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Local Talent, Global Fire |
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Arcade Fire come home for five shows
by Edward Meagher
With an unprecedented five-night stand scheduled at Montreal's Ukrainian Federation this month (February 6th through 10th), a few hundred very lucky ticket-holding Montrealers will get to see the Arcade Fire set a cleansing rock and roll fire that's certain to feed an international blaze of enthusiasm. The band that began in a Mile End apartment in 2003 - who cut their teeth in packed Plateau clubs before taking on the world with their platinum selling debut Funeral, who have performed with the likes of David Byrne, David Bowie and U2, and whom Coldplay's Chris Martin has called "the greatest band in history" - has come home.
In many ways, though, the group (consisting of husband and wife duo Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld, and Jeremy Gara) never really left town in the first place. Riding high on the critical and commercial success of the Funeral tour, the Arcade Fire wasted little time before returning to their home and the drawing board, holing up in an abandoned church outside of Montreal that acted as their song writing sanctuary.
Funeral, with its groundbreaking sounds and style, spawned nothing short of an indie revolution when it was released in September, 2004. The band's initial success was spawned not by mainstream radio exposure but by the growth of an Internet fan base and by word of mouth. Of course, when the word comes from a mouth as revered as Bowie's, people are bound to take notice.
The group that Coldplay's Chris Martin has called "the greatest band in history" has come home.
The debut album fused influences from the Talking Heads, the Pixies and White Album-era Beatles. The unique mélange of instrumentation ranged from accordion to synthesizers, whispers, whistling and shouts, and heart wrenching lyrics in both of Montreal's official languages. Its grand-scale success left many critics sceptical of an equally successful subsequent release.
Neon Bible, due out this March, plans to defy these naysayers, and presses even farther into the world of strange instrumentation, incorporating things like a hurdy-gurdy and, as Win informed fans on the band's official site, "a huge fucking pipe organ." The songs that have been leaked, both by Internet fans and by the band themselves (call 1-866-NEONBIBLE to hear a few for yourself) have shown these local artists' offerings to be as prolific as they are unique.
To stand out as creative juggernauts in a town as saturated in artistic talent as Montreal is one thing, but to become an international sensation and still maintain one's roots to this city is a feat that few but the Arcade Fire could have pulled off. Hometown pride promises to make this month's highly anticipated local appearances an historic set of performances for the city.
Famous for their exuberant stage presence, the Arcade Fire's five shows sold out almost instantly upon release, with fans clamouring for tickets from Montreal to New York to London. However, thanks to Pop Montreal and Blue Skies Turn Black, fifty tickets will be sold on the day of each concert at L'Oblique record store. The price is $25. See you in line.
| There's Still Hope... |
The Arcade Fire @ the Ukrainian National Federation, 5213 Hutchison, February 6th through 10th. There is no parking in the area; concert-goers are asked to leave their cars at home.
L'Oblique: 4333 Rivard. 50 tickets will go on sale on the day of each show, starting at 12pm. |
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