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Arcade Fire – Place Longueuil Parking Lot – Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

June 10, 2010 in Show Reviews

Ironically, it was a friend of mine who has never been a huge fan of the Montreal indie-super-stars who was bearing the news. Yet, I was extremely grateful that he took the time to pick up his phone and let me know about it. I quickly hung up the phone, called my band mates to postpone our practice and called up my cousin, who appreciates Arcade Fire almost as much as I do. We had a small bite to eat, grabbed our cameras and headed for the door.

Fittingly, in light of the band’s upcoming release The Suburbs (out on August 3rd), we drove from one suburb of Montreal to another; Longueuil, where the free show was scheduled to take place. We arrived shortly after 7PM, and were pleasantly surprised to see a large crowd in front of a small stage in the Place Longueuil parking lot.

After a short wait, the band took the stage a few minutes after 8PM and the ‘burbs went wild. Seeing as I was not expecting to write a review of this free show, I didn’t keep track of the set list. But, there were definitely some songs- new and old that kept the crowd entertained. Especially since the crowd was made up of children on parents’ shoulders to a visibly older audience of golden-age music lovers (or just grandparents with nothing else to do on a Wednesday night).

One highlight that clearly stood out was when the band broke out into the first few heartwarming notes of “Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)”. The crowd had only increased in size, which meant that the number of actual Arcade Fire fans in the crowd had exponentially grown as well; and it showed. For the first time in the set, people were jumping up and down and roaring along to Win Butler’s voice. And then it only got better, as the song faded out into a frenzy of instrumentation they slowly built up to the familiar first chords of “Rebellion (Lies)”.

After the magnificence of “Rebellion”, I was afraid that there was no possible way this show could get any more incredible. Clearly, I was wrong. The band went straight into a slew of new songs, which included the magnificent slow-built, Baroque art-inspired “Rococo” and the post-punk “Month of May” off their new 12” single. Still there was one song that seemed to top all of the others, and this came about when Win scurried over to the keyboard stage left. Perhaps it was the song’s striking resemblance to Montreal’s own Wolf Parade or any Spencer Krug keyboard-led songs. Don’t get me wrong, the song still sounded like Arcade Fire, mostly due to the fact that Butler and Krug have completely different voices. Still, somehow the song’s keyboard smashing, reverb filled guitar riffs and hard-hitting snare just screamed Wolf Parade. Obviously, “We Used to Wait” was definitely a pleasure to the ears.

Inevitably, the band closed their set with “Wake Up”, a song that is arguably (please don’t take my opinion too seriously) one of the decade’s greatest. On record, the song never really does itself justice. I had always been fond of it, but seeing the band perform it live puts it in a completely different league. The chanting of “Oh-ahhh-ohhh-ahhhhhh” in the chorus definitely added a lot, especially with the crowd singing along to every note. The charismatic intensity of Win Butler’s voice and the backing of an incredible 8-piece band are all the characteristics of Arcade Fire’s grandiose sound, and all of this only made “Wake Up” that much more amazing.

I can now fully comprehend why this band has been hailed by so many and has been listed on countless “Best of” lists, including an impressive spot at #2 on Pitchfork’s “Top 200 Albums of the 2000s”. These guys, and girls didn’t get to where they are now by accident. They deserve to be here. And with their newest album only a few months away, get ready to see them top a whole lot more. – Matthew Coelho