Another Arcade Fire convert...
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,116
I am posting this because this article is interesting and to prove to people like soulsinging and others who reemed me for suggesting Arcade Fire are speaking for and to the youth and are trying to kick start a rebellion... Maybe I am not such a freak for stating these things...
Where the Wave Broke
How the paradigm shifted at Coachella 2007
By LINDA IMMEDIATO
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - 6:00 pm
I woke up with the power out,
Not really something to shout about.
Ice has covered up my parents’ hands,
don’t have any dreams don’t have any plans.
And the power’s out in the heart of man,
take it from your heart put in your hand.
And there’s something wrong in the heart of man,
Take it from your heart and put it in your hand!
—Arcade Fire, “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”
A huge pipe organ looms onstage, ready for a church choir. Neon signs like scepters rise above the band. Arcade Fire feels like a religious army marching toward us. Singer Win Butler gazes intently at us, as if to say “Are you getting this?,” while his bandmates seem to testify on his behalf in a frenzy, playing their instruments as if speaking in tongues. Until Arcade Fire’s performance, this Coachella was like any other to me, a constant march from one end of the field to the other, chasing music and mindless fun in an endless-summer sort of way. Of Montreal made me dance, Silversun Pick-Ups made me rock, the Decemberists made me do various calisthenics, but Arcade Fire weren’t just playing, they were trying to wake us from a dream, to connect us again. And it was working.
In the ’90s, when we Gen-Xers were put down as slackers and, well, losers, we thought we could save the world with our anger. I remember seeing Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza in ’93. I got my lip split open in a mosh pit, kicking around in my Doc Martens, thinking, “Yeah, fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” But all that rage fizzled out, diffused. Hunter S. Thompson, describing the momentum of his generation, wrote: “There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.” And then, looking out into the desert: “You can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Paradigm shift: The Arcade Fire lead the soft revolt. (Photos by Mark the Cobrasnake)
Click here for more Coachella photos from Cobrasnake
That’s how I felt at this year’s Coachella. I saw where the wave broke. Coachella this year was filled with heroes of the ’90s. I felt like Dorothy awakening back at the farm, “and you were there, Sonic Youth, and you were there, Lemonheads, Rage Against the Machine. Oh! And you were there, Red Hot Chili Peppers.” But this time I felt we were watching with new eyes, and, simply, those bands didn’t speak to me anymore. I was nostalgic for them, but they didn’t move me, their messages seemed outdated and irrelevant. Nothing felt more anachronistic than a re-formed Rage closing the show. Anger wasn’t enough.
Instead, it was the look-inside-yourself call to arms I heard at Arcade Fire that spoke to me. Like a good preacher, Butler got our attention first, then asked us to act. “Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is. Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids” (“Rebellion”).
I left the show with my eyes open, and decided to move outside my musical comfort zone, heading to raver dance tents and hip-hop rap-offs, to see if the feeling would transcend. It did, for rest of the festival. I felt that oneness. I felt a wave rebuilding. The machine is so broken now, it’s almost redundant to rage against it. What’s left is to fight the power in our own quieter lives.
Where the Wave Broke
How the paradigm shifted at Coachella 2007
By LINDA IMMEDIATO
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - 6:00 pm
I woke up with the power out,
Not really something to shout about.
Ice has covered up my parents’ hands,
don’t have any dreams don’t have any plans.
And the power’s out in the heart of man,
take it from your heart put in your hand.
And there’s something wrong in the heart of man,
Take it from your heart and put it in your hand!
—Arcade Fire, “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)”
A huge pipe organ looms onstage, ready for a church choir. Neon signs like scepters rise above the band. Arcade Fire feels like a religious army marching toward us. Singer Win Butler gazes intently at us, as if to say “Are you getting this?,” while his bandmates seem to testify on his behalf in a frenzy, playing their instruments as if speaking in tongues. Until Arcade Fire’s performance, this Coachella was like any other to me, a constant march from one end of the field to the other, chasing music and mindless fun in an endless-summer sort of way. Of Montreal made me dance, Silversun Pick-Ups made me rock, the Decemberists made me do various calisthenics, but Arcade Fire weren’t just playing, they were trying to wake us from a dream, to connect us again. And it was working.
In the ’90s, when we Gen-Xers were put down as slackers and, well, losers, we thought we could save the world with our anger. I remember seeing Rage Against the Machine at Lollapalooza in ’93. I got my lip split open in a mosh pit, kicking around in my Doc Martens, thinking, “Yeah, fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” But all that rage fizzled out, diffused. Hunter S. Thompson, describing the momentum of his generation, wrote: “There was no point in fighting — on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.” And then, looking out into the desert: “You can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Paradigm shift: The Arcade Fire lead the soft revolt. (Photos by Mark the Cobrasnake)
Click here for more Coachella photos from Cobrasnake
That’s how I felt at this year’s Coachella. I saw where the wave broke. Coachella this year was filled with heroes of the ’90s. I felt like Dorothy awakening back at the farm, “and you were there, Sonic Youth, and you were there, Lemonheads, Rage Against the Machine. Oh! And you were there, Red Hot Chili Peppers.” But this time I felt we were watching with new eyes, and, simply, those bands didn’t speak to me anymore. I was nostalgic for them, but they didn’t move me, their messages seemed outdated and irrelevant. Nothing felt more anachronistic than a re-formed Rage closing the show. Anger wasn’t enough.
Instead, it was the look-inside-yourself call to arms I heard at Arcade Fire that spoke to me. Like a good preacher, Butler got our attention first, then asked us to act. “Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is. Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids” (“Rebellion”).
I left the show with my eyes open, and decided to move outside my musical comfort zone, heading to raver dance tents and hip-hop rap-offs, to see if the feeling would transcend. It did, for rest of the festival. I felt that oneness. I felt a wave rebuilding. The machine is so broken now, it’s almost redundant to rage against it. What’s left is to fight the power in our own quieter lives.
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Comments
Interesting. I think the Arcade Fire is very relevant and are very passionate about their music. I'm a big fan.
I don't feel the review was quite on board with your revolution notion. I think he does agree that what the band is doing is refreshing on a music scene that can be a little stale.
Also i think it depends on your notion of youth. Arcade Fire's "crowd" is 20's and 30's.
Being almost 29 i like to think of that as the "youth" but I have seen them twice (one time this past tuesday) and I can assure you If the show would have been a 21 and up show they would not have lost many of those who were in attendance. Not many teenagers give a shit about arcade fire.
regardless great band with a wonderful live show.
Charlotte 03
Asheville 04
Atlanta 12
Greenville 16, Columbia 16
Seattle 18
Nashville 22
Ohana Festival 24 x2
this hardly sounds like a call for a revolution overthrowing the government. it sounds like exactly what i was saying... doing your small part in your daily life to make the world a better place.
It is also a matter of perspective. A lot of the other people I've heard from who were at Coachella, say that Rage Against the Machine blew everyone else off the stage. If you're someone who doesn't like Rage, maybe you wouldn't feel that way.
-Greg Dulli
subtle.
-Greg Dulli