Arcade Fire played Vancouver the week after I left. I was kind of sad to be missing them. When I found out they were playing Lyon, I was immediately excited and bought a ticket.
Fucked Up shared the bill, which I thought was a bit of an odd pairing and the audience's reception would seem to indicate they thought so too. We arrived just after 8:00pm and Fucked Up had already started. Shows in France apparently run earlier and more on time than in Vancouver, so we missed most of their set. I nevertheless caught what I could of their set. I really supported Fucked Up's 2009 release of Do They Know Its Christmas?, proceeds of which were donated to charities helping women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and Aboriginal women.
Arcade Fire was amazing. It was a little surreal and threw me off a bit when Win Butler greeted the crowd with, "Bonjour Lyon!" as I typically see shows in Vancouver. Arcade Fire is one of my favourite bands and Suburbs is one of my favourite records of 2010 so I relished every minute of their set. The show was a good balance between Suburbs and their two previous records, Neon Bible and Funeral.
One of the highligts of the night was Régine Chassagne's two-song interlude. To be honest though, prior to Suburbs, I did not find songs featuring Chassagne on lead vocals captivating. I felt her songs on Suburbs, however, were stronger and more engaging. Her performance of "Haïti" and "Sprawl II" solidified this for me.
(Photo via Exclaim!)
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