Gary BUTTERWORTH Online

Way back in January of 2005, I saw the Arcade Fire play the 9:30 Club in DC.  On the way out of the show, it seemed like everyone (including my craigslist concert buddy) could not stop raving.
I don’t know if my expectations were too high or what (my main theory is that DC fans are just too buttoned-down and proper to give a great atmosphere), but I was disappointed. 

That’s why I didn’t kill myself to get tickets to the DC show this past week.

I don’t how I missed hearing about it, but, in addition to DC, Arcade Fire was playing Philly on Saturday.  I’m usually aware of things like this months in advance, but I didn’t find out until mid-week.
And again, based largely on the disappointmend I had in DC two years ago, I almost didn’t go.

That would have been a mistake.

This was one of the best shows I had ever seen!

I felt kind of bad; I spent less than two hours with my grandmom on Saturday before I left the hospital and walked 3 blocks to the PATCO train to Philly.

From there I grabbed the Market-Frankford El to the 69th Street Terminal at the end of the line in Upper Darby.

I had never used the El before but, like pretty much all public transit in this area, they get the big picture right and the details all wrong. 
As much as I love public transportation, it seems that, in and around Philly, they do everything possible to make riding it as unpleasant as possible.  But that’s a post for a different day.

Regardless, the train dropped me off right in front of the Tower Theatre.
Which is good, because Upper Darby isn’t a place to screw around.

(Despite my gripes about the train, I’d encourage people to take it to the Tower, since I know there were some break-ins in the parking lot during the show).

This show had sold out several months ago, and I didn’t have a ticket.
But this detail had never stopped me before and, sure enough, I was able to find my way inside.

Whenever I have extra tickets for something, I try to help out my fellow fans–I’ve given tickets away, and I’ve never charged more than face value.
I’m not sure if it’s karma or what, I’ve pretty much always been able to find the same type of deal when I am on the buying end.

The first guy I found wanted $75 for a seat; “thanks, but no thanks.”
A few minutes later, right at 8pm and just as the opening act was coming on, I found a couple of kids selling orchestra (lower-level) seats for $40.  That was my target price, so I was happy to get it.

I was even happier when, after I got inside, the guy sitting next to me traded me for a seat even closer to the stage.

I had never been to the Tower Theater before, and it’s an interesting place.
I believe it seats about 3500, but I thought it felt larger.  I think this is probably because the balconies don’t wrap around to the sides, and they don’t overhang the lower level by much.  I took a quick glimpse up from the very top, and it was very high up.

The Tower Theatre has all of the cool touches that you’d expect of a historic, depression-era theatre/movie palace (marquee, nice upholstery, ornate mouldings, etc), but it seems to have been re-fitted in a couple of areas.  The seats must be new (it is FAR more comfortable than most theatres from that era), and there are a few paintings that seem to set the mood for the rock shows that it mostly hosts these days.

The opening act was The National, whom I had never heard of before.  They were very good, and they seemed to have brought a fair amount of their own fans–kind of surprising considering how quickly this show sold out.

The Arcade Fire came on at 9:20, and immediately started rocking.  And the crowd immediately got into it!

And immediately after the first song, they invited us to leave our seats and crowd up front!

(I was REALLY glad that the band had us crowd up front, but I couldn’t help but wonder why they were playing theaters, and even churches, on this tour if they want that kind of atmosphere.)

Regardless, the crowd was INTO IT!
I think I spent almost as much time during the show looking around in awe at the crowd as I did watching the concert!

It was just a great experience.

The setlist:

1. Black Mirror (Immediately put to rest my fears that some of the newer, darker songs would dull the concert.)
2. No Cars Go (Awesome!)
3. Laika (Coming into this right after No Cars Go had everyone rockin’!)
4. Haiti (I don’t even like this song, but tonight, it was great!)
5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
6. Neon Bible (Seriously, it’s amazing how fun they made such dark subject matter.)
7. Windowsill
8. Well and the Lighthouse (They played much more off Neon Bible than Funeral).
9. Ocean of Noise
10. (Antichrist Television Blues)
11. Power Out
12. Rebellion (Lies)
————-
13. Keep the Car Running (Good encores)
14. Intervention (I could have done without the guy who tore up a Bible, but aside from that, a great song)

The one-two punch of Power Out, segueing right into Rebellion (Lies) was absolutely INSANE. 

Maybe it was because I didn’t have any expectations (after a disappointment the last time I saw them, and without knowing for sure that I was going until I was there, I didn’t have the opportunity to get excited or even hope for any songs), but this show just blew me away. 
Mostly, though, I think it was the energy from on stage and in the audience that made it what it was.

People always use the word “cathartic” to describe AF shows.  It didn’t occur to me until today, but I really did feel better after the show.  Maybe there’s something to that.

Check out this YouTube link of No Cars Go and Laika.

Anyone want to head up to NYC this week to catch them again?

Filed under: Life, Music Tagged: | arcade fire, tower theater