Gig Reviews: Fire in the Arcade, 8th December 2010, Birmingham
by blue--light
Tonight we are treated to a rare and wonderful performance from a Canadian musical assemblage known to the world as Arcade Fire.
Playing to an – unfathomably- not quite sold out audience at Birmingham’s LG Arena, Win, Regine and co sparkle and stomp their way into their set. With hardly a song from their back-catalogue that wouldn’t be a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, the set-list tonight could be almost anything and still be breathtaking. And it is.
Older favourites from ‘Funeral’ (Tunnels, Rebellion Wake-up) go down with a storm, as do tracks from their 2007 apocalyptic Neon Bible. Select tracks from their most recent The Suburbs aren’t bad either. Social, political, insightful and beautiful, Arcade Fire’s music is a rare thing indeed. In particular, Win sings passionately with no hint of irony My Body Is a Cage – he’s standing on a stage of fear and self doubt, but we’ll clap anyway. If not won over by the rest of this bands performance (and you should be), at the very least this raw honesty will grip you tightly by the throat and convert you.
As Regine dances and sparkles her way impishly around the stage, the percussionists tonight (at any one time, three or more band members…) put on a circus all of their own. Throwing, shaking and utterly thrashing their instruments, it’s clear to see this band give their all to every bit of the performance. A song is dedicated to Haiti – a reminder of the hard times the world relentlessly faces – and the band thank the audience graciously for the £1 donation they each have made to the charity by simply buying a ticket. Win’s shy charm even manages to cajole Birmingham into cheering at the notion that it’s “certainly up there” with some of the worlds shittiest cities. We don’t care, we generally agree and we’re glad he’s noticed.
A lot of bands today make music because they want to. Arcade Fire make music because they have to. And we’re just lucky to be privy to the process.
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Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 Time: 8:10 PM
About blue--light
(This is my first review, so I welcome feedback...)