While sitting in a movie theater watching trailer after trailer go by, my mindless train of thought stops around halfway through the “Where the Wild Things Are” trailer. At the time I wasn't sure why I suddenly became balled up with emotion; reflecting back, I realized it wasn't the silly looking monsters but the incredible music that drove me close to tears. Still today, whenever I hear that guitar and those drums fire up, followed by the haunting voice and poetic lyrics: “Children don’t grow up. Our bodies get bigger, but our hearts get torn up” chills shoot right through me.
This beloved song titled “Wake Up” came from the creative brilliance of Montreal based indie rock band Arcade Fire. This orchestral, indie rock group first dawned on the scene in 2003 when Win Butler spotted future wife Regine Chassagne singing jazz standards at a Montreal art exhibit. Together the duo formed a musical partnership and that soon followed with additional members including Richard Parry, Tim Kigsbury, Sarah Neufeld, Jeremy Gara and Win Butler’s younger brother William Butler. During 2003 and early 2004, the band released an EP which is now known by fans as “Us Kids Know” EP. The EP originally was sold informally at shows but has been remastered and given a full release since the band gained notoriety. The disc helped gain the attention of independent record label Merge Records which lead to a record contract for the band.
With a signed record deal and wedding vows between Butler and Chassagne, the band suddenly took a sharp turn when Chassagne’s grandmother passed away, soon followed by the Butlers’ grandfather, then Parry’s Aunt. The death of these family members puts the band through a whirlwind of somber emotions. The band chose to channel these emotional energies into their first full-length album titled “Funeral,” which debuted in September of 2004. “Funeral” received both high critical and commercial acclaim, appearing on several top ten album lists for 2004 and 2005. With rapid growing interest, Arcade Fire was soon booking tours at high-profile venues and some of the largest music festivals such as Halifax, Coachella, Sasquatch, and Lollapalooza. Montreal concerts sell out months in advance in a matter of minutes. In September of 2005, Arcade Fire performed “Wake Up” with David Bowie on the “Fashion Rocks” television event. This recording along with collaborations with Bowie’s “Life on Mars” and “Five Years” became available on itunes and stirred a great deal of attention for the band. In addition to 2005, the band opened for the Irish rock group U2 during their “Vertigo” tour and appeared on “Later” with Jools Holland, a live show on the BBC.
After an eventful year, Arcade Fire whined down in a defunct church they purchased outside of Montreal which they turned into their recording studio. Their next album titled “Neon Bible” was released in March 2007 featuring their new single “Intervention” which had been previously leaked to peer-to-peer networks on the internet. The album was released with high critical acclaim and premiered at number one on the Canadian Album Chart and the Irish Album Chart and number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 charts. This brought the band to play more than 120 shows in 75 cities and 19 countries over the course of that year as well as appearing on “Saturday Night Live.” With tours coming to an end in 2008, Win Butler became a vocal supporter for Barack Obama and played several free shows in support of his presidential candidacy. The band has since finished work on their third album which is due for release in mid-2010. The band will be playing some song form their new album in August when they headline for the Reading and Leeds Festival. Will Butler commented “We’re really looking forward to playing the new songs live…(it’s) like an inventor emerging from his basement after a year’s work."
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