Arcade Fire, King’s College, London

Posted 19th Dec 2005 in Live Reviews, Arcade Fire by Clickmusic | King's College |

Music, if nothing else, is a universal language that can bridge people together, able to instigate visions that are mystic yet apparent in equal measure. Privileged and gifted musicians can evoke such emotion to yield more than joy and sorrow alike, creating a drama so harrowing and a beauty so unique. With that in mind, here come along a Montreal five-piece who have all recently undergone the trauma of family members passing on, nine in total in the midst of recording their debut album, the fittingly titled, 'Funeral'. Tonight is the band's first ever show outside North America, and 2004/2005's word-of-mouth sensations meet an expectant but rather small crowd at the intimate, romanticised setting of the King's College Student Union, just next to the River Thames.

Singer Win Butler is observant to this - 'you can also see your reflection'. Other than that, the band are generally a quiet bunch with not much to say excluding the occasional 'thank you' and mandatory track introductions. It would be easy to say the Arcade Fire walked onstage, played tracks from 'Funeral' and walked off leaving us with smiles on our faces but, returning the original theme, it's the way our hearts and minds were enraptured full of emotive, heartwarming treasure to cherish that is most worthy of note. All the band members are so talented at their trade that they swap each other's instruments every other song - without the slightest ounce of being pretentious or arrogant. They opened up with 'Wake Up' - almost borderline with Polyphonic Spree in terms of euphoric 'aahs'. Following that an epic cover of Talking Heads followed immediately by 'Neighborhood 2 (Laika)' and 'Naive Melody (This Is The Melody)' with real steel drums in force rather than keyboards. Regine Chassagne was in theatrical-mime artist mode for the time she was on vocal duties for 'Une AnnÃ©e Sans Lumiare' - with arms flailing around, a great performance, though my personal favourite from the set was 'Rebellion (Lies)' with a violin solo to make eyes water. Closer 'In The Backseat' featuring a double-bass no less, prompted the crowd to assume the band had left the stage with their instruments in tow, only for them to walk through the door and into the wild and unsuspecting audience. But enough of the specifics - it is hard to put pen to paper to convey the sheer intensity, energy, enthusiasm and wonder of Arcade Fire live. Frankly you'll just have to see for yourself and find out just why we were all blown away tonight.

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