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The Arcade Fire, The National: Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY, 5/9/07 |
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Written by Mike Greenhaus
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Friday, 25 May 2007 |
Photo Wes Orshoski
It feels like hyperbole, but, in all honestly, like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Radiohead before them, without much pomp and circumstance, Arcade Fire has changed the essence of what the live performance can and should be all about. If a Grateful Dead/Phish show was all about space and a Radiohead performance is all about atmosphere, then an Arcade Fire concert is most certainly all about intensity: the barrage of onstage musicians, the pulsating drum beats, the death-laced lyrics and, especially, the giant, Springsteen-like grandeur of guitarist/frontman Win Butler.
So it makes sense that throughout its high-profile spot at David Bowie’s even higher profile High Line Festival, Arcade Fire did everything in its power to intensify one of New York’s most sedate rooms. Before the show, stage hands ordained The Arcade Fire’s performance space with oddly-sized video screens and, throughout the hour-plus gig, those screens were used to present the ten-piece band as circus-like vaudeville stars. Then, much to security’s chagrin, Butler turned the seated theater’s floor into a general-admission performance space and proceeded to spend a good chunk of his show preaching closer to his soundboard than his stage. But, despite the onstage theatrics and offstage hype, The Arcade Fire never lost site of its core—its songs—using choice tracks like “Haiti” and “Wake Up” to form a genuine connection with its fans. The music felt good, the energy felt big and the band/audience interaction felt intimate. In a lot of ways it felt like a Dead or Phish show, only with less glowsticks and more hair gel.
Local heroes The National provided support duties, opening its set with one of the best emotionally-laced rockers off 2005’s Alligator, “Secret Meeting.” But, unfortunately, what should have been a historic homecoming turned out to be a painful experience for frontman Matt Berninger, after he hurt his leg onstage a night earlier while showing off his rock-star antics. He soldiered on, however, helping the band preview a good chunk of its forthcoming album, Boxer, while doing his best Ian Anderson impersonation. Indeed, sometimes it isn’t easy being emo.
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