepishly, before seizing his bandmates' hands in a collective stage bow - even though they'd technically earned their standing ovation about ten seconds into the show.
Broken Social Scene's Singapore debut, like its irrepressible frontman, it seems, is primed for the boisterous and the bittersweet - plus a good-natured nose-thumbing at those who are still scouring under their seats for Leslie Feist. HOOKED
Photography by Yang Jianqing of the NUSSU Video and Photographic Society
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