Report: Arcade Fire, Brooklyn NY 2013
Just last week Arcade Fire confirmed a couple of "secret" shows in Brooklyn, at art space 299 Meserole under their pseudonym of the moment, The Reflektors. Somehow I snared tickets to the Saturday night in the rush; tickets that other people were reportedly trying to offload in the lead up for $5,000. And so now here we were, dressed in formal attire (or costumes) at the band's request, watching a couple of astronauts, Duff Man and a trio of tigers smoke cigarettes in line. Not in Cuba.
After nearly an hour of shuffling our feet, the band's Win Butler and Regine Chassagne, wearing oversized puppet heads and high-fiving fans, appeared in the distance, taking cameras and turned them on their owners. Misdirection, reflection and projected "others" are the name of the game/album campaign. It's not a new avenue for a band dealing with their image becoming ubiquitous, but an attractive one for a close-knit group who accidentally found themselves indie's avatar in the mainstream.
Once finally inside the long warehouse space (a 1,500 capacity was one figure going around), we moved through the gaily decorated tropical motifs of the band's current thing; yellow palm trees, coloured lights and strangely-shaped mirrors. I'm sure campaign dollars didn't extend to pumping hot air in for that high-summer Haiti vibe but, oh boy, the room was sweltering.
The night before this (their first official show) the band had pulled a switcheroo. A trio of members first appeared on a small stage at the side of the room to fumble through some reggae, before the full-band suddenly appeared on a "proper" stage at the other end. That nervy news was our gain tonight, as everyone immediately made their way to the proper stage and planted themselves. And waited. And waited. And oh god, did I say it was hot?
Finally, co-conspirator James Murphy peeked through the black scrim wearing a tiger's mask, introduced The Reflektor's, and the curtain dropped to reveal the band in all their mirrored, gaudy wonder. Augmented by two Haitian percussionists and longtime collaborator Owen Pallet (alongside is-she-still-"in"-the-band-or-not violinist Sarah Neufeld) they kicked off with the title track and the room bounced as one shimmering entity. The sound was perfect. The band beamed. I was 10 feet from the stage. All was glorious.
Over the next hour and a half the Reflektors moved through twelve songs, eight of them from their forthcoming album. Highlights of the new tunes were the already-out-there 'Reflektor', 'Afterlife' and 'Here Comes The Night Time'. But first-timers 'Supersymmetry', an elegant, melancholic heart-beat of a song, and the mechanical, LCD-ish march of 'It's Never Over' (Orpheus)', were maybe even more enticing, lending a moody weight to the buoyancy of their new direction.
Less successful were 'Flashbulb Eyes', which didn't seem to move past an experiment with dirge—at least in this space—and the similarly leadfooted 'Joan of Arc', which flirts with Neon Bible-era pomp without ever taking off. Just the band's second show with new material, perhaps those sweet spots were yet to be found.
Non-Reflektor tracks? The glorious fluro-tendrils of 'Sprawl II' (featuring Regine giddily-twirling streamers to close), a thunderous rendition of 'Power Out' and apt-closer 'Haiti'. "We're going to stay and play some songs and dance," Butler told the crowd after the latter's ecstatic send-off. "But if you want to go that's OK too." It would have been fun to hang, but with temperatures at biblical levels and that experience complete, we sought solace in the nighttime.
It must be intimidating for a band to perform a set of songs that will chart their lives for the next few years. There's no doubt Reflektor is a big-step for the band, an evolution in every facet. (Though until repeat listens, lyrics aside.) Regardless of the album's success, it widens their quiver dramatically; Reflektor seems set to expand their abilities in a way not yet seen. "I'm actually really excited to hear what the band sounds like in a year," Butler told Rolling Stone this week. "After we've got a bunch of touring under our belt."
But in between the masks and glitz, the pranks and mirrors (and the bongos), you can already see that time might cast Reflektor as a stepping stone, a gateway to a new playing field. And maybe that's something keenly felt by an Australian. Despite ten years and three albums, the band have only ever made it down to Australia once, in 2008 on the Neon Bible tour. Back then we were at the alter of Arcade Fire's blackest, most chest-thumping phase, and it made the Australian shows furious and compelling.
But we also lucked out in a way; three years removed from the wide-eyed glee and myth-building Funeral-era, but still two years away from the maturation and, again, myth-establishing phase of The Suburbs. We caught the album that was the link between two masterstrokes.
Regardless, no one who caught that tour would say it was anything less than essential. And after an unforgettable and steamy night with this new band, toting this new Haitian-inspired, dance-rock, I don't think anyone will say anything less about the ever-curious collective. Whoever they are.
Marcus Teague (@marcusthevine)
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Arcade Fire co-headline the 2014 Big Day Out in January.
