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Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Arcade Fire blazes at Civic Center
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Arcade Fire has already released the year’s best rock record, “Neon Bible,” and Tuesday night at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center, the band — 10 members strong — put on a blazing show that married dark cynicism with exuberant idealism.
The show lasted played for about 90 minutes, drawing from “Bible” and its excellent predecessor, “Funeral,” two albums that the fans obviously knew intimately. Win Butler, Arcade Fire’s lumbering and occasionally severe frontman, seemed delighted to be here in Atlanta, thanking the audience profusely and mentioning that a dollar from every ticket had gone to charity.
Good vibes carried throughout the show, and they grew as the show progressed and the material grew more and more cathartic. This is impressive considering that Arcade Fire songs tend to grapple with disaffection and fear, emotions that seem to have been boiling for a long time.
But the Arcade Fire does not believe in moping. It believes in waking up, banding together, turning darkness into light. Sometimes the band communicates these messages with words — song lyrics, of course, but also stage comments. (Near the end of the set, Butler encouraged far away fans to pour down the aisles and get closer to the stage.)
Other times, the band communicates through surging melodies and crashing rhythms and wordless, full-throated vocals. Like U2 and Bruce Springsteen, the Arcade Fire has a rare gift for creating a communion with its audience. The band may write songs about alienation. But out in the crowd, there was a palpable feeling of unity.
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