by Matt Oczkowski
George Washington University

Arcade Fire
May 4th
DAR Constitution Hall
Washington, D.C.

When Arcade Fire concert tickets go on sale, people are expecting more than a mere show. This puts quite a bit of pressure on a band who captivated bloggers and indie elitists in 2004 with Funeral and the rest of the world three years later with Neon Bible. The sheer amount of buzz surrounding Arcade Fire is enough to leave die-hard fans underwhelmed, expecting an absolutely unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime performance. Couple that with a large, rather cold and unfriendly venue like DAR Constitution Hall, and many would expect Arcade Fire to succumb to their previous success. This was my exact train of thought, as I sat down in my box seat, barely able to make out the glowing neon bibles used as decoration for the show. I expected Arcade Fire’s graduation from intimate venues to sold-out arenas to be a rocky transition, but thankfully I was proven otherwise. Arcade Fire delivered on all fronts, surpassing expectations of the most die-hard cynics in the crowd.

The show began unlike any other I’d seen before: a video of a televangelist lecturing her listeners about sins. The very same video appeared on neonbible.com, the viral internet campaign preceding the release of their highly touted second album of the same name. As the video drew to a close, the members appeared on stage, illuminated by neon lights. The ambient noise in the background grew to full distortion, and gradually, the band shifted into “Black Mirror”, lead single from the new album. The band covered nearly all the hits from Neon Bible—including single “Keep the Car Running”, career-highlight “No Cars Go”, and an encore rendition of “Intervention”. I enjoyed these from my box seat, but still felt fairly detached from their performance. As if reading my mind, frontman Win Butler apologized to the security guard, and invited everyone down to the floor. The concert hall turned into a general admission free-for-all, and the band broke into a fist-pumping performance of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”. The amount of Funeral-era material plugged into the performance was astounding, considering this was the Neon Bible tour. They kept the extended version of “Haiti”, complete with spastic dance moves by multi-instrumentalist Régine Chassagne, and kept my favorite transition, “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” into “Rebellion (Lies)”. One encore was not enough for the crowd, though Win was considerably weakened (the European Tour had to be cancelled because Win needed to have surgery). They ended with their most anthemic song, “Wake Up,” with the entire crowd participating in the wordless chorus, singing for the weakened Win. One has to appreciate the ferocity of any Arcade Fire show. Even with all the instrument swapping and mid-song speeches about how $1 of our tickets went to a Haitian charity, the onslaught of music was relentless.

There’s no doubting that Arcade Fire have evolved. Tickets sell out in minutes for arenas. Their rig has expanded to accompany all sorts of instruments, including a hurdy-gurdy, a pipe-organ, and enough guitars so that every song featured a new axe. The Neon Bible theme certainly permeated through DAR Constitution Hall, and not in song only. The neon lighting, holographic bibles, and videos of synchronized swimmers (found on many of the Arcade Fire’s merchandise) prove that Arcade Fire are not afraid of success and can afford to indulge for concerts, making the most of their resources. However, this is all for crowd benefit. Their egos are still kept in check. One would expect head couple Win and Régine to overpower the 11-piece band, but the ever-expanding band functions as more than a backup to these two. Everyone performs as a whole, from Will and Richard’s mid song percussion fight on “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)” to the gorgeous horn and string ensemble that ended “Ocean of Noise”. While they certainly have evolved, Arcade Fire is still the band that everyone knows and loves.