Arcade Fire
9 out of 10 - Simply Amazing. Can't wait to see 'em again.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Noyes Community Center, Cornell University
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It was a brisk, ten-degree evening at Cornell University, set high on the cliffs overlooking the town of Ithaca in up-state New York. I entered Noyes Community Center in cadence with a long line of students, filling all three levels of stairwells, in anticipation of the sold out show. After a short wait we were let into a medium sized room on the third floor. The local opening band Idatel, formerly known as the Sleigh Lions, took the stage, armed with an accordion, violin, drums and vocalist. I quickly fled the smoke free, non-alcoholic event to the downstairs recreation room for a cup of Joe and a quick game of pool.
When I returned, the merry music of Hidden Cameras permeated the space. Hidden Cameras performed a solid set of material from their new album “Mississauga Goddam.” The band fired through their set, playing “Music Is My Boyfriend.” and “The Fear Is On.” The Hidden Cameras left the stage except for front man Joel Gibb. He, Himself and Him alone, with only his voice and guitar performed an intimate rendition of “Builds The Bone.” His solo performance reminded me of a more melancholy James Mercer of The Shins. The whole band came out during the end of the set and they all tied red blind-folds on and proceeded to work their way through the tune, sightlessly caressing and careening with their instruments. The upbeat “Doot Doot Plot,” really seemed to get the crowd going, and kept up the pace to their finale. I received their CD a week before this event and I felt pretty mediocre about them but after seeing Hidden Cameras live performance I now really enjoy their songs.
There was a long wait (somewhere in the vicinity of 30-40 minutes) while the Arcade Fire, travel frazzled from traffic and delays, set up an enormous amount of gear and tried to sort out a technical issue (which later surfaced as a not-so-technical issue). Apparently two waterlogged keyboards were the culprits; one was entirely out of commission and the latter languishing, semi-alive with only 4 playable basic sounds. After some on-stage consultations, front man Win Butler grasped the neck of his guitar with one hand and the microphone with the other, and the band launched into the opening track “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” off their new album “Funeral.” The band faired astoundingly well despite having a major element of their sound reduced to a Casio keyboard. They all helped one another fill in the missing elements, instead of pulling rock star attitudes and minimizing their performance. Win’s vocals and antics reminded me of Echo & the Bunnymen’s, Ian McCulloch and Talking Heads, David Bryne, and the band reminded me of the dark and manic Squirrel Nut Zippers, or Polyphonic Spree, or perhaps a festive dance party version of The Sex Pistols. The Arcade Fire played for keeps, each band member putting 110% into their performances. Later in the set his Bjork-esque wife Régine took center stage on the song “Haiti,” in which she sang like a Haitian pixie, playing into the welcoming energy of an enthralled audience. Prior to the song, she politely took the mic and asked, “Fake Piano or Fake Organ?” The audience shouted an overwhelming “Organ” and despite her missing keyboard sounds, Régine and the band barreled through the exotic tune with crowd-pleasing panache.
The Arcade Fire was equipped with a large quantity of band members and all sorts of musical instruments including accordion, violin, stand-up bass, keyboards, xylophones, bass guitar, guitars, triangles, drums, colored tambourines and other odd percussive noise makers. Richard Reed Perry, CEO noisemaker, looks like Erlend Oye from Kings of Convenience but he acts like the Tasmanian devil as he runs around the stage beating on everything with his drumsticks including the roof. He and Régine add a playful and childlike appeal to the band’s live performances, which captivates audiences and visually compliments the danceable energy of the group’s material.
The band next announced and performed a Neil Young cover, the origins and identity of which remains an indecipherable mystery to me at the time of this review. Win walked over to the broken keyboard to play “Crown Of Love” and asked “Piano or Choir?” then insisted “I’ll use piano. You won’t like it with choir.” As the crowd reacted with playful shouts of dissent he joked, “Haven’t they taught you that there is no Democracy?” The mighty track “Wake Up” sounded great live as band members cavorted and sang in unison. The cello player from The Hidden Cameras joined the stage and really helped out The Arcade Fire by performing some of the missing keyboard lines. Drenched in sweat Win announced the last song and they ended the amazing show with “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out).” After the show the band circulated, signing autographs as the pleased crowd dispersed out into the cold, feeling warm inside from their experience with the fire.
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