Turns out the fine editors here at Interference decided not to publish my show review. It's perfectly understandable. The style of the review is a bit unorthodox, and not in keeping with Interference's standard review style. But I still wanted to share it, would be a shame to go to waste. So, here you go, complete with shitty Camera Phone pics right from the second row.
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Arcade Fire at DAR Constitution Hall - Washington, D.C. – 5/04/07
Review by Lance McCallion
Go it alone…
There’s something bizarrely comforting about going to a concert alone. It’s always a blast to go to an anticipated show with several close friends who also appreciate the artist as you do, but going solo brings it’s own sort of fun. First of all, you get a better seat as a result of searching for only one ticket. I ended up with a third row isle seat at last night’s show. That rocks. But there’s also the freedom of introspection that one doesn’t have so much room for when going in a party.
Truth be told, I had no desire to see this concert in the weeks preceding it. I’m just finishing my freshman year of college, and this past semester has been inarguably the worst time of my life. I’m now entering the fourth month of a severe depression, and my academic future is uncertain. On top of that, I just haven’t been finding too much pleasure in the things that usually provide (like say… music? Yeah, you see where this is going).
So when the time came yesterday to get ready and leave for the show, I almost had to will myself to go. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been looking forward to seeing the Arcade Fire since I listened in awe to Funeral for the first time all those years ago. Neon Bible came and went, and I drooled over it for a long while before moving on to other musical obsessions. But for a variety of reasons, I just wasn’t feeling it yesterday. It might have to do with the fact that at the time I had only gotten about 14 hours of sleep combined in the previous three days. Or it might have had to do with the fact that I had seen Spiderman 3 the previous night, a movie I’ve been eagerly anticipating for about two years, and either way you spin it, was ultimately a disappointing film. Or just maybe it had to do with the fact that I had an 8:30 final exam to take only mere hours after returning from my midnight extravo-spidey-ganza.
I was running on fumes. Fumes that had already run themselves through my engine several times over and were little more than dank air molecules by now. But despite my dire condition, I knew that I would regret not going to the show. I also knew it would be a fantastic show. I was prepared to have a good time, even if I passed out from exhaustion half way through. I was most certainly not prepared to partake in the single greatest musical experience of my life.
The National Anthem
DAR Constitution Hall is a fantastic venue. This was my first show there, and my seat was perfect. I could not have chosen a better building to showcase the orchestral indie rock antics of Butler and Company. Unusually punctual, (I always arrive way too early for these things) I found my seat just as the warm up act The Nation took the stage.
Let me preface by saying that I’ve seen a lot of shows since I starting going to concerts a couple years ago. I’ve seen a lot of great acts, many of which are true legends. In turn, I have also seen my fair share of abysmal opening acts. Sometimes I almost feel like some openers are hired just to make the headliner that much more appreciated by the audience. Needless to say, I was slightly worried about The National, even though I’ve heard only great things (gee, I remember hearing great things about Gnarles Barkley too, and look how that turned out) and actually quite like their newest album Boxer.
After their first song all my worries were unfounded. This is a great band. By the third song, I was rocking in my seat humming alone to the intricately crafted melodies like I’ve known the band my entire life. But the end of their set I sort of wished they had time for a full headlining performance. And a funny highlight came when the lead singer, Matt Berninger, announced “Fake Empire” off the new album and it received a fair applause. Berninger said “Thanks for downloading our new album before it came out.” I could almost feel the tension in the air, as I am one of those guilty of downloading the leak. Relief came quickly though when he followed up with a kind “Nah, it’s cool,” to which an audience member replied “Don’t worry man, we’re all going to buy it anyway”. Well, I certainly will. This band deserved my money.
