[kj] (OT) Arcade Fire Live

[T.B.]

On a last minute whim, I picked up a 16th row seat off an eBay seller for 
The Arcade Fire at the Greek Theatre in the Hollywood Hills for last night's 
show. I wasn't too sure if I'd like the band or not as I haven't been able 
to get into their new album "Neon Bible" and my only real exposure to them 
has been their song "Wake Up" which was the intro music for U2's last tour. 
But wft, I was in the mood for something different.

As it turned out, the show was a revelation. By the third song I was hooked 
and it turned out to be an excellent concert.  The band has at least 10 
members and often some members switch positions, the girl (who's the wife of 
the frontman) who also sings lead on a few songs also played drums for a few 
tunes while the regular drummer played guitar. Basically between all the 
members, just about every musical instrument you can imagine was utilized at 
some point from accordion to cello to bullhorn to French Horn. The band 
really has a unique sound that at times made me think of bands like Big 
Country, ELO and Clannad.

They played about 3/4ths of the songs off the Neon Bible album along with a 
couple off the first album including a great version of "Tunnels." The 
concert got off to a somewhat tentative start with opener "Black Mirror," 
however once the band launched into some of their more up tempo tunes, the 
crowd got into it. Also as I'd guess the poor soundman had his hands full 
trying to get a decent mix from all the various instruments the first few 
minutes of the show as there was some minor feedback and it was tough 
hearing the vocals through the mix at first  Overall, the songs come off far 
better live than on their studio albums. Although the show was barely 90 
minutes long, it still was a very satisfying set. As expected, "Wake Up" 
ended the set. I think a lot of people attended the show in much the same 
mindset as me, basically knowing this band is on the cusp of really hitting 
it big and wondering if they are really capable of delivering the goods - 
they are.

Many times through their set, the band was really firing on all cylinders 
and the joyous energy coming from the music and the musicians was simply 
infectious. The biggest payoff though was I listened to Neon Bible on the 
drive home and it's as if I now "get it."

I'm really glad I went.

T.B.