Arcade Fire continues to dominate the independent rock music landscape. For more than a decade, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne co-founders of Arcade Fire have crafted the exciting sounds and passionate lyrics that fans across the world have learned and kept close to heart. The 2018 North American Everything Now Continued Tour shows are nothing short of what you’d expect from Arcade Fire performance.
The night was full of guitar swaps, unexpected moments and multiple disco balls. Starting with the walk-out, the band, led by Win Butler, casually strolled through the crowd high-fiving fans before entering the front pit and taking the stage via conveniently placed stairs. Naturally, the band opened with “Everything Now” as a good song to get the crowd warmed up. You immediately felt the connection with the band. This wasn’t going to be one of those shows where the band just sat back on the stage and played their music. Arcade Fire has down to a science and might even be something their fans have known to love and almost even expect.
My first impression was the large number of members on stage in Arcade Fire. Nine (9) members each playing multiple instruments throughout the night kept fans on their toes not sure what to expect next. The presences of this many members allowed the band to build strong and powerful sounds that were also dynamic at the same time. With this many members on stage, everything had to be very carefully laid out. Two giant horizontal LED screens hung several feet above the band that displaying a mix of live video content throughout the night including visuals for several songs and interludes accompanied with colorful video effects and written lyrics. There was also a giant disco ball that lit up near the end of the performance during “Reflektor”.
Being a Montreal based rock band, I was excited to learn about the band’s local ties to eastern North Carolina. Early into the night, Win Butler gave a major shout out to Merge Records from Durham, NC located just a short 45 minute drive from this venue. Merge records was one of the first labels Arcade Fire recorded on. In 2011, Arcade Fire was pleasantly surprised to win a Grammy for Album of the Year for the band's thirds studio album with Merge Records titled The Suburbs.
Régine Chassagn, wife and co-founder of Arcade Fire was stunning. Her performance was incredible as she took lead during several songs throughout the night to show off her voice as well as talented dance moves. During “Reflektor”, Régine Chassagn started the song on stage before bolting off into the crowd only to reappear on a smaller stage outfitted with another disco ball in the middle of the crowd next to FOH (front of house).
The night was filled with crowd interaction, singing and hit after hit. A dreamy rendition of “Electric Blue” was landscaped by pink and blue summer sunset that had to be one of the best moments of the night. Other notable songs included “Ready to Start” “Put Your Money On Me” “Old Flame” and “Creature Comfort”.
The Encore included “We Don’t Deserve Love” with a Tom Petty shout out from Win Butler himself. The Encore included another version of “Everything Now Continued” while finally closing out with “Wake Up”. Fans were left felling very satisfied with the nearly two-hour performance.
Arcade Fire’s Everything Now Continued North American show dates wraps up with three more stops: July 18 in Boston, MA, July 19 in Philadelphia, PA, July 20 in Bristow, VA.
