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Arcade Fire


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12 minutes ago, Florian Saucer Attack said:

and that something is being so middle of the road that people who do not like music like them.

Let's not narrow the list of potential headliners to these types of acts and the latest pop stars who might turn out to be the flavour of the week 

It’s not that, the Killers, Radiohead, the Cure all have songs that are larger than the band itself. They also have established fanbases and continue to sell massive tours.

Radiohead are more niche than The Killers but they are still very popular and whenever they make a noise people listen. There is heavy demand for them every time they hit the circuit. 

Arcade Fire are missing that commerciality that keeps them afloat. It’s not an issue for the mid-size festivals / ones with 6+ headliners, but for Glastonbury/Coachella with three acts at the top they are a significant step below other options they can pick from.

Edited by Matt42
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53 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

I can totally see them popping up at Glastonbury doing something similar. They are a very niche band in the UK and they were booked to headline due to quality of output, and probably some expectation that reflektor would be a bigger record for them than it was after the suburbs.

Very niche U.K. bands do not play 3 back-to-back shows at Wembley Arena nor do they have 3 U.K. no. 1 albums. 

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5 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

It’s not that, the Killers, Radiohead, the Cure all have songs that are larger than the band itself. They also have established fanbases and continue to sell massive tours.

Radiohead are more niche than The Killers but they are still very popular and whenever they make a noise people listen. There is heavy demand for them every time they hit the circuit. 

Arcade Fire are missing that commerciality that keeps them afloat. It’s not an issue for the mid-size festivals / ones with 6+ headliners, but for Glastonbury/Coachella with three acts at the top they are a significant step below other options they can pick from.

'Larger than the band itself,' to me that can only mean they have songs that people recognise but don't know who the artist is. This falls under music for people who do not like music

Arcade fire have a massive dedicated fan base they are far form niche. Peat and diesel are niche 

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3 minutes ago, Florian Saucer Attack said:

'Larger than the band itself,' to me that can only mean they have songs that people recognise but don't know who the artist is. This falls under music for people who do not like music

Arcade fire have a massive dedicated fan base they are far form niche. Peat and diesel are niche 

Not necessarily that they don’t know the band but the songs will be recognised by a very wide audience.

Throughout my entire time following arcade fire whenever I’ve mentioned them to people it’s either a “who?” or, “I don’t know anything about them”.

Some people may not have followed anything Radiohead have put out since OK Computer but they still would be familiar with them. 

I call them niche because outside of immediate fanbase their familiarity drops off a cliff. 

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5 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Not necessarily that they don’t know the band but the songs will be recognised by a very wide audience.

Throughout my entire time following arcade fire whenever I’ve mentioned them to people it’s either a “who?” or, “I don’t know anything about them”.

Some people may not have followed anything Radiohead have put out since OK Computer but they still would be familiar with them. 

I call them niche because outside of immediate fanbase their familiarity drops off a cliff. 

The people who don't like music recognise Radiohead because of creep and because radiohead are a lazy punchline for jokes about sad miserable music.

Glastonbury headliners should not be chosen based on whether these people have heard of them just like how oscar winners are not picked by people who watch a couple of marvel films every year  

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8 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Some people may not have followed anything Radiohead have put out since OK Computer but they still would be familiar with them. 

I call them niche because outside of immediate fanbase their familiarity drops off a cliff. 

That's true. Radiohead are still one of the biggest and may just be the most respected active (well kind of) bands around. They're pretty much/almost in that Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd category where people respect them while only actually recognizing the odd song. I think history will be kinder to this band than to let's say Muse or Coldplay. 

Arcade Fire is indeed in another category of course, but they're still a pretty big band. They're a headliner or nothing (bar the odd suprise set which is more of a promotional thing than an actual gig in my eyes) deal. 

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42 minutes ago, Florian Saucer Attack said:

and that something is being so middle of the road that people who do not like music like them.

Let's not narrow the list of potential headliners to these types of acts and the latest pop stars who might turn out to be the flavour of the week 

What a snobby view!!! 

Somebody needs a Snickers! 

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2 minutes ago, Florian Saucer Attack said:

The people who don't like music recognise Radiohead because of creep and because radiohead are a lazy punchline for jokes about sad miserable music.

Glastonbury headliners should not be chosen based on whether these people have heard of them just like how oscar winners are not picked by people who watch a couple of marvel films every year  

Do you not think though that Glastonbury sells nearly 200k almost instantly because many people buy a ticket with the expectation that they will be seeing some of the biggest acts going? If Glastonbury stopped pulling in the big names they’d jeopardise that instant sell out and running the festival would be more difficult.

That sell out in October is vital to how pretty much the entire festival comes together. 

3 minutes ago, misterplow said:

Arcade Fire is indeed in another category of course, but they're still a pretty big band. They're a headliner or nothing (bar the odd suprise set which is more of a promotional thing than an actual gig in my eyes) deal. 

