ARCADE FIRE ::

ARCADE FIRE
flex / vienna, austria
21st may 2005

missed ZITA SWOON on the 19th, which is quite a pity really, but had the opportunity to watch a great hungarian movie. whether it was worth missing those fantastic, crazy and absolutely brilliant belgians i don't know, but it was a great movie nevertheless. no regrets.

on to the topic at hand, namely ARCADE FIRE. a tantalizing effort on "funeral", but failed on so many levels on stage. yes, the venue was sold out and i am dead sure that the majority of attendees heartily enjoyed their canadian post-rock, as do i on my hi-fi-gear, but something was amiss. somehow neither violins, upright bass, accordeon nor any other gadget could create that live atmosphere for me, that i want to have at a concert. anyone who has once been thoroughly engulfed by a live performance will know what i am talking about. there's this certain chemistry, this energy, going on at a good gig that can't be duplicated. in its uniqueness it marks the fascination of going to a live concert, not just to see how good a musician the artist(s) of choice is (are), but in a certain way to get to know that person, that band on a more personal level, link it directly to one's own experience and have that music do something physical to you. yes, listening to a record can do something similar, but that's a different pair of shoes, other nerves that are hit. and frankly, ARCADE FIRE didn't hit anything at all with me. as a matter of fact it was so boring that i went home during the fifth songs, put the cd in and had a fabulous night with ARCADE FIRE... only without ARCADE FIRE. but everyone gets a second chance with me, so we'll see what will happen next time i get the opportunity to see them perform live. perhaps it was only a fluke this time, maybe they weren't feeling too well, something dragged them down. i'll cut them that much slack. we'll see about that. in the meantime i can only recommend to get their new cd "funeral", because it does not disappoint. quite contrary.