On Monday night, Montreal band Arcade Fire will perform their only anniversary concert on American soil as part of a handful of dates celebrating the album’s 20th anniversary. Funeralmainly in Europe. Outdoor show in a dazzling place, it will take place at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, in Colorado. I imagine the choirs of Wake Up echoing in the arena carved into the red rock of a desert landscape under a pink sun, much like on the cover ofEverything Now…The concert was sold out on Friday, but tickets could still be found on resale sites for a reasonable price, ranging from $80 to $100.
Twenty candles for the album Funeralso. Music journalist at See At the time of its release, I had a front-row seat to witness the advent of what would become the “Montreal sound”, with Arcade Fire as its figurehead. Unforgettable years for all music lovers and music critics, transported by something powerful and intoxicating, both on the Anglo and Franco sides.
I remember like it was yesterday the frenzy that surrounded the emergence of the band and the madness of the secret concerts announced at the last minute and held in small, rickety venues… The first time I saw Arcade Fire perform was at the Salvation Army Church on Drummond Street in downtown Montreal. A somewhat strange church, with a blood-red carpet and all the lights on. We were sitting in narrow church pews, there was no alcohol for sale.
I have a clear and vivid memory of the exact moment when the seven musicians came out on stage, dressed in black and white suits to play the entire album, in order. From the first piano notes of Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)the hair on the back of my neck rose. Right away we knew, right away we understood that a page of rock history was being written before our eyes and in our ears. Arcade Fire became my favorite band, and Funeralmy favorite album. The energy conveyed by the band’s music gave me a kind of boost to accomplish many things, to write, to dare, to go for it, to dream. Arcade Fire — to put it a little emphatically — set me on fire. From the Ukrainian Federation to the Maurice-Richard arena, this is one of the bands I’ve seen most often in concert.
I had the chance to interview its members twice; the first was Win and Régine in a café in Mile End for the release of Neon Bible. Win Butler wanted to discuss religion, philosophy, politics, he seemed to want to talk about everything except music, and they had been generous. The second time was just before The Suburbsin 2010, for which they would win the Grammy for album of the year, which would make many say: ” Who the f*ck is Arcade Fire? “, a question echoed by the group on a T-shirt that I slept in for several years, but which currently rests, with its seams stretched and fabric faded, at the bottom of a box in the basement.
There is on this album, his third, something sweet, rich, tenderly melodious, the cute and synthetic Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)but also certain flashes of brilliance (Ready To Start, Month of May), which had electrified me again this time. Before the album came out, we invited a handful of journalists to a listening session. Right after, we were treated to a moment with the multi-instrumentalist and singer. It’s acrobatic for a journalist to have to play this little game without being able to prepare well, but hey, we were eating out of the hands of the band members and we would have swallowed all the crumbs they deigned to offer us.
The interview time was counted down to the minute, they were putting on a rant, and I remember that we were now trying to frame the message, to hold our pencil. Régine didn’t really want to talk about the album; she was there for Kanpé, an organization helping victims of the earthquake in Haiti (she has Haitian origins), which she had helped set up.
The couple and the group had until then displayed irreproachable moral values, even allowing themselves to sometimes force the note a little. They had this aura and it was correct, even if it sometimes made people cringe. They were more big that bigthey had the planet on their tail. We still came across them from time to time at the Café Olimpico and the Agrikol restaurant, but we left them alone.
In the summer of 2022, the band embarked on a tour, first in Europe with Feist, then in the US with Beck. I was looking forward to seeing my favorite artists together on stage in December; several of us were jubilant in anticipation of this event.
Our romance with Arcade Fire ended abruptly when, in the pages of the music magazine Pitchforkfive women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Win Butler. Splashed by a murky scandal in the wake of #MeToo, Butler has been pretty much sidelined by Montreal fans. The band played to half-empty crowds in Montreal and Toronto. For the first time, I didn’t want to see the band in showand I passed on it. She has since played in the United States, Europe and South America (a dozen performances since May 2024), but she has not set foot on a Canadian stage again.
On Google, when you type the name of the bandthese questions arise: “What happened to Arcade Fire? Did Arcade Fire break up? Is Arcade Fire still touring? Is Win Butler still married? What is the controversy with Arcade Fire?” Bitterness, unease and disappointment…
Even though, on the scale of seriousness of wrongdoing, the allegations against Win Butler are not as sensitive and serious as those against other public figures, this whole story has burst our bubble, weighed down the wing of our adoration and dampened our ardor. Grieving Funeral will not be possible, but, like many fans, I am a lovesick lover, stopped in her tracks, as if petrified, with all these questions stuck in my throat and which ended up making me feel sick.