Thanks to the annual Coachella Festival, late April always delivers a plethora of indie rock shows that normally wouldn’t find their way to the Grand Canyon state. And thanks to the good folks at Stateside Presents, they managed to reel in the biggest indie fish all of them all to Phoenix – The Arcade Fire. Yes, unlike so called” indie” bands like The Decemberists or Death Cab for Cutie, The Arcade Fire actually remain a true indie band by staying loyal to Merge Records.
“So last time we were here was like a hundred-person art gallery,” announced front-man and Springsteen disciple Win Butler a couple songs in, alluding to the band’s late 2004 gig at Phoenix’s now defunct Modified Arts Room. It’s an understatement to say the band has come a long way from selling out the hundred person room to the 5500 capacity Comerica Theatre Shit, selling out this show in Phoenix is small change compared to their other recent accolades (check 2011 Grammy Awards).
So four nights before their headlining show at Coachella and multi-instrumentalist Will Butler left the stage to bang a marching drum in the seat aisles and hug fans in the GA pit during the second number “Rebellion (Lies)” causing security to wonder – “is that guy a deranged fun with a drum or is he with the band?” So much for what Wayne Coyne once coined about the Arcade Fire as “treats the audience like shit.”
The suburban subject matter of their most recent album The Suburbs, was set by a screening of the trailer to "Over the Edge," a late ’70s film about rebellious teens set in a planned community called New Grenada, "where people come to escape city life." And as the band marched into the rocking “Month of May” to open the show, they were greeted with a thunderous ovation, typically only reserved for artists with the longevity of a Sonic Youth or P.J. Harvey.
But as the band poured through the now “standards” from its 90 minute set, Butler seemed a little distraught on the mellowness of the crowd. “I’m trying to get a rise out of you guys. Not that I don’t like Phoenix, I do – Regine (Chassagny, Butler’s wife) and I watch Suns games all the time.” (Butler met Steve Nash before the show). The “standard” is the only complaint found about The Arcade Fire’s show. Despite the quality of this now “standard” set-list and with only three albums of songs to their credit, their song choices are limited. But considering the same set is played every night, all the band members never once looked bored or unamused.
Soon later Butler made another nod to his wife and a “I’ll say it once and I’m done” nod to the state of Arizona and its anti-immigration crackdown. “If the U.S. didn’t let Regine’s parents move here, I would never have met her. I hope the U.S. still lets people move here.” After the customary front-man “lecturing,” they spilled into the jolting drum beat of “No Cars Go”, which got the crowd fired up. Although Butler grabs all the headlines, not enough can be said of the chops of drummer Jeremy Gara, who unlike most indie rock band drummers today, can actually play with math rock proficiency.
And who has ever heard of an accordion riff? Well Chassagny might be the Jimmy Page of accordions as the instrument better known as the “squeeze box,” lays the foundation for “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)” and “No Cars Go.” And it was the diverse use of instrumentation throughout the performance that makes The Arcade Fire such a compelling live act, as all eight band members switched instruments at least once during the show. From the ominous pipe organ on “Intervention” to the double violin attack of Sarah Neufeld and Marika Anthony-Shaw, the band re-write the rules of rock instruments. They also re-work the rules of what a rock band looks like, appearing as the “high school band geeks” gone rock star cool. And as the band and fans sang in unison "ooh ooh ooh oooh” on the set finale “Wake Up," the Comerica Theatre sounded like a World Cup soccer match – call it a win-win night for all in attendance.
Set list
"Month of May"
"Rebellion (Lies)"
"City With No Children"
"Rococo"
"Intervention"
"The Suburbs"
"No Cars Go"
"Haiti"
"Neighborhood #2 (Laika)"
"Modern Man"
"We Used to Wait"
"Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)"
"Keep the Car Running"
"Wake Up"
Encore
"Ready to Start"
"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)"
"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
