[...music...]

2013-03-19

shows of 2011

yes, i'm still alive, even though this blog has been dead for a while.

i'll start the update by listing the shows attended during the remainder of 2011.

sept. 21 - [popmontreal] arcade fire @ metropolis

grimes was the opening act:

arcade fire on stage:

i purchased grimes' "halfaxa":

sept. 22 - [popmontreal] arcade fire @ place des festival

kid koala played his set dressed in a koala costume. cute!

karkwa was the other polaris-prize-winning act on the bill.

arcade fire played a free show; a zillion people attended.

sept. 23 - [popmontreal] the planet smashers @ club soda

a ska/punk night! east end radicals, the fundamentals, and the creepshow were the opening acts.

the planet smashers were a lot of fun, as always.

i purchased their "life of the party":

oct. 6 - explosions in the sky @ metropolis

opening act was wye oak:

explosions in the sky:

setlist here.

~~~

Labels: arcade fire, cd purchase, club soda, east end radicals, explosions in the sky, grimes, karkwa, kid koala, metropolis, popmontreal, shows, the creepshow, the fundamentals, the planet smashers, wye oak

2011-08-17

the suburbs

arcade fire's "the suburbs" was re-released earlier this month, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the album. it includes two additional tracks, and the short film "scenes from the suburbs" by spike jonze.

this must be a great album, since it won a grammy, beating out some more popular nominees... but to be honest, i feel kind of underwhelmed by it. maybe because of all the hype. still, i decided to finally get this album, just to complete my arcade fire discography.

and also because i plan to see them play at popmontreal this year. they're giving a free (outdoors?) show on the second night, as well as playing the metropolis on the first night. from what i heard, the tickets for the metropolis show were sold out in about 4 minutes, despite their efforts to counter scalpers. good thing i was online by 11:59am last friday, refreshing ticketmaster like crazy; i managed to buy a pair of tickets. yay.

~~~

Labels: arcade fire, cd purchase

2007-05-14

arcade fire @ aréna maurice richard

last night was the arcade fire show. it had quickly sold out, but thanks to rox, she got us tickets. she's written a complete rundown of the evening in her blog entry.

it was my first time attending a show in an arena-type venue. it wasn't too large, so we could still get good spots with a good view of the stage. it was my first time, watching a show while sitting at the balcony level, with a view of the sea of heads that make up the floor audience.

the opening act was st. vincent. it started as a solo act, with the singer and her electric guitar, some voice effects; it sounded almost industrial. then, when she started to play with her band, it sounded like a completely different act. i liked the last song "paris is burning". with the use of the stringed instruments and brass instruments, it sounded kind of carnivalesque. it was nice.

solo:

with band:

when the arcade fire were on, it was like a mini-orchestra on stage. a troupe of band members, rotating various instruments. there was something troubadour about the whole thing. interesting visual effects, with the screens at all four corners of the stage, displaying close-ups of the band members and other random film clips. also, giant glowsticks at the front of the stage, and an organ backdrop.

it's too bad i didn't know their songs enough to sing along. they played one of my favourites "no cars go" near the beginning. they also played "black wave/bad vibrations" that i like a lot from the new album. rox has a semi-complete setlist in her blog entry.

it was an enjoyable night. somewhat of a new experience for me, watching a show from such a view.

~~~

cd purchases:
- bell orchestre "recording a tape the colour of the light"
- st. vincent "ep"

hearing damage: a slight ringing. but it wasn't too bad.

~~~

Labels: arcade fire, arena maurice richard, cd purchase, shows, st. vincent

2007-03-06

arcade fire

since the move, i get to pass by hmv megastore every tuesday (new release day), which is not a good thing for my credit card...

today is the release of the super-anticipated "neon bible" from the arcade fire, the "it" band of 2004, whose previous album "funeral" made it to the top of every year-end list of that year.

i must admit, i love/hate this band. i love this band because everyone loves them, and it's been hard to get tickets to their shows in montreal. i hate this band because of the overhype, and scalpers sell tickets to their shows at ten times the price. well, at least, i've seen them live once, before they were huge, back in september 2003, when they opened for hawksley workman at club soda. i still remember that show, when arcade fire played, the crowd was chatting throughout the set. at one point, as régine started to sing a quiet song, the crowd's chattering was so loud that win got upset, and actually interrupted régine mid-song to tell the audience to just shut up and listen. i guess no one could predict that this band would because super massive.

at the store, there was the regular version of "neon bible" and a special edition. i asked the clerk what the difference was. she told me that the discs are the same, just the packaging is different: the special edition comes in a box, and includes two flip-books. i thought it stupid to charge $10 more just for packaging. but i guess it works, because i ended up getting suckered into buying the special edition anyway.

a couple of people have told me that this album sounds different from the previous, which i find partly true; they sound happier, somehow, but there's a bit of darkness to it. still, the new songs sound very arcade fire; for example, i easily guessed that "intervention" was an arcade fire song when i first heard a part of it on the radio.

i find it a bit weird that they've included "no cars go" on this album because it is an old song. but it is an old song that i like.

they had played a secret show back in january. but since it was "secret" and i am not connected in any way, i did not find out about it until it was over and everyone was talking about it. they also sold out five nights in february whithin an hour or so, and again, i was slow in receiving the news, so i could not get tickets to that. and now, they've announced two nights in may, and i've finally got tickets to that. technically, rox got tickets to that, and got one for me (thanks rox! i owe you.).

~~~

Labels: arcade fire, cd purchase