Last night i watched Jools Holland........... and

[The Nal]

I used to think Arcade Fire were just bland, but after last night... !? Did anyone think that was good?

It was nonsense. They've about 4-5 decent songs so can carry a gig. They peaked about 10 years ago though.

[russycarps]

It was nonsense. They've about 4-5 decent songs so can carry a gig. They peaked about 10 years ago though.

Nailed it there. Glastonbury dropped a bollock with these, should have given them a go after their 2nd album. Now the set will be bloated with garbage like the songs played on jools.

Ah well.

[Wooderson]

They were awful.

But since when are we judging headliners or their most recent output?

Arcade Fire will play Power Out, Rebellion, Tunnels, Intervention, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Reflektor, Wake Up.

All ace. Relax - they'll do great.

[ThomThomDrum]

Id say their peak was about 2007 and they were there, onsite, then playing second fiddle to Bjork on the second stage.......... Glasters were not ready to role that dice on them. The strange thing is that they had the Arctic Monkeys headlining that night and they were about 5 minutes old............

Edited May 28, 2014 by ThomThomDrum

[FrancisH]

As always the sound quality on Jools Holland was incredibly poor so I wouldn't write Arcade Fire off immediately. this has been the case for so many bands that are brilliant live... I suggest thinking of an excellent live band, then finding their Jools Holland performance and seeing how bad the sound quality is, whoever is in charge of sound production there needs the sack. Immediately.

If you're wondering whether to see Arcade Fire then the answer is yes, I've seen them before and they really were fantastic.

Edited May 28, 2014 by FrancisH

[ThomThomDrum]

Arcade Fire will play Power Out, Rebellion, Tunnels, Intervention, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Reflektor, Wake Up.

That tune! Good Christ it does my head in. I skip it on CD and would rather listen to the sound of my engine in traffic if it comes on the radio when in the car. Which it does. A lot. Very much a pet hate of mine

[ThomThomDrum]

I judge acts by their most recent live performances. Last night's was the most recent, and... well?!. Saved me the job of wondering whether they're worth going to see.

Not exactly the same as a gig though is it?

I have not caught them on their most recent "fancy dress" tour but by most accounts they are smashing it. The few on here who caught them when doing the small amount of UK dates about the time of the album release simply raved about them shows.

[russycarps]

As always the sound quality on Jools Holland was incredibly poor so I wouldn't write Arcade Fire off immediately. this has been the case for so many bands that are brilliant live... I suggest thinking of an excellent live band, then finding their Jools Holland performance and seeing how bad the sound quality is, whoever is in charge of sound production there needs the sack. Immediately.

If you're wondering whether to see Arcade Fire then the answer is yes, I've seen them before and they really were fantastic.

listen to the grinderman performances from a few years back. Incredible.

[FrancisH]

the sound quality was ok for me. Kwabs' 'sound' was fine, as was Sharon's.

listen to the grinderman performances from a few years back. Incredible.

Sorry yeah, I should have been more specific... It does tend to vary between sound / genre but there have been a few bands I've really been let down by, perhaps it's sound production or the weird environment as somebody mentioned before.

[ThomThomDrum]

It's as close to a gig there is without going to a gig. It's enough for me. I've been turned on to many acts through 'Later'. It's a live performance.

Personally a performance on the likes of Jools may pique my interest in a performer/group if they sound/look good but I would never write one off from such a show. Its such a limited exposure and no where nearly the same as them playing one of their own gigs.

[FrancisH]

or the performance and song itself could be the problem?

Well that's one possibility, but Im telling you now that it's the sound production lol

[whisty]

An interesting or dull thing about Jools is how they perform to a camera and not an audience. Found it rather strange on a one time visit. It shows that it's all just really an act or perhaps a lack of audience makes a difference to the performance? The sound is questionable for at least some bands on there.

[When Jokers Attack]

Didn't realise it's cool to hate Arcade Fire these days. Can't comment on Jools as I only watch the Friday show. When I saw them at the Barrowlands last year they smashed it. Right up there as one of the sets I've seen. I think they will nail Glasto too.

Looking forward to seeing Sharon Van Etten on Jools. Listening to her new album right now. Reminds me so much of Ryan Adams Heartbreaker, which is a good thing.

[Wooderson]

Beatles could've played Bungalow Bill and Run For Your Life on Jools and Tony's be like - "not going to see these".

[TheSeventhOne]

I think their performance on Jools confirmed that I'll be watching M.I.A instead. What a fall from grace.

[Wooderson]

Songs they played/album they're touring is poor. Very rare that a Glasto headliner's current/latest record is their best.

[The Nal]

Songs they played/album they're touring is poor. Very rare that a Glasto headliner's current/latest record is their best.

Yep true. Theyve enough tunes to make it a decent gig.

[bocumaroy]

Yeah, it was a poor performance, but it’s silly to write them off on that alone. I can see why people would be put off seeing them if they don’t like the album, but honestly, I’d advise against it if you like their other stuff. The setlist has still got a lot of old stuff, and most of the new stuff is far, far better live.

As for the show itself, I watched the performances back, I think it was supposed to be goofy and fun, but totally the wrong environment for it, seemed forced. Normal Person is actually one of my favourite live songs from the album, but without a crowd that’s useless. I remember watching them on SNL around the time of the album release, and it was horrible.

Gonna watch it on Friday as well because I wasn’t really concentrating of Sharon Van Etten or Wild Beasts. Afterlife should be better.

Edit: Oh, and at the risk of seeming silly in a months time, there’s absolutely no chance they’ll play You Already Know at Glasto.

Edited May 28, 2014 by bocumaroy

[Mardy]

Songs they played/album they're touring is poor. Very rare that a Glasto headliner's current/latest record is their best.

That's an excellent point and got me thinking. Examples? I'm really struggling. last year's AM? (although I prefer the first one)

[CHRLY]

I was fucking well gutted with that performance, that's coming from jut about the bigges arcade fire fan you can get. I still have no doubt that they will pull of a great headline set

[bocumaroy]

I know exactly what you've been getting at. Text-only communication is very hard sometimes. You've been having totally different discussions.

Aye. I think the discussion was pretty much dead until I was perceived to be having a go at people for not liking a band, which led to me continually trying to clarify whilst also misunderstanding the point I was arguing against, so I guess it seemed like I was being hostile. Silly in hindsight. Apologies.

For the 2nd song, they started with a bad cabaret version of their old song Wake Up, I think it's poking fun at themselves for writing such a big, obvious rock song as Normal Person. It's still good of course, hehe. Love the lyrics too.

I kind of think the whole thing was a bit like that. I personally find it funny, but it doesn’t come across well to non-fans in that environment. The pom-poms for example, it’s just a bit of fun, I think in reference to the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ video.

Edited May 28, 2014 by bocumaroy

[dirty_dog]

nothing wrong with their performance it was just the fact that they played one of the worst songs they have done and some clowns on here are writing them off as finished?

Reflektor is on par with Neon Bible and and The Suburbs so deffo not in decline.

[H.M.V]

.

Edited May 28, 2014 by H.M.V

[DL50]

Please stop saying that Arcade Fire are bad live after one performance on Jools Holland. Please watch this first

[DJL]

They were poor on tv last night - won't add them any fans but if you were otherwise considering them i wouldn't write them off just on that though.