In(The)Flesh: Arcade Fire, Greek Theater, Los Angeles 05/30/07

Ever since I got my hands on The Arcade Fire's first album, Funeral, in the early part of 2005, I have been patiently waiting for them to play live shows in the Los Angeles area. It is a fact, that they played at the Coachella Festival in both 2005 and again late last month, but having attended Coachella in 2004 and swearing never to return having endured my most miserable festival experience in living memory, I resigned myself to wait until the band played their own shows. Finally, my patience was rewarded, when the band announced two shows at the Greek Theater in L.A. - quite possibly the best venue for live music in Los Angeles: a beautiful, open-air theater, nestled into the hills of Griffith Park. Granted, I would have loved to have seen the band in a more intimate venue, however, such has their meteoric rise in popularity been over the past two years, the Arcade Fire are no longer of small venues, aside from the occasional special shows, such that took place in London and New York earlier this year.
To say I had high expectations for the show would be an understatement, so too would it be to state simply that those expectations were far exceeded. From the opening song, Keep The Car Running, the six-thousand strong crowd were on their feet, eager to drink thirstily from the cup of The Arcade Fire. There was an energy running through the crowd that was almost electric, and the band responded in kind, with a performance that was full of the energy and bombast that people have come to expect of them.
Amazing renditions of (Antichrist Television Blues), Intervention, and Windowsill from the band's second album, Neon Bible, were met with equal rapture as tracks from Funeral, including Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #2 (Laika), and Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), among others.
The show climaxed with a three-song encore that included the already classic, Rebellion (Lies), and the closing number/call-to-arms, Wake Up. During Rebellion (Lies), Win Butler - the bands frontman - was greeted with much enthusiasm, as he jumped off the stage and made his way through the crowd from the front of theater all the way to the back, as the band played on.
The Arcade Fire put on an amazing show that was well worth the wait.