Arcade Fire
Brixton Academy, London
15th and 17th March 2007
I was lucky enough to have two tickets to the Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy. The world's largest small band has become so popular that four dates at the Academy were necessary to let the people see them and, truth be told, it probably wasn't enough. I'm sure that there were many people who couldn't get a ticket.
I really don't know where to start with this review. These were quite possibly two of the most amazing nights of my life. So I'm going to preface my review by stating that I am going to throw all attempts at impartiality out of the window. It's just too hard for me to write about these two gigs because I loved them far too much. I'm going to be unashamed in my praise for the band and truth be told, the band moved me to tears on these two nights - tears of joy and elation and unhappiness all at the same time.
I guess this is one of the reasons why so many people love the Arcade Fire and want to see them live. They reveal a variety of thoughts, feelings and emotions inside and ultimately leave the concert goer in a better and happier place than when they entered the venue. It is something that gets inside your bones with memories lingering inside for longer than most concerts and something that you feel you will tell your grandchildren about. You know those stories about Woodstock or the Isle of Wight festival? One day I will be able to tell people, "I saw the Arcade Fire" (and "before they went electro nu-punk and divided their fans in 2010", I'll probably add).
I've purposely split this review into two with Thursday's section focusing on the newer material and Saturday's review focusing on the older songs. There is no real reason for this other than to easily cover all aspects of an Arcade Fire gig. Both concerts were very similar in many respects.
Thursday
Before I start the summary of Thursday's gig I want to thank the kind soul who bought me a ticket and to let her know that she made my day, week, month and year. The Academy seemed packed to more than full capacity, for what was the band's second night of their Brixton residency. A quick look at the stage reveals a mass of instruments. In the middle stands a large pipe organ dominating the stage and it dawns on me that this instrument will be used to blast me and the rest of the crowd into small pieces of emotional flotsam. And I can't wait. The band enter from stage right and around ten musicians take their positions on the stage. They look like Amish farmers, albeit ones who dress in exclusively in grey. The colour tonight is provided by the wonderful racket that is produced on stage.
The band open their set with their, in my opinion, best song from their new album Neon Bible, ‘Keep the Car Running'. This is a pretty faithful rendition of the album version but it still kept the crowd entertained. In fact most of the new material was on strong display tonight. ‘Black Mirror' is even more menacing than on the album, the band members on stage manage to create an almost domineering feeling. As the chord section kicks in at the end, I'm starting to feel all queasy from the emotion. ‘No Cars Go', a remake of the song which appeared on the Arcade Fire EP all those years ago, has been rerecorded for Neon Bible and it is greeted as a long lost friend by the crowd. Especially by those in the front who are by now going completely and utterly bonkers.
The stage show is less hectic than when I previously saw them in 2005. This may be because it was at a festival set and they were straining to impress but it seems as if the band have decided to let their songs do the talking. The band still swap instruments on regular occasions, still sing into megaphones, and still play as if it is their last night on this planet. And there is still the weird looking one who looks like Napoleon Dynamite.
The main set closed with ‘Intervention'. As Wim Butler's wife, Regine, climbs to the organ, I can already feel myself welling up. The organ keys are hit and the noise rips through the crowd and I feel the music move through my body. At this moment I'm finding it hard to keep my emotions in check. Closing my eyes merely brings the music and voice into an even closer personal space. As the song builds and builds, the words become even more significant, the band on stage are playing as if there is no tomorrow and Wim Butler is singing this song as if it is the only song on this planet, and I'm feeling a tear roll down my cheek. In many respects I never wanted this song to end, this song is truly a thing of immense beauty and I feel privileged to have witnessed this song and performance live.
The encores consisted of ‘Wake Up' and ‘Neon Bible' in which "Napoleon Dynamite" ripped pages of magazines in time to the music into a microphone. A quiet end to an amazing performance from these guys from Canada and in many ways a down-beat anti-climax after the frenzied ‘Wake Up', but these guys don't play it by the traditional rock and roll book. Once I realised the concert was over, I couldn't help but feel upset, I wanted more from this band who had already given me and the crowd, so much. As the concert-goers file out, I'm realising that my legs are wobbling and in pain, I feel emotionally drained, my eyes hurt and my mind is trying to take in every feeling that I've just experienced. And I can't take it all in - there are too many emotions. Bring on Saturday is the only thing that I can muster my brain to think about.
‘Keep The Car Running'
‘Black Mirror'
‘No Cars Go'
‘Haiti'
‘Black Wave/Bad Vibrations'
‘Windowsill'
‘Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)'
‘Crown of Love'
‘The Well And The Lighthouse'
‘Ocean of Noise'
‘Rebellion (Lies)'
‘Intervention'
Encore: ‘Wake Up'
Encore 2: ‘Neon Bible'
Saturday
Saturday came quickly and in many respects I was even more excited than on Thursday. I knew what to expect and what was going to hit me, but this did not dampen my enjoyment of this concert one little bit.
