Arcade Fire @ The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, 16 Apr

Staged in a faux boxing ring in the middle of the Hydro, Arcade Fire show no signs of stopping; videos, light shows, dancing and audience interaction ensues

Live Review by Lewis Wade | 17 Apr 2018

Taking to the stage (or should we say ring) in a mock-boxing montage, with announcements, graphics and costumes, Arcade Fire cannot be said to have lost their flair for the dramatic. While the songs are played fairly straight, give or take an extended bridge or regurgitated chorus, there's no shortage of videos, light shows, dancing and audience interaction to keep things moving.

Régine Chassagne has a couple of star turns, taking the lead as theatrically as possible during Electric Blue and Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) with plenty of sequins, pom-poms and expressive shapes. Both her and husband Win Butler's voices occasionally get caught up in the maelstrom of arrangements (there's rarely less than seven people playing at once) and the intricate instrumental choices that make Arcade Fire such an interesting listen are sometimes difficult to parse out with so much happening, but the performance is undeniably powerful from a pure entertainment standpoint. Simple Minds' Jim Kerr even pops along for an outrageously warm reception (we are in Glasgow) and a nostalgic re-imagining of Don't You (Forget About Me).

Support band for the night, New Orleans' outfit Preservation Hall Jazz Band return alongside the band for an encore of Everything Now (Continued) and a typically unrestrained Wake Up. And although, once again, their brassy additions are tough to pick out, it makes a wonderful spectacle trying to get everyone onto the not-huge stage in the middle of the Hydro, sousaphones and all.

The band's Everything Now gimmickry is still in full effect and they walk a fine line between astute satire and simply being what they're supposedly lampooning. The over-the-top branding, adverts and souvenir reminders are a good framing device for the lyrical interests of the latest album, but when you still have giant merch stalls with £12 tote bags and £5 pins it feels less like everyone's in on the joke together.

https://www.everythingnow.com/