Arcade Fire are now a full fledged arena act, and I mean that in the best way possible. They are a band thats fully capable of filling out an arena with gusto and confidence, and the truth is that they always have been. It’s no surprise that they are playing an impressive three nights at Barclays Center this weekend, they’ve payed their dues and have certainly earned all of their success. Last night was the first night of the three night run, and it didn’t disappoint.
The show began with a set from The Unicorns, who recently reunited to play a few supporting shows with Arcade Fire during this leg of the tour. I never even considered seeing The Unicorns live as a possibility. But it became a reality last night, as the reunited 2000’s group opened the show. There was once a point in time where The Unicorns brought Arcade Fire along as their support (way back when), so it all came back full circle for both groups. It was amazing to hear Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone? material such as “Tuff Ghost,” “I Don’t Wanna Die,” and of course, “I Was Born (A Unicorn).” The duo sounded great but most importantly, they looked like they were having fun playing on stage again, which makes a world of a difference. It’s weird to be able to say that I saw The Unicorns live, but yeah, that happened.
It figures that my first time seeing Dan Deacon live is at a freaking arena. As a one man electronic act, it shouldn’t have worked. But Deacon made it work very well. He asked the crowd to spread out into a circle, and asked two people to start a dance off, and then taking turns, tagging other people in. If you didn’t want any part of that, he suggested standing in the back. The crowd ate it up, and within minutes the whole general admission pit was one giant dance party. Deacon’s oddball style of electronic music isn’t for everyone, but he made it universal last night, bringing the entire house down. An impressive feat, no doubt.
Almost immediately after Deacon finished it was time for Arcade Fire to take the stage. They wasted no time bringing out their big guns, opening triumphantly with “Reflektor,” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” and “Rebellion (Lies).” When a band is able to play three of their biggest songs to start, and still have plenty of equally great material to offer, you know it’s going to be a special show.
The last time I saw them was during their intimate warehouse show in Brooklyn, where the set was predominantly new material off Reflektor. Now that they are at the latter end of the tour, they have mixed in a good balance of old and new within the set, sure to please everyone in some way. They had fun with the set, working in a electronic-influenced version of “My Body Is A Cage” as an intro to “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” (which was beautifully epic as always), and worked in a grand version of “Hati” that had the entire arena humming along.
Each show during this tour has featured a regional cover of an act that came from the city they were in. They did a tease of LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” before a triumphant “Keep The Car Running”, and they also teased “Chariots Of Fire” before “Normal Person.” The NYC regional cover was of Buster Poindexter’s (The New York Dolls’ David Johansen) “Hot Hot Hot.” This came after The Reflektors (big heads) “rocked out” New York Dolls’ “Personality Crisis” on the 2nd stage in the back of the arena, which was used during “We Exist” for male dancers, and during “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)”, where Regine sang elevated across the band.
They brought out all the stops for their dance-influenced Reflektor material, sending out fake dollar bills and sparkly confetti into the crowd. It was fun, but the real meat and bones was of course the songs of Funeral. There’s nothing like singing along to those classic Arcade Fire songs, which are truly larger than life. I don’t find myself losing my voice too often, but when you’re singing along to every word of “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” as if its gospel, you just can’t help it.
Arcade Fire have proven time and time again that they’re one of the biggest, and best, bands of our generation. Whether you believe that is up to you, but we’re way past that point.
Photos of Arcade Fire, The Unicorns and Dan Deacon posted below, along with Arcade Fire’s setlist.
Setlist:
1. Reflektor
2. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
3. Rebellion (Lies)
4. Joan of Arc
5. The Suburbs
6. Ready to Start
7. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (w/ “My Body Is a Cage” intro)
8. We Exist
9. Keep the Car Running (w/ LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” snippet)
10. No Cars Go
11. Haïti
12. Afterlife
13. It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)
14. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Encore:
15. Hot Hot Hot (Buster Poindexter cover)
16. Here Comes the Night Time
17. Normal Person (w/ Vangelis’ “Chariots of Fire” intro)
18. Wake Up
Arcade Fire:
The Unicorns:
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