I Love This Place That I Have Grown To Know

Arcade Fire @ Randall’s Island 10/6/2007
Black Mirror / Keep The Car Running / Laika / No Cars Go / Haiti / I’m Sleeping In A Submarine / My Body Is A Cage / Cold Wind / Intervention / Antichrist Television Blues / The Well and the Lighthouse / Tunnels / Power Out / Rebellion (Lies) // Headlights Look Like Diamonds / Wake Up /// Kiss Off (Violent Femmes song performed off to side of stage after show, acoustic and barely audible even from 30 yards)

Arcade Fire “Keep The Car Running” (Live @ Judson Memorial Church, 2/17/2007) – Of the three Arcade Fire shows that I saw in 2007 — the only Arcade Fire shows I’ve ever seen — this was the one that really seemed as though the band were really fired up and hitting the stage with full power, which I think has everything to do with the fact that it was a fucking ENORMOUS show on a giant stage. Though it was nice to see them in a church and a large theater, it’s pretty obvious that they were hemmed in by the scale, and the sound was too muddy and quiet to really get across the scope of the material. This set at Randall’s Island was as loud, overwhelming, and theatrical as you’d want them to be, and maybe a bit more so, since they were egged on by the sheer size of the event, and the fact that they had to get on the stage after LCD Soundsystem.

At each of the three Arcade Fire shows that I saw this year, it was hard for me not to be acutely aware of the fact that even though I do like them, the songs from Funeral just don’t mean very much to me. Everyone flips out for them, but aside from “Rebellion” and “Wake Up,” I just nod along and wait for the Neon Bible tunes. The band’s music thrives on an emotional connection, and without it, the songs can seem a bit hollow and overblown, even if you’re into it. I definitely see why so many people care deeply for “Tunnels” and “Power Out,” but I just can’t feel it, they simply do not resonate with me in the way that the Neon Bible material does. “Intervention” and “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” me feel like I’m getting hit in the soul; “Antichrist Television Blues,” “The Well and the Lighthouse,” and “Keep The Car Running” have crescendos that are absolutely thrilling to me, like getting a tiny, terrifying taste of freedom in the form of a pop song. You simply cannot meet their music halfway, and you can’t be skeptical of the band’s motivations. You either submit to it and take what it has to give you, or you just get a big noise. (Click here to buy it from Merge.)

LCD Soundsystem @ Randall’s Island 10/6/2007
Get Innocuous! / Us V Them / Time To Get Away / North American Scum / All My Friends / Someone Great / Tribulations / Movement / Yeah / Throw / New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down

Needless to say, LCD Soundsystem were as tight and engaging as ever, but Randall’s Island is just too sprawling for their music to have its full effect, though the epic quality of “All My Friends” and “Someone Great” worked rather well in this context. Even up in the front, the setting just wasn’t conducive to dancing — you could move, sure, but it’s hard to really get going when seven out of every ten people in the audience is intent on standing still. That said, things did get slightly rowdy for “North American Scum,” “Tribulations,” and “Yeah,” but how could they not — those three are pretty much forces of nature.

LCD Soundsystem “North American Scum” – A lot of people have been writing very heartfelt, thoughtful things about “All My Friends” and “Someone Great,” and though I think those songs are brilliantly crafted, emotionally profound pieces of music, they haven’t had much utility in my life this year, though I’m sure they will at some later date. “North American Scum,” on the other hand, is the one that hits me hard and makes me move right now, even when I’m just listening to it on headphones walking down the street. (To clarify, I’m not actually dancing in the street, it just makes me walk much faster.)

I can’t take the lyrics too literally — I haven’t left the country since this time last year, and given the current state of the US dollar, it’s looking unlikely that I’ll be able to afford doing anything like that again any time in the next several months — but the spirit of the track fits nicely with my prevailing mood in the 2007s. It’s agitated and defensive, but eager to puncture the self-righteousness of its imagined rivals. It’s THE song if you despise what your country has become, but have no desire to call any other nation your home. It’s THE song if you love New York City, but hate the way it is nearly impossible to live here without becoming obsessed with money and status, whether you have it or not. It’s THE song if you’re ambivalent about being part of a hegemonic culture, but secretly fear a shifting international status quo that may increasingly marginalize you and your experience over the rest of your life. It’s THE song if you want to fight, argue, and create, if just to prove people wrong about you and your people. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)