Concert review/photos: Arcade Fire @ Wells Fargo Center
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
With the request for concertgoers to "dress up" for the show, Canadian powerhouse rockers Arcade Fire wanted this evening to be an act of identity shifts and awareness.
[3/17] With the request for concertgoers to “dress up” for the show, Canadian powerhouse rockers Arcade Fire wanted this evening to be an act of identity shifts and awareness — themes found in abundance in 2013’s Reflektor, and indeed their whole catalog. Led by the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Regine Chassange, the band opened the night on the secondary stage in the middle of the general admission floor playing one of their most haunting works, Neon Bible’s “My Body is a Cage.” To play this as a preamble of sorts to the main stage’s opening number of “Reflektor” was sublime, showing the intelligence that this band puts into its setlists.
Butler loves to jump to the front of the crowd and directly engage both in song and with banter. He thanked the audience throughout the night for its applause and non-stop singing and dancing along to most of the set. And if at first it seemed that venues like Wells Fargo Center are too large for them, Arcade Fire made sure to make the show as intimate and fun as they could.
From their older work, like “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” “No Cars Go,” and even the title track to their last record The Suburbs, the band was electrifying. Certainly the highlight of their newest material was “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus).” Chassange was on the secondary stage while Butler and most of the rest of the band were on the main stage. The two were basically singing to each other across the vast sea of fans. And then there were some encore shenanigans. It opened on the secondary stage with some band members wearing the oversized heads used in the “Reflektor” video while they played “The Twist.” This silliness — which easily could have been over-the-top but was stopped before it reached the point — was followed by Butler wearing his oversized head while leading the band in a fascinating cover of Boyz II Men’s “Motownphilly.”
The night closed with another ingenious setlist moment: “Here Comes the Night Time” and “Wake Up.” The former is a joyous dance number that was visually punctuated by streams of confetti. “Wake Up” is still the perfect Arcade Fire end. A blistering anthem full of percussive wonders and a chorus that nearly carries on for the whole song, it fills the head of the listener with joy and promise.
DJ Kid Koala and Dan Deacon opened the show from the secondary stage.
SETLIST
- My Body is a Cage
- Reflektor
- Flashbulb Eyes
- Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
- Rebellion (Lies)
- Joan of Arc
- Rococo
- The Suburbs
- The Suburbs (Continued)
- Ready to Start
- Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
- We Exist
- No Cars Go
- Haiti
- Afterlife
- It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)
- Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
ENCORE
- The Twist (Chubby Checker cover)
- Normal Person
- Motownphilly (Boyz II Men cover)
- Here Comes the Night Time
- Wake Up
More reviews and photos by Chris Sikich:
