arcade fire

:This is a letter I wrote to a member of the faculty of my school at the beginning of the summer and I kind of forgot about it. Honestly I think it describes somethings in it's overblown length rather well. so read if you want.

arcade fire's there too.

enjoy.


Dr. ____,

So I've actually been gone away from computers for the last
week, and just made my way back to a monitor, keyboard and
DSL access.

i was reading over some of your blog archives and started
laughing when i saw your comment about me messing with your
paradigm for listening to music.


I'm hoping that will end up being a good thing.

In that light, I think I'll pass on a band that takes a
little getting used to, but has provided one of the most
rewarding, real listening experiences that I've had in a
very long time.

This may freak your ears out a bit, but I have a feeling
that even if it may not be your style, you may still have
ears for one more season of American Idol.

(the more I write, the more I think you might run the risk
of damaged eyeballs and bored braincells from a rambly
writer than a stressed ear)



The band is The Arcade Fire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Fire

Something that I've been thinking about for awhile and
something that I'm trying to prepare a blog entry (and maybe
a video) on, is the idea that I think (deep down inside)
we're all looking for music that we can believe in.


It's not an original idea at all, because it translates
across all cultural and political facets of life.


But i think its become engrained in my mind how much of what
i love in music, stems from my ability to believe in the
artist putting the music out.

Dylan, Bono, even Sufjan


all these men (and many others that I could name)

i can believe in them as a true musical messenger that can
speak to my mind and my generation.

There's an honesty, there's a fervency, there's a passion

that somehow hasn't been overly tainted by the
commercialization and plasticization of our modern world.
They've got a message, and even if they mess up some, you
still believe that there's truth in it, and that people
should hear it. Even Bono, with his iPod circulating messiah
complex, I can still believe that the man genuinely believes
in what he's saying. Maybe that's because I remember
watching as a tousleheaded Irish boy danced in the rain of
Colorado, waving a white flag for the screaming masses. I've
got the images of ZooTV and Pop burned into my head, and no
matter what high priced over commercialized event that Bono
decides to endorse, somehow I'll still believe in him.


Right.

so back to The Arcade Fire.


This little Canadian band released an album a few years back
called "Funeral" that, partially through its quality and
partially through a devoted underground fan base, catapulted
this obscure group of musicians into a bigger light.
Speaking of Bono, U2 asked the band to tour with them and
used the track "Wake Up" to come out with.

The band just released a followup album, "Neon Bible" which
actually opened as #2 on the Billboard charts (for whatever
that means anymore)and is in the middle of playing a sold
out tour across the nation.


So.

what makes the band special?

I've only got a few more minutes before I need to hit the
bed and prepare to drive back with my family from Tampa Fla
to Mississippi,

but

lets see how much I can get out.


First:

The Lyrics.

The band writes some of the most captivating stories full of
darkness, light, anger, with strong spiritual overtones.

(Neighborhood #3- Power Out)

"i went out into the night, i went out to find some light.
kids are dyin' out in the snow, look at them go - look at
them go!
and the power's out in the heart of man, take it from your
heart put it in your hand. what's the plan? what's the plan?
is it a dream? is it a lie? i think i'll let you decide.
just light a candle for the kids, jesus christ don't keep it
hid."



I could pull example after example out, and if you really
want, I'll send you some more.



Second:
The Presence

This is where you really find the beauty of The Arcade Fire.
There's at least 10 people that comprise the Arcade Fire,
and when they take the stage, when they enter the studio,
it's the proverbial "orchestrated chaos."

This brand of indie/orchestral/folk experimental rock is
something completely different than I've heard in years. The
fact is, once you get over the weird factor, the music's
incredibly catchy.

When Lead singer Win Butler, and the rest of the strangely
dressed members, take the stage, there isn't one moment that
they don't act like they believe every word that they are
saying. They take the music that they're playing incredibly
seriously, and people buy into these modern musical prophets.

The stories that come out of their concerts are unlike
anything that you hear about any other band (except maybe
U2 ;)

People are awed, in shock, and describe the experience with
adjectives normally reserved for big tent revivals and acid
driven mountain top moments.



Somehow in an age of "we've seen everything" the Arcade Fire
have left people saying "we've never felt this"


______

So,

this is where I come into the equation. I've been listening
and believing in this band for the last two years, well
believing for the last year,


and “a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see the band at
DAR Constitution Hall in D.C.


You've probably never been to DAR, so let me give you a
quick scoop on it.

The theaters a Greekish, magnificent looking theater whose
pretentious outside is only matched by the overbearing
expansive interior, with huge sound swallowing ceilings that is patrolled by no-nonsense no deviation from protocol security guards..It's not hard to see how this could be a problem for rock shows, and i've experienced the damping effect a number of
times.

The Arcade Fire were coming though,

and i didn't care if they were playing in an old wooden
shack in the middle of a train station, I was going to be
there. The diverse, expectant, old and young crowd packed into the
theater, somehow I managed to jump a few rows and end up in
an empty seat at the beginning of the orchestra rows)
and then the lights went dark.

A video of a screaming female televangelist was projected
onto the spotlight shaped screens, surrounding the pipe
organ and assortment of other instruments (did i mention
they play an organ?)

The band started filing onto the stage, red light poured across the arena, and I felt a little bit of the same feeling that I experienced when Dylan walked out in August at the little
baseball stadium, it's the feeling, that goes something like,
"i can't believe it's really them, they're actually here."

I've seen a ton of bands, but I’ve only seen a handful that
could give me anything of that sensation. maybe it's how the
kid's felt when the Beatles walked out in that new york
stadium,whatever it was, i felt it.


The band ran through most of Neon Bible, and much of Funeral, and honestly, I've very rarely heard songs that could be so accurately described as anthems, songs that are more of hymns than pop melodies, songs that are sung with a reverent rather than joyous inflection in your voice, and the kind of notes that makes even Presbyterians even
want to worship with their hands held oh so high,but this band did it.

The one thing that kept bugging me through the night, was
the fact that the ushers made people stay in their seats.
Even so, the people kept encroaching- dancing and moving all
across the arena.
I kept praying, God, just let me get a little closer
(and don't let the ushers find out that I don't belong in
this seat)
Maybe God didn't hear my prayer, but Win sure did...
because right before "Power Out"

Win looked at the crowd and said, "I know the ushers are
going to hate me, and I know they don't want me to say this,
but you can't dance in your seats, just come on down, come
on down."


I started running.

I didn't care if the ushers caught me, I didn't care if I
tripped and fell on the carpeted floor, I didnt care what
happened. I just knew that I had to get a little bit closer.
The floor emptied.
people rushed passed the outstretched arms of the ushers and
piled close to the stage, dancing, singing,
grey hair and blonde alike.
everyone was filling that small space.

The band played about 3 more songs, took an encore, played Intervention and then began walking off the stage. The crowd was screaming, Win looked out, stopped a few of his bandmates, talked to them for a few minutes, went backstage and brought the rest out, plugged back in, and started the "dun dun dun" guitar riff to "Wake Up."

The thing about Wake Up is that it has this absolutely
amazing opening that's meant for big arena choirs, a middle
that's meant for the depressed of spirit, and an ending
that's meant for the hopeful love starved child.

Listening to 6,000+ people sing and dance their way through
this song, is something I'll never forget, ever. When I walked out of that arena, I believed in The Arcade Fire.”