The Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, The Sadies @ Olympic Island, Toronto (August 14, 2010)

  Win and Regine of The Arcade Fire: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [Aug 23/2010, 12:12 am]: Review now up.

I missed out on tickets for The Arcade Fire's two-night stint at Massey Hall in May 2007 and that was one of the few times I've regretted not being at a show. So when the band announced a surprise two-night stint at The Music Hall[on a tangent, which is at least closed for now due to unpaid back rent according to BlogTO] in Toronto this past June, I made a decision to buy a ticket. That show emphasized the sonically uplifting nature of The Arcade Fire's music, coming at a time[the recent passing of my mom] which turned out to be very much therapeutic. If that show was a warm-up, their large-scale proper show in Toronto at Olympic Island last Saturday nailed it.

With the absence of large-scale outdoor concert festivals from this year's summer Toronto concert calendar, Toronto promoters Collective Concerts stepped up to fill the void, first with the Pavement reunion show at Olympic Island earlier this summer which also featured Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Beach House, Timbre Timber, and The Toronto Revue(Zeus, Flash Lightnin' and The Beauties), and last week with The Arcade Fire show also at the Island, with openers Janelle Monae, and The Sadies. The Sadies, with Dallas and Travis Good in their sequined suits were probably happy that the clouds kept the sun at bay, but they still did their best to work up a sweat with their brand of twangy, surf-inflected, country tunes. The hour or so long set they performed seemed short by their standards, with their usual headlining exceeding the two hour mark. There were definitely a few fans in the audience, but it seemed that the majority of the young hipsters in the crowd were disinterested. As per what's been a usual part of their set at least the last few times I've seen The Sadies live, the Good brothers' mother came up to join the band on a few songs including, Sadies standards, their cover of the 60's r n' b song "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" and their smoking cover of the Traditional "Higher Power". I noticed the reaction of a few young female attendees who thought the whole concept of the brother's mom singing with them was cute.

Next up was Kansas City native, Janelle Monae. The Arcade Fire's Win came out to introduce her, this being her debut Canadian performance. While Win's subsequent walk off stage was a bit clumsy as he tripped over something, caught himself from falling, and sheepishly glanced to the crowd, there was nothing clumsy about Ms. Monae's performance, marked with precision, dexterity and soulfulness. Sporting her version of a pompadour, and decked out in a white ruffled shirt, tight-fitting black tuxedo pants, and two-toned oxfords, her band on keyboards, guitar and drums were similary garbed in their black and white attire. Janelle and her back up dancers came out onto the stage originally enveloped in black hooded garments but then Janelle started out into a a wicked rap before shedding the hood. Having only had some cursory listens of her music prior to the show, I had a slight impression of what to expect, but the live performance really converted me. Her music was a scintillating combination of rock, soul and r'n'b and her stage presence evoked the spirit of a few of the late greats like James Brown and Michael Jackson, oh and to me her music, or at least her approach to is, reminded me most of all of the still living(thankfully), Prince. Vocally, her soulful vocals were spot on, and even a passionate cover of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" only accompanied by the effective jazz-rock guitar arrangements of guitarist Kellindo Parker, did not expose any blemishes in her vocal technique. Aforementioned guitarist Kelindo Parker was 'sick' as the kids would say, and his stage presence was as if he was channelling the spirit of Jimi Hendrix. Towards the end of the set, the back up dancers threw out a bags of balloons to float and mingle through the crowd. Overall, it was a highly impressive set from the P. Diddy and OutKast protege.

It's come to the part of the review where I should talk about The Arcade Fire but in some ways it is almost difficult to put into words unless you were there. It wasn't the show to end all shows but it definitely propelled feelings of glee and euphoria for those in attendance. The seemingly appropriate, both in title and tone, new single "Ready To Start" kicked off the set and I could feel the excitement build up inside of me. The next song, the punky "Month Of May", also from the band's new album The Suburbs, kept up the crowd's adrenalin. Other highlights of the night included new songs like the restrained "Modern Man" which had the audience clapping, Win switching to piano for the alt-country swing of the new album title track "The Suburbs", Regine's lead vocals on the infectious, dance-pop of "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" and the audience's vocal participation on "Rococo". While the new songs were for the most part new to me since I hadn't listened to the new album yet, they were so instantly memorable.

Of course the old songs weren't about to be overshadowed, so not to speak about them ad nauseum, we got favourites like "No Cars Go", "Haiti", and the usual double-shot of "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)" which ended off the main set in fine fashion and had me on more than one occasion unable to restrain myself from jumping up and down. In perhaps a once and a lifetime moment, the crowd[or at least the front part of the crowd] continue to sing/hum the outro melody of "Rebellion(Lies)" long after the band left the stage, and continued to do so for several minutes, until the band finally made it back to the stage for their encore which was comprised of "Keep The Car Running" and "Wake Up", a mightly fine conclusion to the night. It was an earlier moment in the night that solidified the greatness of the night for me as Win reiterated that one dollar from the sale of each ticket went to the Partners in Health charity to continue the relief efforts in Haiti, where member Regine Chassagne was born. But rather than segue into the appropriately-titled "Haiti", it was the grand presence of "Intervention" and it's pipe organ that graced our ears. I felt, breathed and tasted the greatness of that very moment. But whatever the true song's meaning, when Win sung "I can taste the fear, Gonna lift me up and take me out of here", it gave me a lump in my throat.

Photos: The Arcade Fire, Janelle Monae, The Sadies @ Olympic Island, Toronto (August 14, 2010)
MySpace: The Sadies
MySpace: Janelle Monae
MySpace: The Arcade Fire

"Ready To Start" / The Arcade Fire @ Olympic Island Today!

Local promoters Collective Concerts sent out a Facebook message today that they'll be selling tickets at the door for The Arcade Fire show today at Olympic Island so if you haven't yet picked up a ticket, get yourself down there fast. Doors are at 4:00 pm and tickets at the door will set you back $64.00.

Support for today's show are Kansas City sensation Janelle Monáe and Toronto's always dependable The Sadies. Wow, I'm just listening to some samples of Janelle for the first time on her MySpace, and it's good stuff. I want to hear her sing "Faster":

Janelle Monae - Faster - HD Live at La Maroquinerie, Paris (July 5th, 2010)


And not to forget The Sadies:

The Sadies - "Flash"


I just picked up the vinyl of The Arcade Fire's new album The Suburbs yesteday and have only gotten around to spinning side one but I just completed uploading the album to my phone so I'll give it a listen when I head down to the Toronto Islands.

The Arcade Fire - "Ready to Start" (Unstaged) @ Madison Square Gardens, NYC (Aug 5/2010)


So again doors are at 4:00 pm, with The Sadies on at 6:00 pm, followed by Ms. Monae at 7:15 pm and The Arcade Fire bringing it home at 8:45 pm. See you down there!

(VIDEO) The Arcade Fire @ Rivoli, Toronto, 2003

Many of us are looking forward to The Arcade Fire's show at Olympic Island this weekend. They just played a show at Madison Square Gardens in NYC with a Terry Gilliam-directed live stream to YouTube - some good quality video has surfaced over at Vimeo. But just prior to that, one of the band's earliest performances caught to video filmed by a friend of the The Arcade Fire's Richard Parry surfaced on Vimeo. It was filmed at the Rivoli in Toronto in 2003; I'm not sure which month in 2003 the performance is from but according to Us Kids Know, they played the Rivoli in 2003 twice, first in July and then in September. What's so intriguing for me about the video is that it captures the band at a stage in their career that's not wholly different from how they are now, except for maybe their haircuts. It's cool to see the video also because, it was also 2003 that I'd first saw The Arcade Fire live when a few friends and I went to Pop Montreal and saw them play Club Soda. If not blown away, I was deeply impressed by them and they were the opening band that night. So check out their performance at the Rivoli in 2003, with the band performing "Wake Up", "No Cars Go" and "Old Flame":

ARCADE FIRE Live 2003 from Bennett on Vimeo.

The Arcade Fire @ The Music Hall, Toronto (June 11, 2010)

  The Arcade Fire: photo by Michael Ligon


Update[June 17/2010, 3:00 pm]: Review now up.

Given the amount of shows I've been to, of course I'm bound to miss something. There aren't many shows that I regret not seeing because in the grand scheme of life, a missed show is miniscule. To go all High Fidelity, sometimes it's fun to make a list of all the shows/bands you didn't see or get to see. On the list I'd for example put The Smiths when they played Canada's Wonderland's Kingswood Theatre in the eighties, Wilco at the Horseshoe Tavern in 1995, and New Order when they played the CNE in 1987. Those were all shows I had a realistic opportunity of going but for one reason or another, such as lack of money or transportation, could not go. More recently, a band that I'd put on that list would be The Arcade Fire who played a two night stint at Massey Hall in May 2007 but I ultimately did not end up getting tickets for either show. I clearly recall trying to get four tickets for the first show through Ticketmaster.ca the morning the shows went on sale but got failed miserably as tickets sold out quicker than expected. Had I tried to purchase a single ticket instead I probably would have been successful. As to the second show in May 2007 I do not have any recollection of trying to get tickets; if I had to guess I probably was at work and forgot that tickets went onsale.

Alas, the last time I'd seen Arcade Fire live was on April 27, 2005 at the Danforth Music Hall so when tickets went onsale for the band's long-awaited return to Toronto scheduled for Olympic Island on August 14, I jumped on purchasing a ticket. But as a bonus to Toronto fans, the band announced last-minute through Twitter at the beginning of last week that they'd be playing two shows in Toronto and after that the Twitter feeds were abuzz. By Wednesday of last week the official announcement had been released that the band would make a return to Danforth Music Hall (now just called The Music Hall) for two shows on June 11 and 12 with tickets going onsale at The Music Hall box office at noon the day of the show and with only one ticket being permitted to be bought by each person. It was serendipitous that I was off work on June 11 and with that on my side I lined up at the box office that morning, waited for about two and half hours and eventually got my wristband for that night.

I've been easing myself back into concert-going since the beginning of the month and the passing of my mother first with The National show at Massey Hall on June 8. The Arcade Fire show, unplanned and spontaneous as it was, came at a time that I was glad to be present for and it ended up being very much therapeutic. I scored a second row, stage right seat for The Arcade Fire show even though I arrived later than expected to an already bustling crowd onhand. But as with The National show earlier that week, once the show got going, the first few rows made a beeline to the front of the stage, and of course I followed. Joining the 7-person core membership was fellow Montrealer, Marika Anthony-Shaw of the band Silver Starling on viola, apparently having played with The Arcade Fire during their Neon Bible tour. With the band dressed up in a utilitarian look filtered through an indie sensibility, and lead vocalist/songwriter Win Butler sporting a updated mullet cut, their emergence onstage was greeted with gleeful abandon.

