By no means do I claim to be a music connoisseur of any kind. While I love listening to music, I confess to having extremely bad taste. (Yes, I really think Shakira is awesome. And yeah, I've been known to sing along to Kelly Clarkson.) But, thanks to my brother-in-law Alex, I can round out my musical collection with some very respectable artists. At least according Pitchfork, for whatever that's worth. Well, I owe Alex one, cuz he turned me on to Arcade Fire with their album, Funeral. While most everyone else LOOOOOVED this album, I thought it was alright. Same goes for their newest album, Neon Bible. I didn't get what all the fuss was about. What people were raving over. That is until I saw Arcade Fire perform live at the Hollywood Bowl back in September.
The Hollywood Bowl is one of the coolest concert venues EVAH. Situated in a natural bowl, it's an outdoor amphitheater where the sound quality is amazing. Even better, they let you bring in your own food and wine. The only downside to the Hollywood Bowl is that most of the bowl-goers were total douchebags. But I digress.
The show opened with Wild Light, who sound along the same vein of Arcade Fire but lack the oomph. They were followed by LCD Soundsystem, which let me tell you - for an electric, dance, punky sound - were really great live. Heck, they were great live period. I hadn't heard much of their music before, but after their performance I've become a fan. In fact, I think James Murphy's vocals are much more impressive without whatever they do in the studio.
LCD Soundsystem was so good, I really didn't think Arcade Fire could top it. So here and now, I will freely admit, I was wrong. The Arcade Fire are probably the best performers I've ever seen live. The lineup itself is impressive with people playing violins, multiple guitars, two drum sets, the accordian, keyboards, etc. And, to use a word reflective of my 80's childhood and current geographic location, they were stoked. No overly cool rocker vibes, they were unabashedly excited and loving that they were performing. Their music, which I thought was just ok before, really came to life. To contrast, just a few weeks before I saw Spoon (whose music I really liked before seeing them live), and well, they almost put me to sleep. Now it's been over a month since the Arcade Fire show, and their music is still running though my head. So I know that most of you are probably thinking - Why is she gushing on about these guys? Everyone knows. Well, because a month after the show, I still get really excited about the whole experience! Pretty good concert, eh?
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