If anyone were to look through my past blog posts, they’d find quite a few entries about this little unknown entity called Arcade Fire. Unlike the many bloggers, tweeters, and pop music enthusiasts who hurried to this site to express their frustration that they had never heard of the group who won the Grammy for Album of the Year, I’m kind of a big fan. Sure, the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys of the music world have some insanely catchy hits, odd music videos, and collaborations with other big names (cough, Snoop Dog), but Arcade Fire is different.
So who is Arcade Fire? Or “The Suburbs,” as some have been calling them lately….
Arcade Fire is a Canadian based group of indie rockers, known for their energetic, raging live shows, charity work, and husband-wife combo of lead singer Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne (drummer, singer, keyboardist, hurdy-gurdy player). The band recorded three albums, their critically acclaimed debut called “Funeral,” their sophomore effort, “Neon Bible,” and their third album “The Suburbs,” which debuted at number #1 on the US Billboard charts.
They’ve performed on Saturday Night Live twice, making appearances in both episodes’ digital shorts.
“Sprawl II” – Saturday Night Live, Nov. 13, 2010
This summer was a big one for Arcade Fire. After releasing “The Suburbs,” the band set out on a North American tour, with a stop at NYC’s famed Madison Square Garden.
Or maybe, just maybe you’ve heard their anthemic version of “Wake Up” in a trailer for “Where the Wild Things Are”…. Look! The trailer is below for a quick refresher.
Last summer I was fortunate to experience this band live. Never before had I heard such an uplifting symphony of sounds – beautiful, soaring violins, thrilling guitar, and a deafening chorus that embraced the pavilion.
This is Arcade Fire. They might not use Autotune. They might not have ten hits on the Top 40. They might not have outrageously memorable music videos with outlandish costumes or special effects. But they do have heart.
