Arcade Fire. Formal wear or costumes only please.

[cobl04]

And therefore emblematic of U2's woes. They strike gold and the second they release it they obfuscate any traces of daring and pretend it never existed. Same happened with Songs of Innocence.

 

[gump]

I guess I should have said best album song post-Pop. I like The Ground Beneath Her Feet slightly more.

Still happy I got to see one of the few performances of The Troubles during the SoI tour. I agree with you: they are horrible judges of their own music. Instead, we got to hear Song for Someone every single fucking show.

 

[intedomine]

Haven't listened to Everything Now yet.. Is it so poor that it is truly inconceivable that the album may age well? Maybe it needs a little time? Gosh, I adore The Suburbs

Been working on a rank every U2 song experiment the past few weeks so I'm revisiting the entire catalogue. I've never liked NLOTH as much as I do now. It's thrilling. It's certainly elevated in my estimation.

 

[iron yuppie]

They're doing a Lollapalooza aftershow right down the street from me tonight. Tickets sold out in 30 minutes though.

 

[LemonMelon]

It would have taken 3 minutes to sell out prior to this album.

 

[u2popmofo]

There's a rough middle stretch (that's growing increasingly rough the more I listen to the album) in this new album that I'm not a fan of, but I really like the beginning and end. A little disappointed that the 3 songs pre-release songs are far and away the best songs, and are essentially the first 3 real songs, but whatevs.

I really need to get tickets to their tour so I can finally see Wolf Parade.

 

[joyfulgirl]

There's a rough middle stretch (that's growing increasingly rough the more I listen to the album) in this new album that I'm not a fan of, but I really like the beginning and end. A little disappointed that the 3 songs pre-release songs are far and away the best songs, and are essentially the first 3 real songs, but whatevs.

I really need to get tickets to their tour so I can finally see Wolf Parade.

I listened to it three times on the road, enjoyed the beginning and end, and put it away. I'm glad it was free with the ticket I bought, and I'm sure I will enjoy the show, but the less said about this stinker of a record the better.

 

[david]

The band has issued a statement about their questionable online marketing:
http://kroq.cbslocal.com/2017/08/11/arcade-fire-apologize-social-media-campaign/

 

[corianderstem]

See, I just think that's just part of the whole schtick.

 

[nielsgov]

I think so too.

Is Arcade Fire the most annoying band in the world?

 

[Roland of Gilead]

They can do whatever they wish for their social media. I'm in it for the music... and watching the folks who tell others how they should act on said social media. The problem is that this is an ep at best. They pulled a NLOTH with the "middle 3."

 

[lazarus]

lol blame it on the marketing guy.

Maybe just admit that you're better at being serious and plaintive than ironic.

At least Shuttlecock was able to shift gears smoothly and do the tongue in cheek stuff as well as the heart-on-sleeve.

 

[Joey788]

I think so too.

Is Arcade Fire the most annoying band in the world?

They're getting there. This campaign has been exhausting and dumb and the proper tour hasn't even started yet.

 

[martha]

But is the marketing guy even real? They said he worked for their fake company.

 

[LemonMelon]

Again: Popmart but worse

 

[cobl04]

That is so painfully obviously fake. God they wouldn't know funny if it smashed them in the face.

Well, at least now. I thought the big paper-mâché heads were pretty funny and the way they ended their Coachella set by wandering around the grounds in a conga line yelling Prince's Controversy was awesome.

This is just laughably pathetic.

 

[corianderstem]

I caught some of their Lolla set on SiriusXM this morning and it cheered me immensely. I can look past this stupid shit and look forward to seeing them in October - it'll be another great show.

 

[phanan]

Maybe there will be some additional songs from these sessions that will hopefully be decent so I can plug them into the middle of this album to make it better, because I really do like the beginning and the end of it.

 

[Joey788]

The official tour started last night and there are some setlist changes for the better.

Spoiler

Put Your Money On Me and We Don't Deserve Love are both in the show, and Chemistry is out. For me, that only leaves Signs of Life and the very short Infinite Content as wasted slots. It's a shame the former is so early in the show though, as it's going to instantly kill the momentum. I also don't see how it can possibly lead well into Rebellion. Guess I'll find out next week.

Also, the stage is apparently set-up like a boxing ring. Setlist below:

Everything Now
Signs of Life
Rebellion (Lies)
Here Comes the Night Time
Haïti
No Cars Go
Electric Blue
Put Your Money on Me
Neon Bible
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Ready to Start
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Reflektor
Afterlife
Infinite Content
Creature Comfort
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

We Don’t Deserve Love
Everything Now (Continued)
Wake Up

 

[gump]

Rebellion that early in the set (and not preceded by Power Out or Haiti) is a shame. Nice to see Sprawl II and Afterlife survive into this tour, although I would have wanted to see It's Never Over still there instead of one of the shitty new songs.

Neon Bible instead of Intervention or Keep the Car Running makes no sense to me.

I wish Neighborhood #2 would make an appearance every now and then. It's such a good live song.

 

[gump]

Well they are playing across from me in the Penn Station Uptown C platform right now.

 

[cobl04]

like, you're on platform B?

 

[gump]

like, you're on platform B?

I was on the Downtown C platform after the show.

They are still great live, by the way. But hearing the new songs along with their older stuff just reinforces how lightweight they really are. Even the good new songs pale in comparison.

Sprawl II was monstrous. Still think Rebellion comes too early in the set and Power Out's outro is wasted to close the main set.

 

[Joey788]

I was at the same show and I agree. The new songs ranged from alright to momentum-killers. Signs of Life was the second song and people in my section started sitting. To go from that to Rebellion, it was difficult to get back into it. Same case with Creature Comfort into Neighborhood 3. The new songs just fell flat when matched against previous material. They also ruined Put Your Money On Me with an obnoxious video of fake infomercials and dollar bills and other distracting nonsense.

The only new songs that really worked were Everything Now and We Don't Deserve Love. The wealth of older songs still made this a good show, but the weakest of the four AF concerts I've seen.

 

[kabigon]

Given there's 8 new songs in the latest setlist but Peter Pan, Chemistry and Good God Damn aren't in there, it could be a lot worse. If it stays like that I'll still happily buy a ticket.

 

[corianderstem]

Enjoyed the hell out of their show in Seattle on Sunday night. Loved this in-the-round setup; made the floor seem so small, and it was hard to find a bad spot. Yay!

 

[Pop Artist]

The band has parted ways with their manager... https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155560001450225&id=152513780224

 

[iron yuppie]

Anyone who has seen this tour: is there an opener or not?

 

[Joey788]

At MSG, we got Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Grandmaster Flash. Unsure about other dates.

 

[Pop Artist]

There is an opener, it was Preservation Hall Jazz Band, now it's The Breeders, in Toronto it will be Broken Social Scene.