Arcade Fire Reflektor Tour at Lakewood Atlanta May 2, 2014
Review by Jenna Hughes, Photos by Danielle Boise
Arcade Fire returned to Atlanta at Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood on May 2 as part of the Reflektor tour, with support from Tune-Yards. The Montreal sextet has enjoyed massive commercial success over the last few years, since winning the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2011 for The Suburbs.
The Grammy and success of The Suburbs propelled Arcade Fire from indie darlings to arena rock gods, filling stadiums across the world with a devoted fan base. The band encouraged fans to dress in costume or their finest attire for every show on the Arcade Fire Reflektor tour, and fans in Atlanta did not disappoint; many were dressed in tuxedos, evening gowns and masquerade masks as they waited for the band to take the stage.
The opening chords of “Reflektor,” from the 2013 album of the same name, filled the stadium as band members trickled on stage, their faces covered in masks as they picked up their instruments. The energy of the band was incredible from the start, from front man Win Butler strutting to the edge of the stage to encourage fans to sing along, Regine Chassagne dancing and moving from the keys to percussion effortlessly, to every other member of the impressive live ensemble that filled the stage with their talent. “Flashbulb Eyes,” also from Reflektor, kept the set going without pause and “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” from the band’s debut Funeral had the entire stadium dancing. It was impossible not to move during the set, especially when watching Chassagne having the time of her life dancing around the stage with pom-poms and a huge smile on her face during “Rebellion (Lies).”
Butler cheekily dedicated “Get Right,” a Reflektor b-side, to Donald Sterling, putting emphasis on the lyrics “Better get right before you die,” and then things slowed down a bit for both parts of “The Suburbs” and the organ-fueled “Intervention,” from 2006’s Neon Bible.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the show came during the song “Afterlife,” when a mirrored figure appeared on a separate stage in the crowd, dancing slowly and reflecting the bright stage lights onto the audience. After the song was over, the figure turned out to be none other than Chassagne, who remained on the b-stage for “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus).” She then returned to the main stage for a rousing performance of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” to close out the set.
Arcade Fire fans did not let up, screaming for an encore, but they were momentarily taken by surprise when several bobble-headed figures started moving through the crowd in a conga line set to Outkast’s “Hey Ya,” fronted by a man wearing a bobble-head of the Pope. The bobble-heads made their way to the stage as the band launched into “Normal Person,” and Butler donned one of the bobble-heads himself. A surprise cover of R.E.M.’s “Radio Free Europe” came next, with the keyboardist taking over lead vocals. An absolutely stunning performance of “Wake Up” closed out the night with a chorus of voices in the crowd filling the amphitheater as they sang the words back to the band and confetti rained down on them. It was a spectacular performance from a band that is incredibly deserving of its ever-growing fame.
Arcade Fire Reflektor Tour Set List:
“Reflektor,” “Flashbulb Eyes,” “Neighborhood #3 (Power Out),” “Rebellion (Lies),” “Joan of Arc (w/ ‘My Body Is a Cage’ intro),” “Get Right,” “Month of May,” “The Suburbs,” “The Suburbs (Continued),” “Ready to Start,” “We Exist,” “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels),” “Intervention (w/ ‘(Antichrist Television Blues)’ outro),” “Haiti,” “Afterlife,” “It’s Never Over (Oh Orpheus)” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
Encore:
“Normal Person,” “Radio Free Europe (R.E.M. cover),” “Here Comes the Night Time” and “Wake Up”
Full Photo Gallery of Arcade Fire
Full Photo Gallery of Tune-Yards
