A #MeToo affair, how do you deal with that as a pop group with an image thathas hitherto been characterized by an atmosphere of holiness and community?Arcade Fire is silent during the current European tour. The 71 crew members ofthe Canadian band are working hard to bring the bombastic show to the bighalls, even though the Ziggo Dome was only half full on Wednesday. The topring remained closed and there were large holes below it. Organizer Mojo doesnot announce ticket sales.
That got a big blow on August 27 when the authoritative music websitePitchfork published an article about the alleged transgressive behavior ofArcade Fire singer Win Butler. Four people accuse the 42-year-old pop star ofsexual misconduct in the years 2016-2020, ranging from unwanted touching andsending explicit text and image messages to pursuing relationships with muchyounger fans.
Butler did not deny, but engaged a publicity agency to disclose that sexualcontacts with 18- to 23-year-olds had been consensual, he said. He apologizedfor his behavior and promised his nine-year-old son that he will make amends.Wife Régine Chassagne, musician and singer in the band, rallied behind herhusband and said soothingly: “He lost his way and found it again.”
Also read: Feist withdraws from tour with Arcade Fire over sexual misconductallegations
Cacophony of sound
Under those circumstances Arcade Fire gave a loaded concert in the sparselypopulated Ziggo Dome, starting with the desperate ‘Age of Anxiety’ from thelatest album WE. “It’s the age of doubt,” Butler began his litany of theconfusing world we live in, accompanied by roaring bass and a cacophony ofsound that barely caught breath for the next hour and a half. Arcade Firesounded louder, fuller and often faster than the band has sounded in itstwentieth anniversary.
With a cross section from the six albums, Arcade Fire looked for the buildingblocks that made the music ‘bigger than life’. Gone were the subtle folkelements of the early work; gone was the ability to start small and slowlybuild the songs into something bigger. Arcade Fire went all out with theshrill vocals of Régine Chassange in ‘Black Wave/Bad Vibrations’, the fatdisco beat of ‘Reflektor’ and a pompous ‘The Lightning I’ from the new albumin which the accordion plays a meaningless, completely snow-covered addition.
Early on, Win Butler jumped into the crowd to sing ‘The Afterlife’ close tothe fans, en route to a small stage in the center where Régine Chassagne thendanced lavishly under the disco ball. Later on, the entire band played arelatively subtle finale on that center stage after all the decibel violence.Butler dedicated The Suburbs to David Bowie, who taught him, “It’s cool to bea fucking weirdo.”
Prior to ‘Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)’, Win Butler gave the only indicationthat the #MeToo affair has not left him untouched: “This is for everyone withimperfect parents.” Arcade Fire overplayed itself at a time when somerestraint was in order.