The band came to the stage a little earlier than on Thursday and proceeded to blitz into ‘Keep the Car Running' as my friends and I were queuing at the bar. However, a little barging from the female member of our group allowed us to reach the front area of the crowd and in many respects we were in a better position than on Thursday.
‘Haiti' was the first song from their debut album and to be honest it came as a surprise to me. The mid-tempo song was a chance for Regine to sing lyrics in both French and English - this song perhaps best represents the mixed background of the band and was well received by the crowd who were funking and grooving away like there was no tomorrow.
‘Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)' sees the band make as much noise as is possible before the now familiar guitar chords of this anthem kick in and the crowd greet it as a long, lost friend. The vast majority of the crowd are singing along to all the words, Wim Butler has a wry smile on his face - perhaps he's realised that this is a special moment for him as well - and the chanting in the chorus seems to become more and more frenzied from both the band and the crowd, as we are taken, as one, into the song. The crowd's mood mutates from happy at the beginning of the song to completely ecstatically bonkers by the end with the crowd shouting the words back towards the stage. Looking around at the smiles on the stranger's faces next to me, it feels as if we've all been through some kind of a communal event (think how Diana's death united the country, only this is more fun). People are hugging and kissing each other, strangers are high-fiving each other - it truly is a beautiful moment.
‘Rebellion (Lies)' is, like ‘...Tunnels' before it, well-received by the crowd. The now familiar piano drives the song forward and slowly builds up the tension in the crowd as the dark and disturbing mood of the song, soon becomes a joyous occasion. "Come and find your lovers, underneath the covers" becomes a slogan for the crowd who by now are so completely enamoured with this bizarre bunch of Canadian kooks. The crowd then take-up chanting duties until the song, unfortunately, ends.
‘Wake Up' was, like on Thursday, the first song of the encore. This song still remains their anthem and I'm sure always will. Starting slowly, the guitar riff is repeated and the chanting begins at maximum volume - I'm sure that they could have heard us in Central London. This song about...well...I don't really know what it is about. I know what feelings it ‘wakes up' inside of me. It reminds me of love lost, of feeling alone, of unhappiness, of missed opportunities, of the ironies of life, of making mistakes and of growing old too early, but by the end of the song I've come through these feelings and, as with some of their other songs, I've gone through a cathartic release. The lyrics are sung word for word by the crowd with myself and many around me actually shouting the words out at the top of our voices and in doing that we are releasing all of these feelings into the air around us. The tension in the room and in my head reaches an almost unbearable point and just when I think I'm about to breakdown into a sobbing nervous wreck and my legs start to quiver, the joyous boogie section is brought in and all of those feelings are suddenly lifted from my head and shoulders and it is the most lovely and beautiful experience of my life. No drug could ever get close to that feeling.
The final encore was special tonight for their last gig at the Academy. The band huddled round the megaphones, no microphones were in sight. They patiently waited for the crowd to be quiet, shushes were moving around the room, and just when I thought that they wouldn't bother, they started to play. It slowly dawned on me that they were playing ‘Guns of Brixton' by the Clash. The crowd were, for the most part, unawares of what was happening and of the symbolism of the song. It's almost an embarrassment that the crowd don't know the song. It's a sad day when a bunch of Canadian weirdos know more about London's musical heritage than the majority of the crowd at a London gig. The concert over, I once again filed out into the foyer of the Academy where an impromptu singalong to ‘Wake Up' was taking place.
I guess people didn't want this concert to end. I hope that my review hasn't been too much to bear and that you haven't reached for the bucket too many times. I still have vivid and brilliant memories of these two nights, I'm sure that those feelings won't go away soon. There is not a single reason why I loved these two nights so much, rather than the complete package; Their music is an amalgam of many of my favourite artists, their performances are passionate beyond belief, the crowd are enthralled to such an extent that it's hard not to be also.
Perhaps my concluding remark should have been my starting point: Arcade Fire are the best live band in the world today. Go see them if you can.
‘Keep The Car Running'
‘No Cars Go'
‘Haiti'
‘Black Mirror'
‘Black Wave/Bad Vibrations'
‘Windowsill'
‘Ocean of Noise'
‘Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)'
‘The Well & The Lighthouse'
‘Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)'
‘Rebellion (Lies)'
‘Intervention'
Encore: ‘Wake Up'
Encore 2: ‘Guns of Brixton'
(Setlists courtesy of Us Kids Know ).
by James Ketchell
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Reply #1 on : Mon April 16, 2007, 19:42:12