Arcade Fire - Greek Theatre - Berkeley, CA - 06.02.07
Posted by Brian Berry on 06.05.2007
Arcade Fire ended their sold-out U.S. Tour tonight in the Bay Area. Did the heavyweight champions of indie rock wow the crowd or suffer from the strains of incessant touring???
The Skinny on Arcade Fire
After only two full-length albums and one amazing EP, Montreal’s Arcade Fire are the biggest indie rock band in the world. Their 2005 debut, Funeral, is nearing Gold certification by the RIAA and this year’s Neon Bible debuted at a remarkable #2 in it’s debut week on the Billboard 200 album chart. Not bad for an experimental rock band whose content is much darker than most Top 40 bands. Increasing Arcade Fire’s street cred are their hipper than hip superstar fans, including David Bowie, Bono, and David Byrne.
Where Funeral was focused on death and personal grieving, Neon Bible focuses on a disdain for religion, politicians, the military, and the entertainment industry (see: “Antichrist Television Blues” for some MTV bashing). The mood is still brooding, dramatic, and intense but with contemptuous feelings replacing the heartbreak found on their debut. Both albums require many listens to fully absorb all of what’s going on, lyrically and within their orchestrations.
That said, Arcade Fire are not a singles band, nor will they be appreciated by music lovers without patience. They are, however, one of the most acclaimed bands in allof rock music and their live performances are already legendary in their relatively young career.
[Arcade Fire]
The Concert
By the time opening act Electrelane took the stage at 8pm, the 8,000 capacity Greek Theatre in Berkeley was super packed. This was the 2nd sold out night in Berkeley and the final show on an extensive US tour.
Electrelane, who I heard were heckled the previous night, played a 45-minute set of feedback heavy, angular synth-rock. The British, all-girl quartet reminded me at times of The Fall, Wire, Elastica, and Sonic Youth’s more structured works. Similarities to Stereolab are also present, moreso in vocalist Verity Susman’s subdued delivery than from Electrelane’s instrumentation. [Electrelane]
The crowd, which was dead as a door nail for the first few tracks, began to liven up once a small, violent brown bird descended on the crowd, attacking helpless concert goers with it’s dagger-like beak. It seems the recipe to convert ‘too cool for school’ indie kids into fun loving dance-aholics is a few laughs at the expense of those unfortunate enough to get pecked by a winged beast. While their original compositions were nothing short of impressive, their reworking of ? & The Mysterians’ garage classic “96 Tears” was the highlight of their set. Heavy head bobbing and moderate hip shaking ensued. This reporter plans to make Electrelane his new skateboarding ‘round town soundtrack.
Arcade Fire took to the stage at 9:15, with a stage set up including several neon light poles, five circular video screens, and an enormous projection screen behind the stage. As expected, the kids went bonkers when the 10 band members took the stage. The set began strong with three of the best songs off Neon Bible played in succession (“Keep the Car Running”, “Black Mirror”, and “No Cars Go”).
With the Arcade Fire, it’s the unusual, overlooked instruments, that truly make their songs stand out from other popular bands. On “No Cars Go”, founding member Regine Chassagne’s accordion sent chills down my spine. The progressive build of this song culminates in a hypnotic harmonization of all band members, which for my buck is the closest thing to a religious experience imaginable.
The large projector was mainly reserved for highlighting their phenomenal drummer interspersed with unusual clips from silent films. The smaller, rounded screens showed black and white images of band members performing from varying angles.
One of the highlight’s of the show was the death defying scaffold climbing (first on “Neighborhood #2” and later on “Rebellion”), while banging on instruments, by band members Richard Parry and Tim Kingsbury. Last I checked, the Bay Area is due for a major earthquake that could’ve sent these two cats careening into the Pacific Ocean. I’m just saying…
Another credit to this show, which I wasn’t particularly fond of when I saw Arcade Fire tour, two years back were the Bjork-ish vocals by Chassagne. She appears much more confident and her voice more powerful in the several songs she sang. Frontman Win Butler, as always, was intense and chilling.
In all, the strongest songs of the set were the Springsteen-esque single “Intervention”, “Neighborhood #1”, and a political play on “Mockingbird” called “Antichrist Television Blues”.
In all, the only gripe one could have about the show was a lack of energy from the band at a couple points, likely due to the incessant touring they’ve been doing for the past few years. Short of that small qualm, Arcade Fire once again proved themselves as one of the best, most inventive young bands of the new millennium.
Setlist
Keep the Car Running
Black Mirror
No Cars Go
Haiti
Neighborhood #2
Black Waves/Bad Vibrations
In the Backseat
Intervention
Antichrist Television Blues
Windowsill
Neighborhood #1
The Well and the Lighthouse
Headlights Look Like Diamonds
Neighborhood #3
Rebellion (Lies)
My Body Is A Cage (encore)
Wake Up (encore)
The 411: Arcade Fire proved that even at the end of an extensive tour, that they could render an 8,000 capacity crowd speechless and wanting more. Their 90-minute set was tight, consistent, and entertaining. Take note: this is one of the best young bands in the world and their potential to keep growing appears limitless.
