大象传媒

A circus style big top in the middle of Phoenix Park seemed like an unusual setting for a concert, but once you realise that this is where Arcade Fire are kicking off their tour, you understand that you're in for something special. Support on the night came from Americans Wild Light and the Liverpool quartet Clinic, who seemed to look a bit lost on the big top stage and their performances were a bit dull. Most of the crowd seemed to be disinterested and impatient while these bands were trying to warm them up, mainly because their was only one reason why we braved the elements in mid October and that was the promise of something truly spectacular from Canada's finest, Arcade Fire.

The neon lights, oddly shaped projector screens and organs were in place and ready to go and with 'Black Mirror' from the critically acclaimed album 'Neon Bible' kicking off the show, the tent was brimming with energy and excitement from the offset. Win Butler is a charasmatic front man and the crowd were hypnotised when he sang 'My Body is a Cage' with a tiny camera positioned on his microphone, projecting his face onto a large screen at the back of the stage, just in case we were in any doubt about how much emotion he puts into his songs. It wasn't all about Mr Butler however, as Richard Reed Parry and Win's brother William jumped around with megaphones, bashing the set with drum sticks, at one point sending a racing helmet (which was part of the stage decoration) flying towards the other members of the band. They were clearly caught up in the momentum of the performance, and so was everyone else.

Regine also had her time to shine, with beautiful renditions of 'Haiti' from their debut album 'Funeral' and 'Black Wave' from 'Neon Bible'. She also did her fair share of skipping around the stage and engaged the crowd by dancing at the front when she wasn't behind an instrument. The whole band seemed to be impressed by the fact that the crowd sang along to every song, word-for-word (not just the singles!). They smiled throughout the whole set at the enthusiasm of the audience, especially when they played anthemic tracks such as 'Keep the Car Running', 'Rebellion' and 'Neighbourhood 3 (Power Out)', with the crowd singing all the appropriate 'oooohs' and shouts.

No Arcade Fire experience would be complete without Win Butler indulging in a bit of crowd surfing, almost loosing his guitar in the midst of it all. Once wasn't enough for Win though, oh no, during the epic finale of (my personal favourite) 'Wake Up', he came down into the crowd once more, as a frenzy of people in the pit rushed towards him, all wanting to gaze at him adoringly and maybe even touch his floppy fringe.

With 1 euro from every ticket sold going to a 'Partners In Health' Clinic in Haiti, mixed with an absolutely electric performance, it's no wonder 10,000 people left Phoenix Park with the warm and fuzzies. I was very wary that while describing the gig, it would digress into paragraphs of solid praise for Arcade Fire, from a die hard fan. With that in mind, I will try and say one bad thing... they didn't play the title track from 'Neon Bible'. Apart from that, the performance was perfect, the stage was perfect, Arcade Fire are perfect.

Emma Rose