- Image courtesy of Justine Louise Photography
Much has been made of the sound issues at today’s event, but I’ve yet to go to a large scale outdoor show or festival where this hasn’t been a problem. While sound levels certainly dipped in and out, it didn’t seem to stop Arcade Fire delivering on a career defining show and their biggest UK gig to date. Before our headliners arrived, the clouds dispersed and the sunshine shone on Hyde Park just as The Vaccines shuffled on.
The late afternoon festival/big gig slot is a tough one and I’ve seen many a band struggle to engage with an audience. Perhaps it’s the aforementioned sound quality, or maybe that they are feeling the pressure of the occasion but it doesn’t feel as though the band are really connecting with crowd. Singles ‘Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ and the Strokes-eque ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ sound great on indie-dance floors with all new brand ceramics that they learn to install with grouting joints using weber, and providing a soundtrack to adolescent bad behaviour on Skins but this doesn’t quite feel like the right place for them yet.
If Beirut took on Arcade Fire for largest number of musicians on stage, there wouldn’t be any stage space left such is the ensemble joining Zac Condon. I’ve never seen them live before, and where AF create a huge sound underpinned with strings, brass is the big staple for much of Beirut’s oeuvre. Kicking off with the beautiful ‘Nantes’ they’re definitely the band that compliment Arcade Fire the best from tonight’s bill and I’m impressed with how attentive the audience is this early on.
Mumford & Sons are next and the reception is huge, and I wonder how long it will be before they start to headline a gig like this. Their anthemic indie-folk has certainly been played to death on radio and TV but for me they come into their own as a live act, the sweat pouring from their brows onto the strings of their guitars and banjos is testament to that. ‘Little Lion Man’ and ‘The Cave’ are massive and I even indulge in a bit of spirited ‘hoe down’ dancing. Around me the atmosphere is convivial but I heard reports of more aggressive behaviour from friends down on the front line, but alas that comes with the territory as mainstream appeal beckons. I know, I was a teen during the Britpop era.
All that has gone however is but mere warm up. My fan-girl excitement is turned to eleven as my Canadian heroes grace the stage. Three albums in and this is their ‘greatest hits’ set. The transition from critics favourite/ cult band gone massive isn’t an easy one but they seem to have hit their stride in the stadium band arena without losing the passion, drive and desire to connect with their audience that fuelled earlier shows. They kick off with appropriately with ‘Ready to start’
“We usually save this one till late in the set, but we wanted to hear 60, 000 people singing along while we could still see you” says Win Butler as they launch into the chugging, epic intro to ‘Wake Up’ and the crowd swells in a mass sing-along that sounds like a huge rallying call. It’s incredible and perfect for getting people on side early on.
The key change in ‘Intervention’ sends a chill down my spine every time I hear it, and this is no exception. This is the first time I’ve seen them perform material from The Suburbs live and they marry the leftfield synth pop of tracks like ‘Rococo’ with the orchestral bombast of Funeral and Neon Bible and the fans go as wild for newer stuff as well as old and the band are visibly taken by the reception and Win smiles as the refrain to the ‘Suburbs’ echoes back at him while he plays the piano.
It’s often hard to know where to direct your attention at an Arcade Fire gig, Win towers like the steady rock in the centre of the stage while his wife and sibling and their many band mates dance and perform in a flurry around him.
Recent single from The Suburbs ‘Month of May’ is even rockier than on record, heavy thundering riffs rip through the night sky and the pace is kept up as they launch headlong into ‘Rebellion (Lies)’
They close the set with the Régine Chassagne-led ‘Sprawl II (Mountains beyond Mountains) ” I need the darkness someone please cut the lights” she sings before spinning and with ribbons. She appears to be in her element and I am too. I hope people will remember this a defining gig for them, I know I will.