The Arcade Fire - Cold Wind

Alright, last night I went to see the Arcade Fire in Boston- a show I wasn't intending to write about in this blog. You see, while I dig the band I feel they're totally overhyped. With countless blogs continuously flipping out over them, praising them like the second coming I felt contributing to the Arcade Fire blog spree would be, well, bandwagonesque (Teenage Fanclub, anyone?) However now that I've seen the triumph that is the Arcade Fire live, I just cannot hold my tongue.

The funny story with this show is that I wasn't originally intending on going. I wanted to, but I figured that without a pre-sale and the inevitable near instant sell-out on Ticketmaster, I couldn't go without paying an arm and leg. And simply, I don't love the band enough to pay more than $30, $40 with "conveniences" to see them. However my friend lucked out with the presale, scoring one ticket, then going on eBay to get 2 more (at $180 a pair.) I bought the ticket off of him entered the show feeling privileged, walking past the poor souls begging for extra tickets with a bit of a swagger. Then I saw my seats were three rows from the end of the theater. The Orpheum's a small theater so the view wasn't terrible, but with my friends 10+ rows ahead of me, I was more than a little envious. After the mediocore opening band, I decided to make my move, heading over to the isle seat directly behind my friends. I was crafty about it, pretending like what a coincidence it was to see them there, and proceeded to take a seat behind them to converse, as hey, it was empty. Now for the next 15 minutes or so as the theater filled I was pretty tense..what to say when the people show up looking for their seat? Well that moment came within minutes before the band took stage, a time when I was unprepared as I as beginning to think I had won. Well the couple shows up and as I do a completely conspicuous and shameless move over to the middle of the isle rather than backing out. This is when things got hot and heavy, the band took stage, "Black Mirror" started and I was getting a bit cocky. Then three songs in, I thought the deal was sealed, until finally the two stragglers come in for their seats, one reeking of beer. I first tried to not pay attention to them, getting overly involved in "Haiti" but that stalled them for a few seconds. When asking where my seat was I just said "it's all messed up now, man" with no plan of action in mind. I then played it stupid, pretending like my ticket wasn't in my pocket. I threw everything I had onto the battlefield. Thinking my stint was up I began to grab my messenger bag to proceed back to my original seat. Surpringly the guy stopped me, saying you don't need to go and that I could squeeze in behind them. I gave a very sincere and appreciative "Thanks." But then guess what!? After a couple of songs, hey said "Hey- you can get a full seat now!" and left with his bud. They came running back at the end of the set during "Rebellion" but otherwise things worked out perfectly. Yaaay!

Ok, setlist:

Black Mirror
No Cars Go
Haiti
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
In the Backseat
My Body is a Cage
Windowsill
The Well and the Lighthouse
Ocean of Noise
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
(Antichrist Television Blues)
Keep the Car Running
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
----
Intervention
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Neon Bible

Highlights for me were No Cars Go, Neighborhood #3 and Rebellion. Right when they began No Cars Go it was spectacular... for around 10 seconds I could feel the song flowing through my entire body. It was something I've only experienced a few times before, but is such an amazing sensation. After the show we hung outside the venue with a group of only 5 others waiting for the band. I had all six of them sign my "Keep the Car Running" 7". However we couldn't get the drummer's autograph, as honestly we weren't sure which one was the drummer. How awkward would it be going up to one of the similarly dressed stage crew members, asking for their autograph? And what if they signed?! Plus the drummer isn't even a permanent member. Look, he's not on the cover of Canadian Time. I think that says it all. I'm just trying to justify missing a member's signature here. All the members were really nice, especially Will who I talked to for quite a bit. He told me about a time three years ago when they played AS220 in Providence, and only friends and family showed up. To this I say: !??!?!?!!? Oh man... Well he told me that on the way back Win wanted to save some gas money and decided to put the car in neutral down a hill. Well he accidently put it in reverse and blew up the transmission. Oh Win. He told me my copy of Keep the Car Running was the first physical one he's seen, only previously seeing the concept art. I made history.

I was a bit unsure what Arcade Fire song to use for this entry. Then it was obvious- "Cold Wind" a song that comes from the Six Feet Under soundtrack, a show I've been meaning to watch for a long time. Soon enough Netflix will help me out with that. They also released a 7" for this track. It's excellent, much better than your average 'made for tv'song. Actually, I can't think of any other bands writing exclusive songs for television. Obviously there's a bunch, but according to me and my recollection at the moment this is the best written for tv song by an indie band ever.

The Arcade Fire - Cold Wind

"In the middle of the summer
I’m not sleeping, cold wind blowing
In the middle of the night
They try to find me but I’m still driving
If you’re going to San Francisco
Lay some flowers on the gravestone
There’s music on the station
And I’m just listening to cold wind whistling
And if they ever find me
Tell the papers
Cold wind, cold wind, cold, cold wind blowing
Cold wind blowing"

Arcade Fire @ Merge Records