Arcade Fire at the KeyArena: Whoa
Photo Cred: www.nationalpost.com
We’ll be the first to admit it- We had a rough time imagining how Arcade Fire’s show would be translated live in such a humongous venue, and took our seats on Wednesday night warily, pretty much baffled by the power of so many people waiting to see them. Calexico did a great job of pleasantly starting off the evening, although in all honesty we could think of a million other bands that perhaps could have better suited Arcade Fire's sound. We're definitely not complaining, though--they sounded great.
By the time the band took the stage--a dramatic entrance that included strobe lights and a weird silent movie going on in the background screen--we couldn't believe how filled the arena had become. The weirdest part was that their sound was almost complimented by the arena. Crisp and huge and high-energy, playing such a big show only aided in accentuating the overwhelming sound they create. Their 18-song setlist didn't disappoint; just like we had hoped for, there was a perfect blend of newer and older songs. Stand out live tracks included Haiti, (Regine Chassagne nailed it with every instrument she touched, including the drums, hurdy gurdy, accordion, and keyboards) Rococo, and Ocean of Noise, joined by Calexico's trumpeters Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela.
Here's the full setlist.
1.Ready to Start
2.Month of May
3.Keep the Car Running
4.Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
5.No Cars Go
6. Haïti
7. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
8. Modern Man
9.Rococo
10.The Suburbs
11. The Suburbs (Continued)
12. Ocean of Noise (with Calexico)
13. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
14. We Used to Wait
15. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
16. Rebellion (Lies)
Encore:
17. Intervention
18. Wake Up
At the end of their set, they did mention coming back soon, but its safe that to say that chances are, mighty rockstars make that promise fairly often. Like, for example, at the end of every show they play. In any event, we'll definitely be sure to catch them the next time they're in Seattle, and probably the time after that, and the time after that. We highly recommend that you do the same.
