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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Music Review: Arcade Fire rocks for Barack

Posted by Joe Tone on Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 12:06 PM

ArcadeFire_hi.jpg
It was supposed to be about Barack Obama. And ostensibly it was. Campaigners milled around the front of the Beachland last night before the Arcade Fire’s free show in support of the Democratic presidential nominee. Kids with clipboards, buttons, and forms hit up folks as they walked into the Ballroom. And loud, obnoxious guys in suits yelled political slogans (“We want change!”) as 500 fans waited an hour or so for the band to play. It was about Obama, but everyone – except for a couple of loud, obnoxious guys in suits – was there for Arcade Fire. ... And even though last night’s Arcade Fire was a bit smaller than the usual Arcade Fire – core members Win and William Butler, Régine Chassagne, Jeremy Gara, and Sarah Neufeld were all there; a few members stayed home in Montreal – they played an hour-long set that was every bit as intense as a full-band show. While some of the group’s big-ass instruments were sorta missed, there were enough sax, hurdy gurdy, and megaphone breaks to fill in the spaces. Frontman Win Butler said a few obligatory words about today’s election, but he mostly let the music do the talking. The three cover songs all tied into the reason he and his bandmates were there: David Bowie’s “Heroes” (which opened the show), John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth,” and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” (which closed the show). In between, the stripped-down group played a handful of cuts from its two albums, Funeral and Neon Bible – including stirring versions of “Intervention,” “Wake Up,” and “Rebellion (Lies).” Who knows whether or not the show served its purpose of getting people out to tell other people to vote for Obama today. It certainly got us wishing Arcade Fire didn’t skip Cleveland on their last tour. -- Michael Gallucci

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You failed to mention that many concert-goers were recruited to go canvass (with the promise of guaranteed entry) instead of waiting in the rain doing nothing for two or three hours (the more popular choice naturally... it's a shame that so many Cleveland indie rock types are too cool to admit that they give a shit about anything). Anyway, I saw a lot of excitement for Obama inside the venue, and even more canvassing throughout Collinwood before the show. We'll have to wait and see what happens today to know if it was worth the effort. By the way, the core of the band is from Texas - not Canada - which most local coverage has failed to mention.

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Posted by ebell on March 4, 2008 at 12:27 PM

I hate to break it to you, ebell, but Arcade Fire, though a large collective, are about as Canadian as they come. Some hail from Ottawa's Canterbury High School and others from Montreal. No matter, they are a band to be reckoned with, and we Canucks are happy that you, and all Obama supporters, support them. Source: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wbfpxqwald0e~T1

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Posted by John on March 5, 2008 at 12:53 PM
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