The Arcade Fire

Matt and I have our favorite bands and although we acquire new interests we still have a short list of groups we HAVE to see live. The Arcade Fire was one of our top bands to see in concert and we were able to do that last night.

The concert was in Orem at the McKay Events Center, which to be honest wasn't an ideal pick for us. Part of the charm in seeing a concert live is the venue and nothing is more magical than seeing a rad group play at a rad venue. In spite of the lame location, we pulled the trigger and went for it.

The Arcade Fire puts on a great show... that goes without saying. Some of the musical qualities are lost amongst the noise and boom, but my favorite quality of the band, being the pipe organ, was heard loud and clear. The bass we felt in our chests and the lyrics still had their humanistic and raw effect on our hearts. It was great to see the group in action and sense the poetic truth in their music.

All of that being said, I think Matt and I will retire ourselves to seated tickets from this point on. It seems we no longer have the gumption for the chaos and rudeness of the floor. See... I seem to remember a time when being on the floor meant being level with the stage, some cramped standing, but overall good natured fun with the people around. Last night was not the case.

We had people punching, pushing and straight-up starting fights in the crowd. It was really scary at one point when a larger guy began exerting extreme force toward everyone within arms reach. We're still not sure what the deal was, but we were concerned for our safety and the safety of those around us. I never considered the Arcade Fire to be a violent or aggressive band, but for some of the attendees it was an opportunity to exert a lot of power and aggression toward those around themselves.

After a few altercations with people around us, we decided to retreat toward the middle (yes, we had an epic position near the front of the stage) and found ourselves able to breath fresh air and avoid possible black eyes. We stood near people who were respectful of those around and still danced and enjoyed the show. The experience of enjoying the show was shared with the people around us, rather than fighting for a position or survival.

 Overall The Arcade Fire was totally worth seeing live. They're entertaining and each of their personalities really comes out while on stage (even the band members other than Regine and Win). The Suburbs tour has a great stage design with amazing projections and lights and it's evident some hard work went into loading the show in. All of the instruments, including the tambourines and the bass cello were painted or had streamers on them. And of course, Regine did her encore dance with the ribbons, which was magically happy for all of us in attendance.