Asheville, NC is a very cool town and it seems to be a social anachronism in the south. It’s a city of about seventy thousand nestled in the [quite beautiful, actually] Blue Ridge Mountains. It has become a center for independent music and counter culture, and my friend Drew tells me that Asheville was rated the number one city in the country in which to reinvent yourself. Apparently, due to lack of economic growth in the last 80 years, Asheville's downtown has remained essentially the same since the twenties, and has the highest concentration of art-deco architecture in the United States. This, combined with local shops and a counter-culture revival makes it a town full of character, art, music and an anti-establishment bent. So, it was both a surprising and obvious choice for the Neon Bible tour. Not ever having been, I thought the obvious stops would be Charlotte or Raleigh/Durham or Chapel Hill. But, upon arriving, their choice made more sense.
We got to the Civic center around eight o’clock, and the National, who aren’t a bad band at all, had already started. They played for about an hour. Arcade Fire only took about thirty minutes to set up, which I really appreciate. I hate it when there’s a long gap between opening acts and the band I actually came to see. One thing of note: the crowd was pretty diverse. At some concerts I’ve been to, like the Joanna Newsom show I went to last year in Greensboro, I felt like I wasn’t “cool” enough to attend. With all of the scarves, thick black rimmed glasses and thrift-store outfits I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. This was not the case in Asheville; there were folks from lots of different scenes and there was not an air of “I’m too cool to even be here” at all. Another thing is that the ushers were being pretty anal about seating. They made sure everyone was in his or her correct row and seat, and of course standing or rushing the stage were big no-nos. When the band came on stage Win Butler put an end to that, encouraging everyone – if they wished – could come up to the stage and enjoy the show, so I left my back-balcony seats pretty early in the show. They opened with Black Mirror, followed by with what is currently my favorite song off they new album, No Cars Go. They played a healthy mix of songs from Funeral and Neon Bible, and after Régine finished singing her parts in Haiti, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations and The Well And The Lighthouse, she took over drums for the rest of the show. Another interesting element in their live show is the visualizations behind the band. Between the projected and constantly opening and closing Neon Bible, visualizations of the band while they were playing and I don’t know what else was going on up there, but if one had been doing acid or mushrooms – which I definitely was not – it would’ve been an interesting time. I really do like it when a band includes some sort of multi-media in their performances. It makes it more than just a music act, but a dynamic.
One thing that does stand out with Arcade Fire is that they obviously love making music, and really do get into their show. Everyone seems to be having a really good time, and this night in particular I felt like violinist Sarah Neufield was about to pop. Over all it was a great show, one of the best [shows in general] I’ve ever been to. The band and crowd had great energy and fed off of each other. The only thing I would say it lacked is a rendition of My Body Is A Cage, the moody final track on Neon Bible. Then again, the crowd probable would’ve gotten out their lighters at that point, and who wants to participate in that kind of cliché?
Set List:
Black Mirror
No Cars Go
Haiti
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Windowsill
The Well And The Lighthouse
Ocean of Noise
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Keep The Car Running
Encore #1: Intervention
Encore #2: Neon Bible
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