Arcade Fire w/ LCD Soundsystem @ Thanksgiving Point

by the time the arcade fire strolled into town wednesday night, the only question that remained was, 'what took so long?' it's taken arcade fire three years to come to utah in the wake of 'funeral' [wake, funeral-get it? hey-o!]. even the 50 degree outdoor weather at thanksgiving point couldn't keep away the throngs of hipsters assembled for a lesson in rock. and in the immortal words of joe in say anything, arcade fire imparted these words of wisdom: 'yo, hang with us man. we'll teach you [neon] bibles full of truth.' ahhh, where's a rim shot when you need one?

truth be told, i think i was a bit more excited about seeing lcd soundsystem. 'sound of silver' still holds the top spot in my favorite albums of 2007 and i can't imagine someone knocking it off that lofty perch. james murphy and company put on an electric performance. and in the strangest of strange things, they actually took the stage on time. kate and i were still in line along with a couple hundred other people when they came one, so we got to listen to the first two songs from a distance. thankfully the line moved pretty quickly and by the start of 'north american scum' we were in. and just in time to see win butler and jeremy gara do the background screaming during the chorus. great. great. great. great. great. take me to outer space, mr. murphy. i'll gladly go so long as you're the pilot.

and speaking of james murphy, i don't know how much he got for his soul, but i imagine it was a pretty hefty sum. the man is all sorts of nutty pants talented and some sort of secret genius. [if you've not yet had the chance to listen to 'sound of silver,' please do. you're not likely to find a more exhilarating record.] he's got great stage presence and more charms than a night at hogwarts. they only bummer was that they didn't play 'get innocuous' or 'daft punk is playing at my house.' BUT they did play for a solid hour, so this lcd fan was more than happy. and hey, they still get spitcake's not-at-all-coveted 'album of the year.'

after some collective post-lcd shivering in the cool utah night, arcade fire took the stage. all i can say is that was well worth the price of admission. it's kind of impossible to describe what an arcade fire show is like. it's part frat party, part high art, part multi-media experience, part musical chairs. it's organized chaos. every last member of band never met a drum stick he or she didn't want to bang against something. the great thing is that it never came across as pretentious or glib. whether it was a solitary high hat set off to one side of the stage or the stage itself, nothing was safe from the barbarian-esque drumming.

and taking a page from the belle and sebastian approach to music, members of arcade fire don't play an instrument. they play instruments. plural. multitudinous. one minute ranee's playing a hurdy gurdy. the next she's playing drums on 'neighborhood #1.' one minute richard perry's playing the guitar, the next he's hitting something with a drumstick, the next he's playing a cello. not to be outdone, drummer tim kingsbury stepped away from the skins to rock out on the guitar. and win? well, he plays the guitar, pipe organ, and yeah, he bangs on stuff, too. and did i mention the megaphone seems to be the vocal projector of choice?

and this is seems to be the ethos of arcade fire: the end result is what matters, not necessarily how you get there. if you want to play the drums, go ahead. if you want to run around the stage shaking a tambourine with demonic-like possession, please do. you say you want to just yell into the microphone? don't let anyone try to stop you. and as chaotic as it all sounds, it was seemless. aside from win forgetting a few words, the band was tight.

after spending ninety minutes watching them tear through a grueling set [including 'old flame,' a song that pre-dates 'funeral' that win couldn't remember playing last] with terrific energy, verve and gusto, i get the feeling that they would've played the exact same show even if there hadn't been a single soul in attendance. that, my dear friends, is magic.

→ arcade fire: intervention
→ arcade fire: old flame
→ arcade fire: surf city eastern bloc ['no cars go' b-side]