Arcade Fire delivered a surprise performance at the Notman House in Montreal, Quebec last night, the Canadian outfit’s first live gig in three years. According to various Twitter reports, the band played 13 12 songs in front of a crowd around 75 strong. As you’ll see below, the set consisted of several new selections, including ones by the name of “Ready to Start”, “City With No Children”, “Rococo”, “Empty Room”, Modern Man”, and “Suburban War”. The previously revealed “Month of May” and “The Suburbs” were also performed.
So far, only one clip from the performance — a 16-second clip of the band setting up — has surfaced, but it comes from the people behind the Canadian music festival Pop Montreal, and they promise “more to come soon.” So stay tuned.
Update: Sean of Said the Gramophone has a review of the concert. According to him, it was not a “secret” show, but rather a “a private one, a warm-up for the band’s upcoming tour” that capped off several weeks of rehearsal at the Ukrainian Federation in Montreal. The performance featured 12 songs in total, eight of which were new. Also, “for the first time since the departure of Brendan Reed and Dane Mills, eons ago, Arcade Fire have two drum kits. Régine and Jeremy played together for just the first few songs, but instead of adding elaborate flourishes, polyrhythmic fills, the drummers were each-other’s ghosts. It was as if the drums were double-tracked, folded back upon themselves, like the shadows in an old cassette tape. Other than this change, the new material didn’t bother with instrumental novelties: no hurdy-gurdy, melodica or accordion. Instead, there were often just four electric guitars, heavy as hell, and charging,” reports Sean.
In the meantime, here is the first clip, as well as the set list (via):
Update #2: Two more live videos have surfaced and both actually feature real music! Check them out below.
Setlist:
The Suburbs
Ready to Start
Month of May
Tunnels
City With No Children
Rococo
Keep the Car
Empty Room
Modern Man
Powerout
Rebellion
Suburban War
Wake Up
