Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire delivers dynamic performance to close second night

By: Cristine Mayer

Posted: 9/19/07

After the dropout of The White Stripes in the ACL lineup due to Meg White's diagnosis of acute anxiety, Saturday night gave fans of great music a tough choice during the final time slot of the night: Muse or Arcade Fire. Naturally an Arcade Fire fan, my choice had long since been made, and it was one I didn't regret.

With a reputation for their live shows, one had to be skeptical going into their performance. But from the moment the band took the stage, it was nothing less than a full-out dance party. Fans waiting to ensure a decent view of the stage were able to see the piecing together of the complex production. From a giant organ to a projection screen backdrop, the presentation was there. While the stage production itself was amazing, it would be a travesty to give it too much credit when the band members brought so much to the table.

With a decent mix from their older album Funeral and their newest album Neon Bible, Arcade Fire gave both new and old fans a show. Opening with two songs from the new album, including "Keep The Car Running," Arcade Fire had the crowd's attention by their third song: "Neighborhood #2: Laika." The immense energy from the band mixed with the anticipation from older fans of a favorite from the old album was a sure success and began a revolutionary movement throughout the park.

The first "Neighborhood" song was soon followed by "Black Mirror" and "Une Annee Sans Lumiere." During "Une Annee Sans Lumiere," the production crew made the lights sync to the crowd's singing of the "heys" in tune with the song. The effect of lights to the beat of the music, along with different colors, created an almost slow-motion strobe light-feel. Not fearing any sort of political backlash, they then dedicated the song "Intervention" to President Bush.

But it seemed as though the pinnacle of the show came with the song "Neighborhood #1: Tunnels," probably the crowd's favorite throughout the whole performance. At that point in time, any person who was not dancing before was rocking out, or at least doing the "one knee jam" - a sort of bounce done on one leg and a very common dance trend at ACL.

As 9:30 p.m. drew near, Arcade Fire seemingly finished their set with another great classic from Funeral, "Rebellion (Lies)." Between the dancing going on onstage and the dancing going on in the audience, it was unreal how much energy could be seen at the AMD stage. After "Rebellion (Lies)," an excellent choice for a finale, fans thought surely that would be the end. But Arcade Fire came back for more, extending their set for 15 minutes with the ultimate classic "Wake Up," causing all mayhem to break loose.

For a band with a reputation of being best seen live, Arcade Fire fulfilled and exceeded all expectations set upon them by veteran fans. A true jewel among the piles of indie albums in stores now, Arcade Fire should be seeing increases in fan bases with every show performed, and surely will continue touring in Texas in the future.