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This past weekend I had the chance to see The Arcade Fire in Montreal (February 10) - as you may remember this string of shows sold out in seconds so I was pretty lucky to get a ticket! It was hands down one of the best nights of my life!

I got to the 650 person venue just as the doors were opening. I checked my coat in the Ukrainian hall basement and then went upstairs. There was seating but a good number amount of people decided to squish right in front of the stage. I talked to the people around me for a short while but it wasn’t long before the band came on stage and started to play.

With no opening acts they took the stage as the crowd cheered and the lights dimmed. They started with the haunting “My Body Is a Cage” off their upcoming album Neon Bible. Win started off almost alone but was later joined when the full band come in. It was incredible and almost overtaking. They then continued playing new tracks with the chilling “Black Mirror”. The night continued with them playing mostly new songs. “Keep the Car Running” and “Antichrist Television Blues” were performed with an amazing purpose and passion. These were after followed by “No Cars Go” which some might remember from their earlier EP! It really had the crowd moving and fist pumping and I loved every second! Everyone was just so into it! Regine displayed her beautiful voice in “Haiti”, (off of Funeral) and “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations”. She is such a character filled with spirit! Even slower songs “Windowsill” and “Ocean of Noise” were performed with such passion and Win’s voice seems to still be lingering in my head.

As the beginning of “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)” everyone up front really started getting into it, and by then end Win jumped into the crowed. Once he made his way back to the stage, “Rebellion (Lies)” started up with Win jumping back in with the mic. The entire audience was ooo-ing along the end of rebellion even after the song ended which carried into “Intervention.” They came back for their encore with “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” which was carried out soooo well.

We all expected them to come back on for another encore, so we continued to cheer and cheer and cheer. The lights came on after a few minutes but we didn’t want to take that as an answer so we kept going. I found out later the band had gone into the basement to play “The Well And The Lighthouse”. Only about 200 people got to see it with the rest of us unknowingly cheering for more upstairs. Lucky for me I was right in front of Win when he came back upstairs into the audience and began to play an acoustic “Wake Up”. We all sang along without a care and were then later joined by the rest of the band. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

By the end of the night I was speechless with admiration and shock. I’m now in the sad phase of after show withdrawal but look forward to the release of Neon Bible and the Toronto shows on May 15 & 16. Until then I’ll continue listening to bootlegs and watching YouTube and Google videos of the show to relive every moment!

Posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at 1:51 pm by Kate M. and is filed under Blog.

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