Arcade Fire Performances All About "That Moment"

I usually lead off a review with some sort of mildly hyperbolic lead that presents a question that the band I'm reviewing will presumably answer over the course of their performance. But this isn't going to be a typical review, so instead I'm going to start with Handsome Furs' opening set at Arcade Fire's first of two long-awaited Toronto shows.

Dan Boeckner's band with fiancee Alexei Perry were performing on the day their Plague Park debut was released in Canada, and what better way to celebrate than with one of the biggest shows of their career. If only more people had been at Massey early to see it. Perry in particular looked a bit overwhelmed by the size of the room, but Boeckner played with the same reckless abandon that he employs in Wolf Parade. They ran faithfully, yet a tad loosely, through most of Plague Park, receiving appreciative attention from the sparse audience.

Boeckner was also sharp in the wit department. When one member of the crowd dismissively yelled at the duo, he responded, "What's that? 'Freebird?' No, we're going to play this song — by me," before Perry launched the pre-programmed beats of "Hearts Of Iron."

Massey was a bit too big of a space for the Furs. I don't really think any duo outside perhaps The White Stripes could truly fill the spacious hall, but their energetic performance showed plenty of promise, and a club show is a must-see. But no "Dumb Animals?" What's up with that? Who doesn't play their single on the day their record is released? Not that big a deal, but it would have been nice to hear the most intense track on the record fill the room.

Now, in all fairness, there's no way I should really be reviewing an Arcade Fire show at this point. I've seen the group more times than I can count, in every venue size imaginable. I'd actually wanted to see the group play Massey since the days they were playing to 50 to 500 people in clubs from here to Montreal, so that was one of the main draws. But the fact of the matter is that I'm not about to tell you how "Haiti" sounded for the third time I've seen it played in 2007.

I'm also not going to talk much about the fact that the shambolic spontaneity that gained the group's live shows so much notoriety isn't really there any more, and how it's been replaced by precision professionalism. Nor will I complain that the band always telegraph their next song by giving away a single note, thus deflating most of the element of surprise. That's because, with Arcade Fire, none of these things matter.

They still infuse every track in their set with an inconceivable amount of energy — yelling, spitting and sweating through a mix of Neon Bible and Funeral. But the real reason anybody who claims they enjoy music should see the band was perfectly displayed at the end of the main set. It was one of those perfect moments that sends chills down your spine and makes you remember why you like music in the first place. I've seen Arcade Fire do this about five or six times now, and it makes me forget everything else about the show on every single occasion.

After setting the room on fire with "Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)," they play a coda that devolves into feedback. A Jeremy Gara drumbeat and a Tim Kingsbury bassline kick in. Win Butler puts down his guitar and wills the audience to clap. And at a critical moment, the feedback disappears and "Rebellion (Lies)" moves forward, full tilt. If you're on the floor for any of the group's upcoming theatre shows, do yourself a favour and look around the room. As Butler moves to the edge of the stage to sing the first lines of the song, every person in the room is on their feet, moving and clapping. It's heart-stopping.

A lot of bands have "that moment," but Arcade Fire do it better than most. That's what keeps me coming back again and again. And if you don't treat yourself to it once, you're missing out on the best apex from any live performance of this generation.

Here is the Arcade Fire set list:
"Black Mirror"
"Keep The Car Running"
"No Cars Go"
"Haiti"
"Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)"
"Intervention"
"Neon Bible"
"My Body Is A Cage"
"Windowsill"
"Antichrist Television Blues"
"Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)"
"Rebellion (Lies)"
"Ocean Of Noise"
"Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)"
"In The Backseat"