Arcade Fire at Brixton Academy

Arcade Fire - Brixton Academy

After the frenzy surrounding their low-key shows in January there was a real wave of expectation ahead of the return of Arcade Fire to London and their four night residency at the Brixton Academy. As so often happens at shows in the capital though, at times the crowd seemed quite subdued - a fact not lost on lead vocalist Win Butler who said it was like performing in a library at one point - although things did perk up whenever any tracks from Funeral were played. They started really brightly with two of the strongest tracks from Neon Bible, Keep The Car Running and No Cars Go... and after that, well, it calmed down a little. I think I had the most fun just watching the band in action, with ten of them on stage, all swapping instruments in between songs - visually they make a fascinating group of musicians to observe. Power Out was particularly good, with two of the band frantically whacking whatever they could find with their drumsticks, and this segued nicely into Rebellion (Lies) where this grey-haired old chap with a beer in one hand and a pair of crutches in the other came crashing through the audience... I think he was enjoying himself! Overall it was a great gig, but not an awesome one - in the end I just kept thinking how much better it would have been in a smaller venue as sadly I felt they were a bit swamped in the environs of the Academy. Still, I suppose I should count myself lucky as next time they'll no doubt be on the arena circuit...

Here's the setlist in full:

• Keep The Car Running
  
• No Cars Go
  
• Haiti
  
• Black Mirror
  
• Ocean Of Noise
  
• Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
  
• The Well & The Lighthouse
  
• Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
  
• Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
  
• Cold Wind
  
• Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
  
• Rebellion (Lies)
  
• Intervention
  
• (Antichrist Television Blues)
  
• Wake Up