http://youtu.be/ctr9mfCwEMM
Those of you that have seen the Arcade Fire during their current Reflektor Tour are some of the lucky few to witness a band put on a show that cements their place among the top acts in the world today.
It’s hard not to sound like a fanboy when recapping/reviewing a performance by a band that you are a huge fan of, but when you see a talented band do what they do best and doing so at a show in support of one of their greatest albums to date, they deserve all the accolades headed their way.
The opening acts did a good job of getting people riled up for things to come. New Wave standouts, Devo started things off with an entertaining set filled with their signature off-center sound and stage presence. Next up was Dan Deacon, an act I’m not all that familiar with but after seeing him I can only describe him as Prog-DJ. His set was excellent in that he kept the crowd moving with banana-costumed dance-offs (below), group interpretative dancing and what he called non-stop high-five dance in which the majority of the attendees in the pit charged to the center to high-five everyone along the way.
https://vine.co/v/MlT0wmigQwp
Finally, when it was time for the night’s headliners to take the stage, someone in the “Reflektor suit” was elevated in the center of the arena floor to introduce the band and that’s when the curtains fall to unveil the band as they go into “Reflektor.” The set list from then on was a perfect combo of past hits and some of the best tracks from Reflektor.
Some of the songs off earlier albums fell heavily on Funeral and The Suburbs, tracks including “Rebellion (Lies),” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” and a great one-two punch of the first couple of tracks off the latter album in “The Suburbs” and “Ready to Start.”
It was especially great to finally hear live rendition of songs from their latest album. The set list included “Joan Of Arc,” “Afterlife” and “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus),” the last of which saw Régine Chassagne head to the center of the pit floor to sing her parts of the song on an elevated stage accompanied by dancers in skeleton costumes. Immediately after was “set closer” off The Suburbs, “Sprawl II.” The dance number was a good, light way to finish things off for their break before the encore.
https://vine.co/v/Mlt21tgbe7Y
Their return started with special guest and Chicago local, Mavis Staples. The singer and the Canadian band started playing The Staples Sisters’ “This Could Be The Last Time” and then immediately started The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.”
http://youtu.be/u4d9tbwHgUg
