A band I’ve been longing to see, which hasn’t played live for six years. Arcade Fire.
The O2 in London, September 8th, 2022. Well, finally.
Probably 20,000 people or so… full. A diverse bunch attending the show (or maybe it’s been such a long while since a large event because of COVID, and I’ve just forgotten). Young, old, and those like me (in self-denial mode). A huge auditorium.
The Queen
Just as I left my flat before the show, the BBC on the TV said Queen Elizabeth II had died – 6:30pm BST. Then my cab arrived, and I said goodbye to my wife within minutes of the news. It was an hour-long drive, the news was on the radio in the cab, and I could see in the streets many people looking at their smartphones (at least more than usual).
No real difference at the O2, really, other than every single electronic panel/signage already mentioning her passing and sending condolences along with tributes.
As a dedication, Arcade Fire came out at the show’s beginning and played Louis Armstrong’s version of “Just a Closer Walk With Thee”, a song used primarily at New Orleans funeral processions. A minute’s silence proceeded, and then they jumped into “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”.
The Show
I loved it. Let’s get that out of the way. Win Butler and his wife, Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara did not disappoint. Régine can play so many instruments, it is mind-blowing… Drums, guitar, accordion, xylophone, and others. And of course, she sings.
Songs from all over their career. I call them a Canadian band, but Win is from California and, after many years and other places, ended up in Montreal, where he met his wife, Haitian-born Régine. The other members of the band are all Canadian.
So, they are a Canadian band.
Most of the songs were ripped from their glorious new album, “WE”, followed by their first, “Funeral”. All fan favorites. If I was a fanboy fanatic, I’d say that many of Win’s songs start kind of slow but then build up into a fantastic crescendo of “YES!!!”, or… they start as “YES!!!” from the very beginning. OK, I am a fanboy fanatic.
So…
So, the O2 is huge. Other than those standing in the front and watching, it is also all seated. I was sort of two-thirds towards the back, but still with a great view of the stage and the “B-stage”, which is a small stage in the middle of the auditorium the band would use occasionally.
The first few songs started… everyone remained seated during the Queen’s tribute, understandably, but then the classics poured in. But no one stood up around me. I waited. I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s view by standing.
Finally, the one song, “Ready To Start” (this was song four, I think), began, and gradually… very gradually… people around me started to stand. So, f**k it, I stood and clapped and jumped and sang along, etc. (these are the sorts of things I consider you must do when you go to a rock/pop concert, no)? After that, I stayed standing throughout the rest of the show. The couple next to me sat down a few times. I don’t know if anyone behind me did.
I didn’t care if anyone else was sitting around me. This was Arcade Fire and, yes, another band I had wanted to see for ages (OK, before dying). So, even during the slower songs, my attitude was one of “I DON’T GIVE A F**K ABOUT WHO IS AROUND ME”, so if they wanted to sit during this fantastic show, then, fine, sit.
I’m 50, though, in my head, I still think I’m 42 (maybe younger). But Win is 42, so hey, great.
They finished the main show with “Everything Now”, which I love, even though their album, Everything Now, is described as being their worst album, to the extent that Win sings on WE’s “End of the Empire IV (Sagittarius A*)”, a lyric …”We unsubscribe, F**k Season Five”. A joke about Everything Now, their fifth album.
Encore
After “Everything Now”, we had the usual, “Ok, let’s leave the stage, wait a bit and then come out and do the encore”. What I absolutely hate (and I’m sorry to those who may find this important), are the number of people who leave at the end of the show and before the encore… to get public transport, taxis, an easier ride home, a drink at a bar nearby, or… what?
So, the auditorium was still pretty full. Just not as full. I just kept thinking, “Those dorks just missed out on the best songs of the evening, which finished with Wake Up” (I think all their concerts finish with Wake Up). This is from “Funeral”, their first album, and it is a crowd-crazy pleaser to the extent that the audience can sing and let Arcade Fire just play their instruments… in essence, everyone was standing and going absolutely, arm-waving, bonkers.
Which was great. That was how I expected an Arcade Fire concert to end.
But then…
Wha?
So, I was leaving, gradually, as the place was so big, and then Win and Régine just started to … walk around. Primarily where I was seated. They walked up (OK, photo alert) and then to the left, right, down, up, left, and then down, right, and then… absolutely past me to the extent I said to Win, “Fantastic show,” and crazily patted Régine’s shoulder.
Now, when I mentioned this to my wife the next day, I felt like a little fanboy who had just met Simon Le Bon after a Duran Duran concert in 1984. Understandably, she looked at me with a blank stare, thinking, “He is 50, right?”
Well, since the concert, I’ve been digesting their music, and I can just say that Win and co. were fantastic at this show in September 2022. I’m glad that “WE” will be in my Top 10 list of “Best albums of the year of 2022”. I’m glad that, after all of this time, after this depressing delay… not being able to see live bands in a venue like the O2 because of COVID, Arcade Fire was the first one I saw.
So, thank you, AF.
Chris Garrod, Sept 10th, 2022