A few weeks ago, many of us were shocked by the terrible news that we had lost another of Canada's great indie bands: Broken Social Scene had called it quits after a decade of making music together. I'm sure many of us can recall where we were when the news hit and what we were doing. Although this was a loss of a great band, it was not the first loss for any of us and it still does not make the news any easier.

Many of you, I'm sure, are aware of the five stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Although the loss of a band may not be the same as the loss of a family member or friend, it still causes grief and the five stages can still be seen. It usually starts with you reloading the band page waiting for the news of the breakup to disappear like it was a bad dream.

Once you accept the news you might send some time cursing their name while ripping their posters off your wall. After you've calmed down and taped all your posters back together is the stage where you send countless emails and letters to the band begging and pleading for them to get back together, stating that "you'll do anything." The next two stages are pretty selfexplanatory. Depression can sometimes involves crying with the lights off (but only in severe cases) and acceptances goes without explanation. So what do you do? How do you deal with the heartwrenching news? Sometimes all you can do is try to move on, but here are some other things you can do to try to cope with the loss.

Host a funeral/celebration of life
Take some time to grieve for the loss of the band. You could light a few candles and dress in black while listening to their music in chronological order. Invite a fellow fan to say a few words. Maybe about how hard they rocked.

Go to their last show
I put this in here even though this isn't something most people can do — especially since most of the people reading this are students in London, Ontario. Let's face it, unless the band is from London, they aren't going to play their last show here. So travelling is involved and travelling costs money. Then there's the ticket price, which, since it will be their last show, is most likely outrageous. Tickets will be expected to sell fast so the idea of a camping trip is one to consider. Pretty much the whole experience will be costly and difficult, but the decision is up to you. If you were not able to go to the last show either due to costs or ticket availability, then pay attention to the next step.

Buy all their music while it's cheap
In most cases, when a band breaks up, CD prices are going to fly through the roof. But if you're lucky and act fast, there's a good chance that there will be one record store in town where the salespeople haven't been on Pitchfork's website and therefore haven't heard the terrible, heartbreaking news. Again it might be a little costly and you might have to borrow some money or risk maxing out your credit card, but think of it as an investment.

Move on, find a new favourite band
Once you feel like you're finally better and ready to move on, then it's time to find a new favourite band. Take suggestions from friends or walk aimlessly through the record shop for anything that catches your eye.

Hopefully this band stays together longer. Just remember, you can't sit around and mope about the same band forever. They'll probably get back together anyways. Reunion tours are big right now. And if you're still feeling down about it, well, there's always ice cream.