This video captures the band at one their greatest career moments – they received endless accolades for their latest album, Achtung Baby, they started a precedent-setting worldwide tour, and the band sounds damn good live. The huge screens, video montages, and original footage that the band shot with mini handheld cameras on stage, not to mention a set of signature characters (MacPhisto, the Fly) that made phone calls during the middle of the set, throws Zoo TV in a similar class of live shows that we see today. 

I’ll be gearing up for the event by posting a video a day to commemorate the glory. Starting with this:

Remember when your iPod looked like this?

At the time I didn’t quite understand the sheer amount of genius that was in short introductory commercial for the iPod. Apple clearly had it together from the start – they combined video of the band and “iPod dancers” and an addicting “uno-dos-tres-catorce” to completely sell me on the iPod and U2′s latest album. Well done. 

Excellent. The Strokes’ long-awaited fourth album is now streaming on their site.

Go nuts. I certainly am. Review to come soon!

Fun fact? “Young Blood” debuted in New Zealand at number 1 in 2010, the first New Zealand group in three years to snag the top spot.

Sunday Bloody Sunday & Bad –U2 (Live Aid 1985):

This was where it all really started. Before I saw a video of U2′s performance at Live Aid, I was a casual listener of the band. “Beautiful Day” and “One” were staples in my music collection, but I never paid much attention to the band that practically created the anthem of 2000. But when I saw this performance – with a mullet, leather pants-clad Bono marching across the stage – I was blown away. 

In 1985, U2 was just beginning to get really big. Their performance was pre-”Vertigo,” before ZooTv, even before Joshua Tree and “Where the Streets Have No Name.”  They weren’t the biggest band at Live Aid that day: they were only about five years into their 30-year-plus career. But after 20 minutes and just two songs later, U2 was easily elevated to the ranks of Bowie, Queen, and The Who.

I had never before paid attention to a band that gave so much of themselves to the music. I watched in fascination as the band stomped their way through a fiery version of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – the crowd screamed along with Bono’s “We are so sick of them!,” as The Edge launched into a simmering guitar solo, and Larry banged away on the drums. When the opening chords to “Bad” rung out across the stadium, U2 delved into 12-minute rendition of a song about their hometown, Dublin. The band is in fine form here, seamlessly transitioning between their original arrangement and Bono’s spontaneous ad-libs and soaring operatics.

It’s funny to watch these videos of the band from ’85, now that Bono no longer rocks the mullet, high-heeled boots, and leather pants, The Edge keeps his hair short and knit cap on, and the band currently tours with an extravagant “claw” and sells out stadiums with two-hour shows packed with hits and Africa-inspired speeches.

But when Bono jumped from the stage that day at Live Aid to meet a few fans waiting at the bottom, it was all over. I was in love.

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.

“Under Cover of Darkness,” their debut single off the upcoming album, “Angles” is available on The Strokes’ site today. Or, to avoid a few technical glitches, check out the full length version below: