review time!
I arrived at Madison Square Garden about 7:45pm, and walking in I first saw the merchandise stand. At the end of the Osheaga festival I tried to get some Arcade Fire mercandise (shirt and poster), but it was unfortunately all sold out. So I figured I decided to get a shirt before the show. I ended up getting a grey shirt that say Arcade Fire (they had the same shirt but in blue). I considered getting a poster but didn't have the money... the poster looked sweet!
I sat in my seats and unfortunately they were very high up so though I could see the stage fine it was far away. At exactly 8 Owen Pallet came on stage and played a 1/2 hour set. It was filled with full string arrangements made by him looping himself over and over (much like Andrew Bird). I really enjoyed his set quite a bit, though I wish I could hear his voice more. His set ended at around 8:30 and Spoon came on around 8:45. I thought that they were a good live band, but I personally felt a lot of their songs were very similar sounding, so I sort of got a bit bored of them. Their set lasted nearly and hour and were off stage by 9:45.
Then came the Arcade Fire! Starting their set around 10:15, they walked on stage with The Suburbs (Continued) playing on the PA system, though only no vocals. They then opened their set with Ready to Start which I feel is such a great song to start their shows with. It really got the crowd excited to see them. Next came Neighborhood #2 that really got the crowd mostly excited, probably due to most of the crowd not being too familiar with the new album. Next up came No Cars Go that is such an amazing live show. This for me was one of the highlights of the show with the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs. I did though (as well as at Osheaga) found the video behind the band kind of a bit creepy. Still it was great. After No Cars Go Regine came forward to the stage and sang Haiti, another big highlight of the show. This song translates so well live that at times I might prefer it to the studio. After came a patch of new songs which though the crowd cheered at the end of each one greatly, they didn't seem to get into the songs as much as the older ones. The first one was Halflight II. I personally love this song. I feel it is very nostalgic sounding and translates very well live. Looking at the crowd though I found that people weren't really into the song much which was a shame. Next was Rococo, and initial favorite of mine from The Suburbs. With the dark tone of the song and it starting off slow I felt the crowd was becoming less interested. However when it crescendoed the crowd really got excited. From there Win got off guitar and headed to the piano to play The Suburbs. Though I love this song so much I feel that live there is something lacking, and the studio version is so great. I think of all the new songs this one might have been one of the better ones recieved by the crowd. Immediately after the song finished Win continued playing piano and did The Suburbs (Continued) quickly as if it was an outro to the live song. Staying at the piano they went into Crown of Love that has been becoming more of a favorite of mine, and it translates so well live. With such a heartbreaking melody, lyrics and the crowd singing along you could feel the strong emotion in the air of loss. The the song picked up and everyone started getting into the song and moving around. Next up was Intervention. Though it is one of my least favorite AF songs this was a great song live because the crowd was so into it, singing at the top of their lungs. After came We Used to Wait which is such a great song live. With Win taking the microphone he traveled to the front of the stage near the crowd. Right after the song Win then joked with the crowd about his favorite area of MSG is right near the stage and he said it wasn't because of the show, but because that's where Canada's scoring area will be for an upcoming USA vs Canada hockey game. The crowd really booed when he said that which was funny. Right after saying that the band went into Neighborhood #3 which is one of the best live songs.... the crowd went crazy for this song! During this song Win forgot the lyrics and it was slightly awkward to hear no lead vocals. However it is such a powerful song that no one seemed to mind. It lead right into Rebellion (Lies) as it always does and when the bassline came in the crowd went nuts! As always the transition from Neighborhood #3 to Rebellion especially when you finally hear the bassline gave me chills! Also it was incredible to see a full stadium of people singing the "Lies! Lies" part... so amazing and surreal to see so many people united for a chorus! It is such a powerful/moving 1-2 punch in terms of song choices. After that came Month of May which is really good live, though not one of my favorites off the new album. I feel that the crowd wasn't so into this song, probably from the sheer fact that they were overwhelmed by Neighborhood #3/Rebellion. To end their main set they played Neighborhood #1 that the crowd went crazy for. Everyone was singing along, and it was such a great live song! During Osheaga they had confetti during the song which I hoped they did, but they didn't.
The band left and came back for an encore. To open the encore they played Keep the Car Running, and it was not only great live and everyone was into it but it was even better to see Neon Bible get some plays after only having No Cars Go and Intervention showing up. Next came Sprawl II which is my favorite new song. I was so happy/excited to see this song again. This song was one of the best received new songs, the crowd was clapping along to the beat throughout. Also Regine's vocals on this song are spot on and possibly her best vocal performance. Of course there can't be an Arcade Fire show without Wake Up so they finished their show with that one. It was honestly one of the highlights of the show because the crowd was so into the song. It was incredible again to see/hear everyone singing along to the song... just an amazing sight to see so many people bound together by music. At the end of the song the crowd was moving around to the beat which was great. And from there that was the end of the Arcade Fire show!
Overall they were amazing live. They are so full and well structured live that few bands can compare today live. Looking at this show and Osheaga I'd say that Osheaga tops this one. Though I feel that it was amazing to see/hear the crowd sing along during the concert I felt that at Osheaga Festival people were more into the songs by dancing around. I recommend anyone who is remotely interested in the band to see them live... they are so good! If you can though try to get as close as you can. I felt that I enjoyed the show so much more closer.
setlist:
time for some videos/pics...
Videos
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pictures: