GIG NUMBER ONE HUNDRED AND SIX
Who
We eventually were within "walking distance" so got out, deciding to walk it instead of getting the shuttle buses that looked rather crammed. On reflection a mistake, as climbing the hill was tiring, time-consuming and it was too dark to see anything except some pretty lights of London. I did think how amazing it would be to ride down it in a shopping trolley though, and if I have to choose how to die that would be near top of my list. Using Matt's vague knowledge of where to go we were walking in the correct direction and the map on the back of the beautifully designed ticket didn't help much at all. Alexandra Palace (or Ally Pally as it is known by the lazy commoners!) was an enormous building, as we found out when we had to walk all the way around it to the entrance, almost like a posher National Exhibition Centre. We were now out of breath so went straight in, ignoring the niftily placed burger van, nice-looking bar area and all the touts. Doors had opened at 6:30pm but due to the transport dilemma we were an hour late, and were amazed at how many had got here before us. Perhaps persevering with the Piccadilly Line would have been quicker after all. We went in through the hugely impressive entrance hall and marvelled at the size of the place. It was nice and everything but it's hardly a palace you can live in is it? After trying to find the toilets (the ones on the ground floor were unhelpfully sealed off) we went straight into the venue, which was the main room with black banners obscuring all the interesting architecture! We easily made our way into the middle and settled into a nice spot with a reasonable view. This was a cavernous room, albeit one that was much nicer than a usual arena. We were supposed to meet up with somebody but I'd insisted that I wasn't going to ruin another Arcade Fire show by hanging around at the back for no reason so said that it would be up to them to find us, which they didn't do until after the show!
We'd already missed the first support band Wild Light apparently, and the DJ was playing records that sounded just like Arcade Fire, except they weren't. The room was rapidly filling up, with many people rudely pushing past us who had failed to make the effort of getting here earlier. The main support then took to the stage and after a few moments I realised that it was Clinic. This was now the third time I'd seen them - as many as Arcade Fire - and they always act as a lucky omen, preceding amazing SFA and Flaming Lips shows in the past. Not that I can praise Clinic much, as they hadn't made any progress at all, still wearing surgical masks and still peddling the same dreary style. Every time I see them they are supporting at a larger venue, but I find it hard to believe they'll play any bigger than this. And now the countdown for Arcade Fire! The typical Neon Bible set which now seemed so familiar to me was set up swiftly, the organ put into place and I'd hoped they'd get onstage nice and early. The main negative of playing such a large room was that the band's stage set no longer looked massive and epic. It was now just a few tiny instruments on a huge stage. They waited until 9pm before making an entrance, with a video screen featuring random incoherent nonsense from American television. It didn't make any sense to me, but as it meant the show was almost upon us I was still happy to cheer along. The band then took to the stage and launched into Black Mirror. We sang along and enjoyed it, as we then tried to do for Keep The Car Running. Some dicks however were determined to push in front, distracting my attention for the best bit of the song and earning a few well-earned punches. And what did they then do? Proceed to the moshpit? No, just stand in front of us, their big heads ruining our view! So far so good musically, but I now knew what Arcade Fire were like live and the surprise element being lifted had taken away much of the edge. On reflection the surprise had already gone the second time I'd seen them, thanks to their playing an almost identical set to the first. Therefore it was wonderful to hear something different and Neighborhood #2 (Laika) was right up my street. I'd seen them on TV doing it at Glastonbury and had started to revere it almost as much as Power Out and it didn't disappoint, with proceedings degenerating into a proper onstage fight for the chaotic finale as a couple of the guys knocked each other to the ground, beat up their instruments and threw stuff across the stage! Slightly hypocritical to be "bottling" themselves, when they'd made such a fuss about it happening to them in Nottingham earlier on the tour though!
Less exciting however was Still Ill, a cover version of The Smiths. I didn't know the song and, let's face it, The Smiths are hardly as good as Arcade Fire, so it passed me by, and if I were the band I'd had played that one just in Manchester. The excellence resumed with No Cars Go, which wasn't as exciting as at Brixton, Haiti, which was great, and a ragged Black Wave/Bad Vibrations beset with feedback. Win thanked us for climbing the enormous hill to get here and there was a little banter, but he admitted that teasing 10,000 people is not a good idea! There were two large video screens on the left and right, lots of little ones, and also a big one in the backdrop, which were showing three or four different views from the stage. Even the black background was lit up as a video at times. It was much more varied than the simple Neon Bible symbols of before, but I still wished they'd lowered the back banner so we could appreciate the fancy window behind them. Neon Bible had been a deeply unwelcome finale at Brixton, but tonight was given a shockingly huge cheer, and it worked nicely as a chilled-out intermission. The crowd now knew all of Neon Bible so were treating its songs with almost equal reverence as they would for those from Funeral, which meant I wasn't contending with indifferent people talking over everything. Nevertheless, the mid-section of the show which followed may as well have been an interval, as Age Of Consent (a New Order cover apparently) and the average Ocean Of Noise passed us all by. I trust that it was simply a chance for the band to recharge, to sort out the sound issues and to make us appreciate the second half of the set more? Arcade Fire swapped around yet again for a reworked take on Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) which made it more of a sing-along but took some of the power away from the intro. The Well And The Lighthouse and (Antichrist Television Blues) then showed us just how much potential the average Neon Bible tracks have when played to an attentive and knowledgeable crowd!
All bad Arcade Fire memories and disappointments were then wiped away when I realised that they'd launched into Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)! I whooped and jumped for joy, knowing my mission had been accomplished, and it was the undisputed highlight of the show, receiving the most applause and rocking supremely hard despite Win singing it in what could almost be described as a funny voice. This effortlessly morphed into a triumphant Rebellion (Lies) which got the crowd singing along even more. Presumably the large venue effect was taking hold, but the introduction sounded incredible yet the bits where we sung back at the band didn't work nearly as well. They then left the stage to much applause and I worked out the two songs I wanted to make this a perfect set. My research afterwards revealed that Arcade Fire haven't failed to play Power Out for many months now, and very frustratingly they are playing LESS new songs now we all own Neon Bible and are happy to hear more songs from it. Perhaps they have taken note from being booed offstage at past shows? The encore started with what I was sure was Intervention, but then turned into a cover of I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. by The Clash, then transformed back into Intervention. It was still quite early but I sensed a grand finale looming and it was the one that everyone wanted - Wake Up! We all sang along madly but there's no getting away from the fact it simply wasn't as exciting as before. Maybe because I knew what was coming? Maybe because of the venue? Who knows, but the edge had been taken off it. The band left the stage and there wasn't a whimper of protest this time around as the lights went up, as there simply was nothing essential that had been omitted.
Of my homemade Arcade Fire compilation, the band played a stonking 13 out of 16 tracks. Crown Of Love was the best tune missed out, and on a lesser note there was no Windowsill or Neighborhood #4 (Kettles). On the positive side they didn't waste their time on the bloated My Body Is A Cage! We met up with the guy we should have done at the outset and I was put off buying the excellent posters on display outside as I didn't want to carry them all the way back home. For similar reasons I'd also resisted beautiful Back To The Future and Apocalypse Now posters earlier on in the week. I was in a happy mood due to the near-perfect setlist, knowing that the boring moments hadn't come at the expense of any classic songs. We went to a pub where I was so thirsty I purchased two pints of lemonade, then quickly realised I couldn't drink them all. Going to pubs after gigs or, even worse, going clubbing, is a terrible idea, as chilling out and reflecting on the evening while it is fresh in your mind and maybe hearing some of the songs is part of the experience. Will any nightclub in the world play music as good as at a concert? I doubt it can be anything but a distraction and anti-climax. I was therefore relieved that we didn't stick around long, making our way back on the hopelessly unreliable Piccadilly Line for an extremely long sleep. I studied the flyer I'd been given - in support of medical care in Haiti. £1, $1 or €1 of each gig ticket had been donated and the band had thanked us for helping to raise so much money, but I couldn't help but ponder that the English fans have had to pay more than everyone else due to exchange rates! Things had gone as hoped and expected. Arcade Fire had not been as good as Brian Wilson but were better than The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Now I'd seen them giving it their best shot I'd fully satisfied my urge to see them live, at least until the next album! I'm now certain they're not as good as The Flaming Lips live, or Super Furry Animals on record, but they're a damn good band, and one of the few on Earth who are worthy of worship!
Mark: 9.0/10
Arcade Fire
Support
Clinic
Where
London Alexandra Palace
When
17th November 2007
Price
£24.00
Who with
Matt
Position
Towards the front
Comments
After the Power Out scandal of the last two Arcade Fire shows, I just couldn't help myself in wanting to go back for more. I just had to see them play a perfect set to make up for the previous disappointments, but at the same time the thought of them not playing it again was almost too much to bear. However, this was a massive show and on the Saturday night, so Arcade Fire would have some nerve not to pull out all the stops. We'd got tickets many months in advance and in fact I'd almost gone off them by the time the show approached. The initial excitement had worn off, as you can only remain obsessed for so long when there's only two albums worth of stuff to get into. This was the finale of my London gigs of 2007 and in fact all four of my proper visits down south had been accompanied by a show, and this was also the third gig of the week for me. Due to Air, I was setting off to London later than I would have planned and in fact wouldn't have the full Thursday or Friday to explore. Thursday afternoon after I'd travelled down was spent seeing the sights of Kingston Upon Thames, which was perhaps justified by the purchase of The Flaming Lips Live At Oklahoma City Zoo and the most amazing beef ribs ever. Can you imagine how big a cow's ribs are? Enough said. I also saw Ratatouille, before seeing Planet Terror the next day in the West End, where there was a Häagen-Dazs restaurant we sadly didn't have time to visit. Friday and Saturday were spent on small-scale attractions, such as The Crack and The Spider at the Tate Modern, checking out platform nine and three quarters at Kings Cross along with the refurbished St Pancreas, The Cabinet War Rooms, a successful trip to Camden, a failed trip to the insanely busy Covent Garden and Charlie's busking corner from Lost, plus lots of attractions so small they aren't even worth mentioning. It was a cold and often wet week and therefore not the nicest time to be on the streets, which was forced upon us by the random near-closure of the Piccadilly Line - the only way we knew to the venue. A bit more research would have revealed the existence of Alexandra Palace train station but we weren't aware of this so jumped on an insanely busy and super-slow bus, which wasn't the best thing to do after eating more sausages for tea than I'd had thought possible.
Setlist
Black Mirror
Keep The Car Running
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
Still Ill
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Neon Bible
Age Of Consent
Ocean Of Noise
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
The Well And The Lighthouse
(Antichrist Television Blues)
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
I'm So Bored With The U.S.A./Intervention
Wake Up
