The Arcade Fire

There must be some creative gene mutation that happens in frigid weather. Or maybe it’s so damn cold out that people are forced to be inside all the time, where free-thinking results. Whatever the reason, Canada is kicking our ass these days. Socialized medicine, gay marriage, neutrality — our neighbors to the North appear to be at peace in more ways than one. With all that harmony, it’s no wonder some of the best music is coming from Canada — with bands like The Stars, Broken Social Scene, Metric and the orchestral beauty of The Arcade Fire hailing just beyond our border. Harmony leads to melody leads to more creativity, perhaps. Though that doesn’t explain Nickelback.
The Arcade Fire is the hottest indie act around, and deservedly so. Its first studio album, the achingly gorgeous Funeral (Merge), was born in part from tragedy. The material dealt with its namesake’s theme: during its recording, singer Regine Chassagne’s grandmother died; ringleader Winn Butler and brother William’s grandfather, swing-era composer/arranger Alvino Rey, passed away; as did Richard Parry’s aunt. Though the losses linger in many of the band’s lyrical refrains, its symphonic sound is uplifting, like the undercurrent of painful tension birthed a compelling need to exalt. On the album it’s beguiling, but it’s live where The Arcade Fire’s true heat is found.
The nine-member group is captivating live, and fans can’t help but be swept away. Its orchestral sound is augmented with French horn, violin and upright bass, accordion, xylophone along with several percussion “instruments” (including a motorcycle helmet) guitar, keyboards and bass. Every member is adept at numerous instruments, constantly switching between each. Chassagne moved from keyboard to accordion to the drums to lead singer — swiftly trilling “Haiti” and clutching her head while ringing her hands to emphasize the sentiment of “In the Backseat” — throughout the show without missing a beat. Elsewhere band mates dueled to keep the rhythm, hitting anything that would make a sound, including each other, and acted out brotherly “fight scenes” described in lyrics.
Opening with an acoustic cover of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall,” the song quickly broke way into the lush “Wake Up” with the entire band delivering the majestic “Oh-oh” choral refrains. Later, Winn belted “Power Out” as if his life depended on it, with the band following suit. By song’s end it had build to a cacophony of sound. Traversing material from Funeral, the “Neighborhood” songs were all visited as was the lovely “Rebellion (Lies).” Added treats came by way of the urgent, frantically building “Headlights Look Like Diamonds” and the underground favorite “No Cars Go,” which are both from the band’s pre-Merge recording, Us Kids Know EP. The band also paid tribute to David Bowie (who played with the band in New York) with a cover of “Five Years.”
It was an impeccable performance. Winn warned The Arcade Fire would not be back until “We have one million songs,” and to give the fans something to cling to until then, the band trailed off the stage playing acoustic instruments all through the main floor, culminating in a joyous, lingering finale performed in the lobby of the venue — ending the night with the kind of welcome surprise that is The Arcade Fire.
- Althea Legaspi

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