It was a bitch attempting to buy tickets to the Judson Memorial Church shows in February to no avail, but this time around, I managed to get my hands on a ticket for the Arcade Fire’s show at Radio City. Despite feeling intimidated by the woman standing beside me whose shoulder must have been at least five inches above my head (as I stand at a measly five-foot-two) and having a man two rows ahead of me obstruct my view, they put on a spectacle of epic proportions. The band performed cohesively, and Win Butler sounded close to perfect considering the sinus surgery he had recently. Win even exclaimed for those with orchestra seats, like myself, to come toward the stage (which went along the lines of, “Jesus fucking Christ, come down to the front; what are they going to do?”), regardless of security’s orders. Instantaneously, I think I kind of fell in love with him.

But I digress. Although it started off great with “Keep the Car Running” kicking off the night, the crowd’s feedback seemed to plateau until towards the end of the show. Once they played “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, however, the whole place went into convulsions. Soon after, the audience’s spirits had lifted and everyone was having a fantastic time.

Set List
Keep The Car Running
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Mirror
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
In The Back Seat
My Body Is a Cage
The Well and the Lighthouse
Ocean of Noise
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
(Antichrist Television Blues)
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)

Encore
Intervention
Wake Up

“Rebellion (Lies)” and “Wake Up” were, by far, the crowd-pleasers of the night. Win went into the audience for a brief period of time, only for security to bring him back on stage (as seen here). The hair on my neck stood on-end as the everyone in the venue sang the “Oooh” melody at the end of “Rebellion” for a couple of minutes after the song was done. The trumpet player ran up to the first mezzanine during “Wake Up,” which will probably be the closest I’ll ever get to a member of the Arcade Fire. But in a flash, it was over.

I was kind of disappointed that “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” wasn’t played, since I think it’s one of the stronger songs on Neon Bible, and think it should have been replaced with “In the Back Seat,” but that’s just my opinion. Aside from that, I was thoroughly pleased with the show and would see them again in a heartbeat.

[Some fantastic photos can be found over at Stereogum]

Written by: Sara Greene on May 15th, 2007 | Filed under Concert Reviews, Features