They almost immediately dove into a set consisting mostly of new songs from their upcoming new album The Suburbs and their debut full-length Funeral with a few cuts from their second album Neon Bible thrown in. As to the details of the night, well, my memory is kind of foggy. While the band performed with exhuberance, it was much less chaotic than I'd experienced in past shows. That was partially due to the more straightforward nature of the new material such as the country swing of "The Suburbs" or the jittery punk of "The Month of May". The band teeterred between new and old songs, and while initial impressions of the new material are good, it's the anthemic, urgent qualities of the older material that everyone was wanting. As I'd stated the stage presence was much less chaotic than I seen in past performances - no helmet tapping love between Richard Parry and William Butler, for example - but William himself was still as spastic as I remembered as he he tapped out rhythms on snare drum and tambourine with adrenalin-induced energy. Win Regime on drums and background vocals had a constant smile on her face even though half the time her presence was relegated to the back of the stage. When she finally took lead vocals on their track "Haiti" (prior to which Win had announced that a dollar of every ticket sold was going to Partners in Health to help with the relief efforts in Haiti), the crowd cheered. The only real criticism of the night that it seemed much too short, even though the show plus encore ran at least one hour and a half. If things had to end, the band did it well, albeit predictably with the double shot of "Neighbourhood #4(Power Out)" and "Rebellion(Lies)". If the band's main set for every show they play always ends off with those two songs, I'll never complain. As a bonus, the band came back for an encore consisting of "Keep The Car Running" before ending things for real on "Wake Up". The latter song's instrumental coda kicks into a bouncy higher gear as you know, and in my opinion reflects what I presume is the consensus of the night about the show - I so wish this could have gone on longer.

Photos: The Arcade Fire @ The Music Hall, Toronto (June 11, 2010)
MySpace: The Arcade Fire

New Arcade Fire 12-inch Coming Soon

As The Arcade Fire's website points out, their new 12-inch will be in stores in a few weeks. Amazon.com has a listing for it with a release date of June 1, 2010 - apparently the song titles are "Suburbs" & "Month of May". However, according to Pitchfork, a conversation with a band rep claims the Amazon info isn't true. Well, at the very least something's stirring in the Arcade Fire camp so we'll all just have to wait. The band already have a bunch of European and North America summer festival dates lined up, the only Canadian dates so far being July 12 in Quebec City as part of Festival D'ete de Quebec, July 13 in Ottawa at Lebreton Flats Park as part of the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, and July 31 in Montreal at Parc Jean Drapeau as part of Osheaga Festival. No Toronto dates so far. I missed out on their last Toronto show which was at Massey Hall several years back only because I tried to buy several tickets online for me and a few friends and failed miserably (had I just concentrated on buying my own ticket, I would have been there). The band are set to be in the UK at the end of August and will be in Chicago at Lollapalooza on August 8 so a Toronto and or vicinity date before summer's end is a definite possibility. Stay tuned.

Funeral

I remember this obscure band called um, The Arcade Fire, who I first saw at Pop Montreal in 2003. I liked them enough, and in fact thought their debut EP was one of the finest releases of 2003. I was hoping they'd go places. This is the same band that at one time played Sneaky Dee's and Lee's Palace in Toronto. My second time seeing them live was their early afternoon set at the Sloan-curated Olympic Island show in the summer of 2004. The hype was growing around them in advance of their debut full-length "Funeral" which would be released later that year. By the time 2005 rolled around, they were selling out a 2-night stint at Danforth Music Hall where I was fortunate to catch one of the shows. It's been total madness for a while, and they just sold out a two night stint(May 15-16) at Massey Hall today in what everyone is saying is record time.

My story goes like this for why I don't have tickets to either of the Massey Hall shows. I was all ready prior to noon and on the Massey Hall website. Once noon rolled around, I started manically clicking on either of the days options. I was trying to purchase 3 tickets and my first attempt resulted in seats in the 3rd level gallery. I wasn't happy. Eventually I tried 'best available' and scored 3 tickets on the floor, ROW P, on the left side. My downfall would be that I no longer had a login on the Massey Hall website. I thought I had one because I'd purchase tickets through the site last year for the Wilco show. If I did have a login it was gone now. I didn't even make it through the 'registering new account' process before I lost my reservation on the 3 tickets I'd got. By the time I had my new login set up, there was nothing left. And ditto with Ticketmaster.ca. Not even single tickets.

According to their tour date schedule, the band has an open date between their May 16 Massey Hall show and their May 18 show in Chicago. Let's start praying now for a third Toronto show on the 17th.