The Crowd
First off, I have to say the crowd was two things: energetic and massive. No confirmed reports ever came out, but somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 people came to this show (and I was at the front of all of them!). That is the biggest single show I've ever been to, and a far cry from the first show I went to in college (Andrew WK at Club Soda in Spokane with probably 200 or 300 people there).
They brought a ton of energy, and at some points it was really infectious. I for one am not a fan of Mumford & Sons for example, but holy crap, I was hopping up and down and smiling like an idiot the whole time probably because everyone was so into it.
But at the same time, they were a little up and down. Seemingly no one in the audience knew who the first opener was - Owen Pallett - even though he was an occasional member of the band they came for that night as well as the maker of a rather critically acclaimed record himself in 2010 with "Heartland." They were a little disrespectful of him, chatting the whole time and not being particularly groovy towards Beirut either (they were very Brit band centric outside of Arcade Fire).
The Venue
I have to say, for a legendary venue, Hyde Park's sound completely sucks. It was completely off during Owen Pallett's set. It only got slightly better with each progressive band, peaking during Mumford & Sons and kind of getting a little muted during Arcade Fire again. It was a real shame. I've been to tiny clubs that had significantly better sound than it did, but I suppose that's understandable given the size. That said, compared to a similar venue I was at in May (Parc del Forum in Barcelona), its sound was even more putrid.
Which is a shame, because it is a pretty well set up place besides that. Easy to navigate, tons of bathrooms, lots of food options and a generally welcoming place. Plus, it's cool to just be in this massive park sharing a musical experience with everyone. I wanted more from it though.
Poor Owen Pallett. I've seen him before (at Coachella 2010) and he is phenomenal live, but with a crowd that did not know who he was and a sound system that was not his friend, he was in a bad position from the start.
That said, he is so talented I was still enraptured by his set. It was just a 30 minute set rife with problems (they had to move all of his gear back because it was raining, so everything was a little off for him), but he still got to play personal favorites like Tryst with Mephistopheles, a song that I find incredibly infectious and impossible not to bop up and down to. Even if I was the only one who enjoyed it, I still really liked his set.
The less said about these guys, the better. This was the exact opposite of the audience reaction to Owen Pallett. Everyone was going NUTS for these guys and singing along and bopping everywhere, while I was stoic and unimpressed. This is the prototypical "let's get into music so we can score chicks" band if I've ever seen it. Playing robotic 2 minute pop punk anthems designed to get people to move and sing along as if they were some sort of homeless man's version of The Ramones, this band was the first band I've ever not clapped for. They were draining in their boredom inducing. If I did not want to be at the front for Beirut and Arcade Fire, I would have went and sat down and stared at the sky instead.
Maybe the most boring set I have ever seen.
Well, it's safe to say that I made an indelible impression on the music fans during this set. As you may or may not know about me, I am a little bit of a fan of Beirut. Part of the triumvirate that make up my favorite bands (along with Sigur Ros and Spoon), every single song Beirut did blew me away that day.
Ranging from tracks from his albums "The Gulag Orkestar" and "The Flying Club Cup" to ones off his EP's and even a slew of tracks from his upcoming release "The Rip Tide," Zach Condon and his merry men played an hour long set covering so many of the high points that make him (them) such a remarkable artist.
And the thing that left the indelible impression on everyone? I sang along to every song from front-to-back, even doing so in a weird impersonation of Condon's voice. I had a lot of people looking at me and smiling when I did it, but I didn't care. Being from Alaska, I don't get to see favorite artists very often, and when I do, you better believe I am going to bring my A game.
One note about Beirut: from what I've heard about "The Rip Tide" (which comes out on August 30th), Condon's influences are still readily apparent, but its like the band has come into their own and created a sound that is an amalgamation of everything they love but distilled into their own thing. When he played Santa Fe off that record, I couldn't help but think "this is the song that is going to make Beirut big." I think this is the year they break out, and man, I can't think of a more deserving group. Especially because they are probably the dorkiest looking band in the world (it's cool though - I can say that because I am dorky!).
Bonus points to Zach for saying that he was actually really scared and nervous for the first few songs. I doubt he's ever played for that many people before. Who could blame him?
Fact: I think Mumford & Sons are painfully boring recorded, and I was dreading this part of the show a little bit because their set was over an hour long.
That said, I had heard a lot of really good buzz about how they are live beforehand, so I was hopeful.
Then they came out and I was like "these guys are ridiculous looking." Hope crushed a little bit.
But then they started playing...
Oh my god, they have absolutely no right being as fun as they are live. Where did that come from? As soon as they started, they had the entire audience singing along and dancing and hopping and just eating out of their hands. And I was one of them. It was that good.
Sometimes live bands can just completely control an audience. It's a gift that far too few artists have (The Flaming Lips are a great example), but Mumford & Sons definitely have that. While I didn't know the majority of what they played and while I still don't like their record (I tried), I can say this: this is a fantastic live band that seems to be filled with incredibly genuine and cool people. And talented.
First, the setlist!
Ready to Start
Wake Up
No Cars Go
Haïti
Intervention
Rococo
Speaking in Tongues
Crown of Love
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Month of May
Rebellion (Lies)
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
We Used to Wait
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Encore:
Keep the Car Running
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
I think it is hard to dispute that Arcade Fire is the biggest rock band to come around in the past decade or so. Their progression from critically acclaimed art rock band to rock gods has been a really interesting thing to watch, but it's deserved. The band seems to be both ridiculously talented (watching them on stage as everyone switches instruments on every song is a sight to behold) and good people (regardless of their desire to take photos with fans), and it is good to see someone like that achieve commercial success in an era where commercial success is rarely tied to actual talent.
From the time they went on stage to the time they left, Arcade Fire carried themselves like they were the biggest rock stars in the world. And for that night, they absolutely were, tearing through tracks on all three of their albums and nailing each and every one of them. They even exhibited spontaneity, moving showstopper track Wake Up from the end of their set to the beginning on the fly simply because they wanted to see everyone in the crowd as they exploded with energy. And by god, we did. That was an all-time song for me, as I belted out all of the lyrics and pushed and hopped with the rest of the audience. Just incredible.
One thing I really love about the band though is just how wholly they carry themselves as true rock stars. They don't trash hotel rooms. They don't have drinking problems. But what they do is use their music to call out those who are wronging society, as Win Butler readily used his voice to bring attention to the businessmen who have been buying up property around Hyde Park and then pushing the government to create noise controls in the park (thus causing Arcade Fire to have to tone down their sound). A lot of rock stars simply become that just so they can fill their addiction of the month, but Arcade Fire actually stands up for the people and does good things (see their work in Haiti) instead of just resting on their laurels. It's refreshing to see that.
I have to give some props just to their energy on stage though. And by that I mean Will Butler. Will was maybe the most entertaining member of any band I've ever seen, running around like a wild man the whole set, zigging when everyone else in the band zags just because he feels the music so much. It was incredible to see him going completely wild up their, being as impassioned by the music as he was the first time I saw him on Conan O'Brien performing Laika with the band, using his mate's helmet as a percussion instrument.That's the thing about these guys: they aren't just big names. They are incredible performers, talented, energetic and putting on a real show for everyone. Not everyone gives you that, but I can say wholeheartedly that Arcade Fire is someone that you won't need to fear being ripped off by.
And there is something simply wonderful about that.
1 comment:
nice post thanks for update
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