i know christina discussed this already today, but i think it bears repeating. she just got back from coachella and was saying how 12,000 people were there to see arcade fire, and were all singing along, and there was a jumbotron.
it was LESS THAN A YEAR AGO that they were at the cave. the night of june 7, 2004. here is what i wrote at the time:
01:11 am
just got back from seeing fan modine and arcade fire at the cave . . . arcade fire is totally my new favorite band; i am happier than god that merge signed them and not alien8 (smart arcade fire!). fan modine was doing a stripped down set, just gordon on the cave's badly tuned piano, with ash on guitar, and everyone was talking like it was just backround music! bastards! but as soon as arcade fire started, everyone was totally blown away. it's been a while since i saw chapel hillians so excited about a band, but there it was, despite technical difficulties, sweltering heat, and all 6 bandmembers being squidged into the tiny band-area. yeah, amazing amazing show--their cd doesn't do them justice . . . i'm psyched for their big merge release though. aww, i love such fun bands!!!
i'm totally deaf at the moment--wacky!
it was cute how every merge person was at the show, pretty much. the new intern was adorable, and so endearing when he crept up front to take pictures. christina got some great shots too . . .
in less that a year, their audience went from about 20 to about 12,000. that is pretty fucking amazing. i am seriously sitting here being AMAZED about it! maybe even more amazed than i was that night last june when i saw them live for the first time.
anyway, don't mind me--i'm giddy from finishing one of my final projects. :)
5 comments:
i was having a little regret about not going to that arcade fire show - i mean, i had a feeling i *should go* at the time, but did not.
mr. p. reminds me - "it was on a weekday! right before mergefest! and you didn't have the CD!"
I try and tell myself that I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much as the Cradle show, when I knew every song by heart and was deliriously happy to see them.
no, no, they played the cave about 6 weeks before mergefest, right after they signed to merge. you're thinking of the show at local 506. :) and i will say that it was an amazing show even when i had only heard like three of their songs. i mean, their live shows are all about the crazy energy! but the cave show was also on a weeknight, and they didn't start till midnightish, so not many people were there. :)
Ordinarily when things like this happen....although I wasn't a fan from the very beginning of time, just slightly earlier than a bunch of other people....I get annoyed when bands get "popular" (I know, I now, you do it too, I'm guessing...) Not so much with Arcade Fire. If the entire population of this hemispehere loved them and let the weird dark musical numbers influence their thought patterns, I would be deliriously happy.
exactly! i think it's pretty much the coolest thing ever that so many people love them! they are the nicest people ever and totally deserve it. plus, they ARE awesome. it's nice that it's recognized.
i think when people (including me) get annoyed when an indie band gets popular, it's b/c it's seen as "selling out." but arcade fire hit it big with their first album, less than a year after signing--so it's different somehow.
aha - i must be conflating. I was aware of *both* shows, but didn't go to either. c'est la vie.
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