Los Angeles is the Fire
On June 25th, 2005, The Arcade Fire played the Hollywood Bowl as one of a long line-up of a show titled "David Burn and friends." As one can imagine, casts of hipster thousands showed up, with their funny fifties glasses and carefully messy hair, kids and picnic baskets in tow. As the sun went down, an apricot moon rose over the blood colored hills.It was during this time that the Arcade Fire was playing over the typical crowd buzzing and inattention that opening bands have to contend with. Then they played "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" which had been getting some airplay and the everyone turned, the familiar music bringing everything into focus.
A group of about nine people on the back edge of Promenade Three, a group who just had folding chairs as seats, were all standing. They were obviously big fans, dancing and spinning, singing along with every word of the wistful songs about a town of snowed in children whose parents had all died. They were having the time of their lives. Presently, there were more of them. People from the rows above, in Promenade Four, plunged down the stairs to join the growing throng. Soon they were filling nearly the entire aisle, pogo-ing and celebrating as the music rolled on.
No security ever came to break them up. Instead, it just seemed like a swollen party, people taking pictures with their cell phones and getting up on the shoulders of their friends throughout the violet dusk. The tone was struck by the band -- people wore their real faces.
When the set ended, the party vanished, all the people joined by music as raw and undiluted as childhood, dissipated. Except for the orginal ten or so, who kept dancing right on through David Byrne, undaunted.
He was all right. He wore pink velvet and he never sang "Once in a Lifetime."
posted by kuaptic. @ 5:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home