Live Review: Arcade Fire, Diplo

At first glance, a Diplo, Arcade Fire double bill seemed like an odd choice, but the thick, dark dub beats the LA DJ dropped during his powerful, star-packed set worked as an inspired juxtaposition to the joy of Arcade Fire's headlining show. Even if the hipster and indie die-hards standing on the floor of the arena mostly just looked on in bemusement as Frank Ocean, Disclosure, SBTRKT and Diplo's own band Major Lazer were layered into deep, pounding dub.

It didn't take long for the crowd to get their enthusiasm back when Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalist Regine Chassagne appeared three-quarters of the way down the arena, leaning over the first tier balcony to play percussion while her partner-in-crime Win Butler began the haunting refrain of My Body Is A Cage. Butler returned to the back of the arena to cover INXS classic Devil Inside much later in the show, while a masked doppelgänger mimed his way through the song onstage.
Mostly though, Butler held command at the front of the room as the nine musicians around him gleefully swapped instruments and built swathes of euphoric indie rock. While crisp, clear sound is never going to be an arena's selling point, it mattered little as the power and emotion wrapped around Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Sprawl II and No Cars Go gave fans plenty of reasons to stomp their feet and sing along.

Where fellow indie darlings The Flaming Lips captured imaginations with their costumes and giant bubble, Arcade Fire met the challenge with their confetti cannons, which showered the arena during Here Comes The Night Time, turning the venue into a dreamlike snowstorm, with the added benefit of firing up the crowd for an encore that paired a lively Ready To Start with the stunning anthem Wake Up. With the whole crowd singing, it was a great way to bring to a close a gig that a lot of us have been waiting years for.