Arcade Fire, live at Oxegen, Friday Night
Whatever way you want to carve it up, Montreal's returning heroes Arcade Fire are in a strange place indeed on tonight's bill...
Edwin McFee, 15 Jul 2010
Taking to the stage after Jay Z's incendiary performance, it's clear that Win Butler's bunch are going to have their work cut out for them – and so it transpires. Before they strike a single note, their presence has polarised the hip hop and artsy kids, with the former heading for dancier delights elsewhere. Still, as the seven-piece seem to thrive on adversity, we're expecting a night to remember, and when they crank out opening song 'Keep The Car Running' there’s no doubting that they mean business.
Keeping the onstage banter to the bare minimum, the avant-garde influenced alternative icons are an utter revelation. With their new album (The Suburbs) primed and ready to be released in a few weeks time, the enraptured Oxegen crowd are getting a preview of the long awaited slab of wax and new tracks like 'Modern Man' and the phenomenal 'Ready To Start' (which has a jarring, new wave rhythm) are received rapturously by their hardcore fans, who are treating the taster for things to come like an almost religious experience.
Surprise of the night is the title track for their new record The Suburbs. It's a waltzing, falsetto led tune about the death of the old ways and is easily as good as anything the band have put their name to in the past. "So can you understand/ Why I want a daughter while I’m still young?/I want to hold her hand and show her some beauty/ Before the damage is done," ponders the frontman.
As you might expect from the eternally awkward group, the bells and whistles that most bands use at festivals are virtually non-existent and the focus is on the songs and musicianship instead. That's not to say it’s a dull show though. Win and his cohorts are as animated as they’ve ever been and Arcade Fire bulldoze through the likes of 'Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)' and 'Empty Room' in rapid succession with the frontman pouring a bottle of water over his head in a much welcome show of solidarity with the increasingly damp crowd.
Despite the prevalence of new tracks on offer tonight, the show gels together really well, most likely thanks to the fact that Arcade Fire fans have been starved of new sonic thrills, so they're hungry for anything the band plays. While the likes of the surprisingly speedy 'Month Of May' – a new song – divides opinion (for the record, this reviewer loved the quick tempo and venomous chorus) when they sign off with the achingly beautiful 'Wake Up' we get goose pimples on our goose pimples and it isn't due to the rain. As comebacks go, Arcade Fire's return to the fray is up there with the best of them.
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