Arcade Fire - Live
By: Brett Hickman |
Thursday May 24, 2007 |
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Chicago, IL |
| The recent upgrade in concert venues made available to rock bands in Chicago has been nothing short of a godsend. I think that Wilco opened the door initially by performing a bunch of sold-out, hitch-free shows at the ornate Auditorium. Or was it the Beck/Flaming Lips show at the Chicago Theatre? My memory's as fuzzy as a peach, but whoever made it okay for these venues to allow rock bookings deserves one of those patented "slow claps" of TV and film fame. Because of these pioneers the city was treated to a rousing three-night residency by Montreal's Arcade Fire, one of the biggest success stories to come out of indie rock and a band not afraid to mix a strong musical backbone with an inspired sense of theatricality. The band moved a ridiculous amount of units of their debut for Merge Records, Funeral, as well as earning them a boatload of critical acclaim and feverish fan adulation. They've gone from playing the miniscule capacity confines of this city's Empty Bottle to the fields of Grant Park for the city's first Lollapalooza and now a stint at the city's grand dame of theatre, the one with the city's namesake. To see the senior citizen ushers dealing with the young 'uns that attend these things is always good for a bit of a giggle. You're just glad this is the Arcade Fire and not say, Slayer. The dinks spilling over from the Cubs/Sox rivalry match are a bit unwelcome and gorilla-ish, but they could be far worse. Though I don't know where the kid with the girlfriend next to me fell...I guess that he was definitely an ape, over-ecstacially beating on the chair backs in front of us like the primate in that luggage commercial did all those years ago. I appreciate having a good time fella, just watch the destruction of this great ole palace, okay? As for the Arcade Fire themselves, what can I say? They were really damn good. I dig their energy an awful lot, think their songwriting and musicianship is of a ridiculously high par and that they are chutes and ladders above the vast majority of their peers. Frighteningly so. The adulation they received for Funeral reminds me a lot of what R.E.M. got for Murmur way back when, but less connected because there wasn't any interwebs back in the olden times. The band's supple sense of theatricality also reminds me a lot of Talking Heads circa Stop Making Sense, which led me to think that they deserve a great maverick filmmaker, like Jonathan Demme was to the Heads, to film them on the tour of their next album for a grand concert film the likes of which people haven't seen since...well...Stop Making Sense. They just need this tour to take their stage design and performance to one level higher. And the songs this band plays! My oh my. Yeah both Funeral and their latest Neon Bible are really phenomenal works by these young folks, but live brings a depth and fiery passion that the digital encoding cannot reveal. There's just something otherworldly to see the joy for performance in the band and the euphoric hold they wield over their audience. But, and allow me a moment to sidebar here, as much as I enjoyed the band's performance this past Saturday night, as much as I really dig on what they do on their CDs, as much respect I have for their craft and their musical abilities, I feel left out somehow. For the Arcade Fire's fans are so exuberant, so over-the-moon about their beloveds that anything less than blind worship seems as though you are being dismissive. "The Arcade Fire can do no wrong! You must be the devil hisself if you aren't a rabid follower of Win Butler, et al.!" You know the drill. Perhaps the band's use of a video of that crazy, fat-ass preacher woman that talks about a sort of God enema that people need to take is a statement on the ones paying for their lifestyle? I could be reaching here...  But I reserve the right to not froth at the mouth and shake uncontrollably with my eyes falling into the back of my head, mouth agape with tongue rolling, drool running down my fine t-shirt bought at a local Wal-Mart. I just cannot do that. I don't know if there's any band that can make me act in such a manner, quite frankly. But now back to the show. "Intervention" was even better performed live, its dark themes coming off as more portentous than on the album. And how about that little spitfire, Regine Chassagne? I was a little unsure of her on record, but live she does it up right. Reminding me so much of Bjork-era Sugarcubes that I mistook "In the Backseat" for a cover of the Icelandic nymph's even though I've heard Funeral at least three dozen times or more since its release (I know AF fans, that's nothing...you've heard it 200 dozen times and how dare I not know that the song wasn't a cover...turn in your critic's badge post haste!). But yeah, what a performance! And the drummer doesn't just drum, he plays guitar and keyboards? Regine plays drums, hurdy-gurdy and more? Everyone else runs about playing this or that (save for the two cutie violinists, that is) and brings to mind The Band (they were mostly Canadian too, ya know...mostly). I left after a blistering one-two punch of "Neighborhood # 3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)". I know, flat-out heresy. But honestly, you have to know when to leave and those two songs were done to such an incredibly high standard, with such gusto (MC Gusto in the house!) that it felt right to end there. I really was enthralled by the band's performance, but I got a little bummed out when I heard reports that Win bagged on the Friday and Saturday crowds during Sunday night's show. I don't know what this guy's expecting out of his fans, but they were really into what he was laying down on Saturday night, that I can assure you. It's a shame that this appears to be a pattern for ole' Win-nie. I think a little less grumpiness and a little more thankfulness will go a long way to keeping those fervent worshippers at your side, Mr. Butler. Don't start biting the hand that feeds too fuckin' early, my friend. It doesn't take much for the blind worshippers to turn their love to hate. May 19th, 2007 Chicago Theatre Chicago, IL Photos By Patrick Sinco |