Which is why I think a special set at the festival, like they are doing for Coachella, is all that’s left for them now until they bite the bullet and start taking lower slots.

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5 minutes ago, misterplow said:

That's true. Radiohead are still one of the biggest and may just be the most respected active (well kind of) bands around. They're pretty much/almost in that Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd category where people respect them while only actually recognizing the odd song. I think history will be kinder to this band than to let's say Muse or Coldplay.

They’re an awful lofi jazz quartet beloved of middle class radio 6 white males with a supercilious attitude. They’ve not released anything decent for over 20 years and are incredibly dull live. 

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6 minutes ago, ErnestWorthing said:

They’re an awful lofi jazz quartet beloved of middle class radio 6 white males with a supercilious attitude. They’ve not released anything decent for over 20 years and are incredibly dull live. 

I don't love them either, but that's a harsh thing to say about Pink Floyd. 

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I think i'm with Matt on this one, Arcade Fire aren't massive over here and given the 2 years of missed acts i can't see them remotely near the top of Emily's list.

If Florence is being talked about as someone who its been and gone for, it certainly has for Arcade Fire.

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12 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Which is why I think a special set at the festival, like they are doing for Coachella, is all that’s left for them now until they bite the bullet and start taking lower slots.

Luckily there's a world outside of Glastonbury too. 😉 Those are literally the only 2 festivals where you might be right, and the Coachella story has more to do with the fact that AF don't fit the profile anymore as well.

AF is still a big festival headliner and they will probably always be. 

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5 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Do you not think though that Glastonbury sells nearly 200k almost instantly because many people buy a ticket with the expectation that they will be seeing some of the biggest acts going? If Glastonbury stopped pulling in the big names they’d jeopardise that instant sell out and running the festival would be more difficult.

That sell out in October is vital to how pretty much the entire festival comes together. 

I'm saying arcade fire are a big act among people who have more than a passing interest in music.

Everyone who goes to glastonbury will have heard of them with the possible exception of the folk who spend the whole time in the healing fields, folk who are just there for dance music and don't listen to anything else and children. If someone has not heard of arcade fire and doesn't fall into one of these groups then the problem is with them.

11 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

Or their music is just not for them?

We are talking about recognition not whether people like the act of not

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3 minutes ago, Florian Saucer Attack said:

Everyone who goes to glastonbury will have heard of them with the possible exception of the folk who spend the whole time in the healing fields, folk who are just there for dance music and don't listen to anything else and children. 

Hmm. Not sure about this. A few people in my group wouldn’t know a single song and if I tried to pull them to see them. I would say our group is pretty diverse.

 

5 minutes ago, misterplow said:

Coachella story has more to do with the fact that AF don't fit the profile anymore as well.

Isn’t there a lot to be extracted from this though? Arcade Fire have headlined twice (I think) and consistently got big slots at Coachella every time they played. Probably got a better relationship with the festival than Glastonbury. Them doing a surprise set rather than hedging their chances for 2023 says a lot. 

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9 minutes ago, gfa said:

If Florence is being talked about as someone who its been and gone for, it certainly has for Arcade Fire.

Florence’s availability for the Friday O2 show a few weeks after tickets have been on sale is… concerning. She ain’t a headliner anymore either I’d say.

Big market shift has happened. I think bookings in the early 10s don’t stack up anymore. 

C97E96E7-BBD8-4F4C-920A-01E99CB038A6.jpeg

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1 minute ago, Matt42 said:

Florence’s availability for the Friday O2 show a few weeks after tickets have been on sale is… concerning. She ain’t a headliner anymore either I’d say.

Big market shift has happened. I think bookings in the early 10s don’t stack up anymore. 

C97E96E7-BBD8-4F4C-920A-01E99CB038A6.jpeg

Is that a single show and even standing still for sale? That's insane

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Just now, gfa said:

Is that a single show and even standing still for sale? That's insane

Yup. I can buy a standing ticket now weeks after it’s been on sale. 

I just think a lot has changed and maybe even the pandemic has had a part to play in this too. The music market has had a bit of a rejiggle and I think some acts have definitely dwindled from being inactive.

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1 minute ago, Matt42 said:

just think a lot has changed and maybe even the pandemic has had a part to play in this too. The music market has had a bit of a rejiggle and I think some acts have definitely dwindled from being inactive.

Or the market is saturated, and there is a real cost of living crisis going on. I know my tax and bills have gone up by a couple of hundred a month. That’s a few gigs and nights out. 

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Wouldn’t mind seeing these guys again. 2014 was my first Glastonbury and I’d paced it all wrong. By the time Arcade Fire headlined, I was smashed and can’t remember any more than an appalling decision to try and get to the front row after the set began. I ended up right at the side, which is far inferior to being more central and further back. 

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