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Arcade Fire at SSE Arena, London, gig review: Montreal indie-rockers whip up a frenzy with sensational set-list

The six-piece tore through live favourite with renewed buoyancy

Jacob Stolworthy
Tuesday 17 April 2018 18:48 BST
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One could argue that, if any band has earned a spot of self-indulgence, it’s Arcade Fire. Having embedded themselves in the history books with acclaimed records Funeral (2004) and The Suburbs (2010), the Montreal six-piece are now touring fifth studio record Everything Now in a much similar vein to how they released it last year: with noisy tongue-in-cheek if boastful fanfare.

Win Butler has never looked happier snaking his way through the 12,500-strong throng in a city he proclaimed they have played more than any other. In the manner of a boxing champ surrounded by his hyped-up entourage, the frontman made his way to the stage, posing for photos and fist-bumping fans: if Butler and trusted company – including brother Will and wife Régine Chassagne – have learnt anything over their 14 years together, it’s how to whip up a frenzy.

That they arrived armed with a set-list capable of rendering arms weightless with their very first notes was no surprise. Spearheaded by the joyous optimism of their latest record’s title track – which has provided Arcade Fire with the set-opener to end all set-openers – the show saw them tear through live favourites “Rebellion (Lies),” “No Cars Go” and “Ready to Start” with renewed buoyancy bolstered by a surprise appearance from Chrissie Hynde who joined the indie rockers in the ring for a duet of The Pretenders’ foot-stomper “Don’t Get Me Wrong”.

The midset reprieve offered by the dirge sounds of “Neon Bible” and “My Body is a Cage” – dedicated to soul singer Yvonne Staples who passed away that same day – didn’t so much deflate fans’ appetites as preserve their breath for what was to come. A rare rendition of “Intervention” and anticipated deployment of beloved Funeral belter “Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)” ensured the show’s unmissable status while Chassagne – whose shimmering high-pitched vocal led the crowd through “Electric Blue” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” – left no seat at the Wembley venue in use.

Chrissie Hynde joined Arcade Fire on stage

While no match to the seminal gig played at intimate Bethnal Green venue York Hall last summer, the evening undoubtedly provided SSE Arena with one of its most vibrant shows in recent memory, the neon-tinged boxing ring making Arcade Fire seem untouchable in more ways than one.

The one-two punch of “Creature Comfort” and “Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)” – a thrilling double bill of tracks in their natural habitats when played both live and back-to-back – closed the epic set before the arrival of the encore’s finishing act: “Wake Up,” the ever-breathtaking anthem that would leave every dweller too pumped for sleep. The irony was lost on nobody.

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