Maybe not as much as Arcade Fire does though. When the house lights go down before right before the headliner comes on, there’s always that immediate feeling of uncorrupted joy. You know you’re in for a treat, and boy was I. You can check out the setlist at the bottom of the review, but I’m not going to run chronologically through the whole set like some reviews tend to do. I feel that would be a disservice Arcade Fire’s mysterious ability to turn the venue from just a theater into something more akin to a bunch of friends drunk off their ass jumping around a room having the time of their life. Any worries, concerns, greater life-meaning ponderings I had before this band came on stage instantly blinked from my mind. I honestly don’t know how they do it. But when this band performs, they aren’t just putting on a show. It’s like they’ve invited the entire audience into Win Butler’s living room to rock out together to your personal favorite rock album… and everyone loves it just as much as you.
Soon we will reclaim the earth.
Really, any attempt to review this concert like I would an album or a film would be in vain. I can’t break it down in to separate categories and give it a rating. I can’t comment on particular individuals’ performances or its successes versus its failures. It wasn’t a perfect show. But that’s not what the Arcade Fire strives for. In actuality, you probably shouldn’t even bother reading this review, because I’m not telling you anything you could understand without actually attending a show. But I suspect if you’ve read this far, you are already dead set on seeing an Arcade Fire show or have done so already. And if that’s the case, you already have at least some idea what I’m talking about. Right? Mmhmm.
Like I said, I can’t really comment too much on specific parts of the concert. Check out the setlist. Each song was as awesome as you think it would be if not better. There was not a single weak moment during the entire 75-minute performance. If you want to read about Win’s voice, or the stage design, or setlist critiques, or room acoustics, then look somewhere else. None of that matters. What does matter, and what I’m desperately trying to emphasize and failing at doing so, is the effect this band can have on the individual. In the process of breaking down any bounds that naturally exist between complete strangers gathered in a public venue, the experience also erodes the boundaries within your own psyche and soul. When I was in the show last night (nobody there was merely watching the show) I wasn’t thinking about that term paper due in two weeks, or how that kid 2 doors down thinks he’s such a badass guitar-player when he is in fact completely mediocre. There wasn’t a single mental break from what was happening in that room unless it was the slightest recognition of a great photo op so I’d pull out my camera phone.
The one aspect of the performance that I would like to single out actually has very little to do with the music. I’m merely taking advantage of this review to comment on my own personal obsessions. At one point during the band’s spectacular performance of “Haiti” I fell in love with Régine Chassagne. I mean, not really in love of course, but more in a damn-she’s-so-amazing-I-would-totally-move-to-Canada-to-take-her-out-if-she-wasn’t-11-years-older-than-me-and-married-to-Win-Butler sort of way. It was just something about her dazzling stage presence, her voice, her unbelievably cute-yet-sensual dancing that just had me completely enamored.
Predictably after that song I rarely focused on any other member of the band. Even when she was drumming during “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, I was staring at the awesome live video projection of her onto the red velvet curtains behind the band. Then during “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” she danced over to the empty part of the stage right in front of me, and I started waving my arms like a madman mouthing “I Love You!” repeatedly. And, for one moment, I’m fairly certain she looked right back at me and smiled. Well, that pretty much made my year.
Ultimately, I’m still sort of stunned from the whole event. In a matter of minutes my week went from being utterly awful to out-of-this-world spectacular. There is obviously a very real reason why the Arcade Fire is so damn popular in the Indie world, and moreso every day in the mainstream. In the weeks before Neon Bible came out that I spent listening to the sub-par quality leak over and over again, I predicted that this band would be the next great thing to happen in music. After last night, I’m sure of it. But even if they don’t, I still owe them so much. They inspired me in a way I never thought possible during the darkest part of my life.
Several times during the show, Win told us he’d “see us soon”. I’m pretty sure another North American tour is on the agenda. I’ll be the first in line for tickets should they come back in the fall. This band gave a performance that outmatched even my third row GA U2 experience in 2005. That’s got to count for something. And one of these days maybe I’ll get to meet Régine in person and thank her… maybe even ask for a hug? Maybe? Ok, well, I’ll see about that next time.
Setlist
Black Mirror
No Cars Go
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
Haiti
Black Wave/ Bad Vibrations
Neon Bible
Windowsill
The Well and the Lighthouse
Ocean of Noise
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Keep The Car Running
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Intervention
Wake Up