polaroids of androids

Jan 25, 2008

Gig Review: Arcade Fire @ Enmore Theatre - 22/01/2008

When the Internet eventually dies and scientists are examining the remains of what the information superhighway once was comments like what's that donkey doing to that midget? and geez people sure did gush a lot over Arcade Fire didn't they? will surely be brought up. It's not that the band don't exist in the 'real world' but they have always been as one of those bands which people all around the interweb seem to be endlessly praising. In a recent study it was discovered that every 6 seconds some blogger somewhere in the world is verbally wacking off over how awesome the Arcade Fire live show is.

And, because I live inside the Internet, the question in my head when I arrived to their show on Tuesday night was - are they really that good live?

They started on the backfoot. Several weeks earlier legendary Austin rockers Spoon had been announced as the support for the second show - but not the first. Rumours circled all around the place about who would be the support for their first show until the week of the show where it was confirmed there would be no supports, Arcade Fire would be on stage at 8pm and everyone would be asleep on the couch watching the tennis by quarter past ten. An SMS from the Enmore Theatre during the afternoon crushed any dreams of a super special surprise guest - confirming that they would be flying solo.

I could rant and rave here about how I forked over $75 for a ticket that had the words 'with special guests' on it and how it's assumed when buying tickets that there will get some 'bonus' entertainment BUT I won't. It's not as bad as the time I went to see The Von Bondies and they had secretly moved their show to the night before - but it definitely did start me off a little bit against them.

So, with my arms crossed and my best 'yeah give me seventy five dollars worth of entertainment you cult-like weirdos' look on my face I prepared myself to be a) pissed off at the teeny popping crowd and had formed around me and b) disappointed at the fact the Arcade Fire didn't live up to all their Internet hype. It took until the first chorus of their opening number, Wake Up, for me to unfold my arms, get taken over by all of the blissful feelings that the choir of sounds was conjuring up and completely forget all about the absence of a support act.

Yes, this is just another gushing review of a Arcade Fire show.

The sound seemed to be all around me. Engulfing me with every dramatic rising moment and sucking me in with every emotional breakout. The songs from Funeral, partly because of how much I prefer that album over Neon Bible, were the ones that sent shivers up my spine but in their hour and a quarter set there wasn't a single dull moment. Win Butler controlled his troops - the full ten piece band - with supreme mastery and the touch of a delicate dictator. On stage all members stayed busy switching instruments, hitting other members' instruments and generally 'bringing da ruckus' in the true Canadian indie rock sense of the phrase.

They gave new life to the songs from their newest release, Neon Bible, and even converted me on a couple of songs that I just didn't get into when I first heard the record. They also breathed new life into the songs from Funeral which I had probably overplayed. The inclusion of Headlights Look Like Diamonds from their early demo was also a highlight. Dusting off an old song that very few in the crowd would know is always a nice touch.

Their encore performance of Intervention, my favourite track from Neon Bible, and Laika moved the needle from 'awesome' to a super large gushing sentence with about a dozen or so OMG's in it.

In all honestly, I can't remember the last time I went to a see an international act at a larger venue (Enmore, Hordern, Metro etc) and not walked away disappointed by either their lackluster performance or by the dickhead drunken one-show-a-year fanbase they have somehow attracted by getting themselves played on Triple J. Arcade Fire put more into their show both physically and personally than I have witnessed from a touring act - ever. I was going to write a negative review just to stand out in the apocalypse of the Internet but I couldn't. They really were that fucking amazing.

Set list (via Sean)

Wake Up
Keep The Car Running
Black Mirror
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Neon Bible
Age of Consent
Ocean of Noise
Tunnels
The Well and the Lighthouse
Headlights Look Like Diamonds
(Antichrist Television Blues)
Power Out
Rebellion (Lies)
---------------------------
Intervention
Laika