The trouble with big themes big sounds, is big failures and big fools. At Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Wim Butler, his wife Rene Cassagne, Wim’s brother William Butler and the five other members of Arcade Fire risked big and lost big, but it is the difference between touching the stars and touching the sky.
Being simulcast on the Internet to a world wide audience, though with only one screen, and the 400 level seats empty and the 300s level half empty, the questions started up almost immediately. The entire concert from inception to direction stank of overkill. It was too much for the bands abilities: too over heated, too purply, too sparkly, too too much. As Wim once put it, like a waking dream, it is all lies and lies.
But what lies…
From a one two punch “Ready To Start” and “Laika” -neither big time favors, the energy level and electricity and though while song # 3 -a slower and less rhythm propelled “No Cars Go” was to prove it wouldn’t be the knock out punch that seemed to be promised, the audience certainly disagreed with me, and the entire band seemed poised to break down the stage into shards of timber.
By the midway point though the set was in a lull and while well intentioned Wim’s wandering about the Floor and first mezz wasn’t doing much to break down the barriers between band and fan. Nothing really can with Wim. If he is wearing his heart on his sleeve the only way we know it is because of Rene’s lovely back up singing and if there is a community at work the only way we know that is because of the community of singers behind Wim.
And here is Butler’s problem becoming clearer through the outright failures in the set, a moribund and distorted through loudness “The Suburbs”, “Rococo” , “We Used To Wait” -all somewhere in the middle of the set, all failures on some level or the other. All new. I love the new album, but there is a self restraint to Wim’s pained meditation on lost youth than doesn’t sit with with the big bam boom they provide so well. The exception is “Month Of May” near the end -a great little rocker live, and a big overcooked on the record.
However, as you might expect, Arcade Fire right themselves towards the end and by the time the singalong “Rebellion (Lies) ” finally has the integration of band and extended family which is the best reason to embrace the U2’s and the Springsteen’s of the world, it is hard to remember how easy it is to despise Wim Butler.
Butler is a fake but I am not sure what he is faking or why. He wants to be a nice guy but his ego keeps tripping him up and he wants to say the right thing but.. after a faulty drum machine derails the penultimate song, Rene’s pretty wonderful “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”, Wim claims the audience will remember seeing Arcade Fire falter and mention it to their children as the greatest moment of their lives..
Sure that isn’t what he meant to say. But he is like the Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, every time he opens his mouth his preposterous ego trips him up.
Maybe Wim is nice, maybe he ain’t, but he comes across as such an ass it really puts you off. Especially with this “indie” in name band whose ambitions hang off em so easy and often.
So? Let him be an ass. Before the encore and somewhere between “Lies” and “Keep The Car Running”, the joy from the audience is an energy and it is worth every pain in the neck AF pull for those transcendent moments.
If he needs to be a dick to provide it, I guess we should simply leave Wim in his musical ivory tower and only come out to watch Arcade Fire from a distance.
They are liars who reach closer to the truth then most truth tellers.