Win Butler or The Arcade Fire perform on the Other stage at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, UK
Calling on influences from the best bits of Springsteen, Talking Heads and Bjork; and employing a cornucopia of violins, accordion, brass, xylophones, guitars, bass, assorted percussion and an organ, Arcade Fire produces a sound very much its own. Watching the band is like watching some unruly school kids pull all the instruments from the music room closet and violently set about them, only to produce instant, stunning melodies. The group from Montreal spent an hour lifting spirits with their personal hymns and soaring harmonies. Playing from behind what look like neon snow poles, Arcade Fire have clearly added an edge to their mini-orchestra mayhem, as demonstrated on songs like "No Cars Go" from their recent album, Neon Bible. Over-enthusiastic percussion playing saw two of the Fire jump off stage hurling a ladder around. The most serious man in rock, lead singer Win Butler, makes the dark, sad and personal into joyous anthems for others, and the Glastonbury crowd bellowed the chorus to set finale, "Wake Up." That was a thankfully easy task, given the lyrics are "Oooo-ooo, o, o, o, o, ooo, o." In fact, Butler's only expression of pleasure during the set was in reference to the crowd's misery. "I know it's gross out there," he said, "but it's really beautiful to see."