(The) Arcade Fire

I know I'm not the first person on the scene to talk about the Arcade Fire (see: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) but I AM the coolest (see: here).

I pre-ordered their record the moment I heard 'Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)' after hearing Mr. Stereogum tout the new tune. And I gotta tell ya...the thing had hooks. It grabbed me and has yet to let go.

The buzz on that record was so great, and they gained a repuation for such a great live show that they sold out their national tour almost immediately, with tickets popping up on Ebay on the daily. So, when I saw them play this past Sunday at the Troubadour in L.A., I wasn't too surprised when I couldn't find my socks when the show was over. What did surprise me was their opening act, Owen Pallett, a solo violin player/singer. Some plucking, some bow-work(?) some singing, and some extremely fancy footwork on the pedal board turned this little diminuitive guy into a one-man band of etherial, awesome violin power.

Anyhow, back to the purpose of this post: the degree to which I am cool.

My associate and I had shown up to the show WAY too early, especially since we preferred jockying for a position at the bar than at the front of the crowd (shut it, there's a better view). So, to kill some time and feed our bellies we made our way to a nearby Indian place I used to frequent(ly call for delivery when I used to live in h'wood and smoke herbuals). We're halfway through our delicious meal when who comes through the door and sits next to us, but the Arcade Fire. The whole lot of them. Plus, what I can only assume was some annoying Hollywood manager/agent/publicist/advantage taker, given the nature of the conversation: "if you want to be the next big band and sell millions of records you have to do exactly what I say, because I know all, as you can see, because I currently reside in, that's right, Hollywood." Maybe conversation isn't the right word...maybe "talking to" is more appropriate. Anyhow, my associate and I were clearly having a much better time than they were. Maybe it was my constant creepy stare, but I swear the lead violin player kept looking my way, thinking either: "I wish I was over at that table where fun abounds" or "why wont that creep stop looking at me?" I tend to think it was the former, while my associate the latter. Either way, I was elated.

All in all, the opening acts were great, and the Arcade Fire put on such an energy-filled tight set that I considered hiding in the Troubadour's rafters for the late show. What an amazing group of musicians. One may have closely resembled Napolean Dynamite, and the lead might have reminded me of a cross between Jack White after a 3-day coke bender and (oh boy...this is embarrassing) me in high school but I've never seen such a talented group of musicians(to be fair, they did announce that they were sick at the start of the show). They switched instruments so often that I almost felt compelled to yell "ROTATE" ala HS gym volleyball, after each song. And damn it if they didn't kill it with their encore, Wake Up.

Take a look/listen to their in-studio performance. It's low-key, and not a good example of their live show, but it's still darn good.

EDIT - Here's some good video from a live performance.