Arcade Fire – Live, Glasgow SECC, Friday 26th October 2007
I tell you what, any band that can defeat this utter shitbox of a venue and show you a fucking good time anyway must be bloody good because, as crappy industrial warehouses guaranteed to swallow even the largest of sounds go, the SECC is one of the worst. It didn’t help that I had only been able to get tickets in the seating area way off to one side of the stage, but ultimately it was like watching them play through bloody binoculars.
This all meant that the gig started very slowly for us indeed, with songs like Black Mirror and No Cars Go failing to bridge the considerable gap, and the clumsiness of the sound engineering not being sufficient to make the music that enjoyable a listen either. I don’t know how or when it changed, but eventually it did. The Arcade Fire play with a manic energy and I get the impression that if I’d been up front near the stage I’d have been completely blown away. As it was, the music just got bigger and bigger – bolder and more anthemic – and by the end we were all on our feet and dancing, even in the cheap seats.
The technical production also adjusted very quickly to their sound, and by halfway through all the subtler violin flourishes were coming through perfectly, even against the clattering background of the rest of the band. Win Butler, a little like Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, seems to be warming to the role of strutting indie frontman. ‘Ego issues’ was Mrs. Toad’s verdict, but I thought he did superbly. You want a bit of peacockery in your front men, especially in a venue this size. It fits the music too, which is quite grand in both sound and scope: themes as big as theirs benefit from the rather fervent delivery if you ask me.
In the end I was so very nearly robbed of a great gig by crap seats. If you’re going to the SECC make sure you get standing tickets and get down the front. It took them most of the gig to draw me in entirely, but they bloody did it, bless ‘em. By the end of the show I was ecstatically wobbling my head about in as decent an approximation of actual dancing as I can manage, and just letting the power and bombast of Rebellion, Intervention and Wake Up course through me. Stupendous – I just wish I’d been bloody closer!
Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
Arcade Fire – Intervention
Arcade Fire – WakeUp
And yes, before you ask, they were still far, far too white. Sheesh.
