Arcade Fire (2)

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Reading Festival 2005

Friday 26th to Sunday 28th August 2005
Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, England MAP
£125 for weekend (including camping) - SOLD OUT, £60 any day

Daily capacity: 55,000

Believe the hype. Believe the critics. Believe whatever you want to believe. Just make sure you listen to this band.

Completely indescribable through any medium other than raw emotion or flutterings of the heart, this is pure musical euphoria. From the opening refrains of Wake Up, the crowd is one in belting out every chorus and punching the air for every lyric, because every single one is completely and wholly life-defining. Completely captivating, completely bonkers, the band flits from instrument to instrument (be it piano, drum or motorbike helmet) in order to deliver the most beautiful chaos ever committed to sound.

It’s almost too difficult to call certain songs highlights; it’s more the joyous moments that make this gig. The disco freak-out in ‘Crown Of Love’, Wim’s impassioned cries and the rising strings on ‘Tunnels’, the utterly unbeatable closing salvo of ‘Power Out’ and ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ – all of it together is enough to make this comfortably the best set of the weekend.

review by Tom Foster