Arcade Fire

[Al2006]

Looks like either people aren’t bothered or don’t know about the allegations - first bit of footage in

Twitter video of wake up

[FloorFiller]

Just now, Al2006 said:

Looks like either people aren’t bothered or don’t know about the allegations - first bit of footage in

Twitter video of wake up

Saw somebody on Twitter who claims to have only just heard of the allegations moments before they walked on stage as he was taking a break from socials etc for a bit. Gutted. 

But yeah, I suppose if you’ve chosen to actually go to the show (which it seems a lot of people have) then there’s not much point sitting there sulking trying to make some kind of point, so no real surprise that it seems to be going off - that’s what people paid for, after all. 

[Matt42]

43 minutes ago, FloorFiller said:

Looks like they opened with Wake Up, those crafty bastards. 

I thought that was interesting 

[The Nal]

Seems the place is jammed. Backlash didn't last long. 

[stuartbert two hats]

Quite surprised by how rammed and bouncing the gig looks tonight. 

[Matt42]

7 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Quite surprised by how rammed and bouncing the gig looks tonight. 

So I had a similar debate with a friend of mine on something completely unrelated - but the debate was essentially that cancel culture isn’t real, and what goes around online (controversy wise) is a very shallow view of what is happening in reality. A lot of people follow musicians/artists and don’t really keep up with what they themselves actually get up to. They only care about the music. 

I’m sure if you asked them what they thought about what he did they wouldn’t agree with it, but it seems like people prioritise propa tunes over anything else.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Matt42

[jparx]

I mean, if you’re trying to combat a potential backlash, walking out to Wake Up is the best play you’ve got.

Feels very gross, mind.

[scatteredscreens]

Wonder if Win will end up on Joe Rogan's podcast or something in a few months, Joe pretending to be an AF stan and denouncing the whole thing as cancel culture with Win nodding like a lapdog.

[Superscally]

3 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Absolutely loads, esp the 60's/70's rock bands with groupies throwing themselves at the band.

Yep. We all (well, most) kinda have very selective principles when it comes to this behaviour...unless that we're saying it didn't count till Bill Wyman/insert person non-grata...

[Superscally]

6 minutes ago, scatteredscreens said:

Wonder if Win will end up on Joe Rogan's podcast or something in a few months, Joe pretending to be an AF stan and denouncing the whole thing as cancel culture with Win nodding like a lapdog.

Nah. He'll realise the only way AF survive is to seem like he is contrite and either genuinely be so, or at least pretend to be. Could this be the Wake Up he needed? 

[efcfanwirral]

34 minutes ago, Matt42 said:

So I had a similar debate with a friend of mine on something completely unrelated - but the debate was essentially that cancel culture isn’t real, and what goes around online (controversy wise) is a very shallow view of what is happening in reality. A lot of people follow musicians/artists and don’t really keep up with what they themselves actually get up to. They only care about the music. 

Pretty much sums it up. Almost every one of my friends only sees this stuff if I send it to them. Put bluntly, they've got more important things to focus their attention on than I do. 

The vast vast majority of people's relationship with music is 1) listen to  band 2) see a tour 3) buy tickets 4) attend gig. Unless it's front page news or friends send it they have no interest beyond the above. 

It's a bit like glastonbury- most are "lineups out its good/bad and i want to see x" and completely bypassing the debate over who could/should headline we go through on here 

Edited August 30, 2022 by efcfanwirral

[zahidf]

This whole thing is really disgusting.

 

Fingers crossed if there's a sniff of any festivals next year, there's enough backlash to stop it happening. Complete denigrate scumbags 

[jannybruck]

It's easy to convince yourself everyone engages with news and social media with the way people here or on other music places might but yeah, it simply isn't the case.

I have lots of friends who love and are obsessed with music to an encyclopedic level but they aren't terminally online discussing the minutae of an artist's career - or even give a shit about what they do outside of music, for better or worse.

As much as this might be the biggest news story on music-internet this week it is a drop in the ocean for most listeners who have their own stuff to be getting on with.

I don't know what the future holds for Arcade Fire long term but I know once they inevitably go on hiatus after this tour loads of people won't have a clue this stuff happened.

Edited August 30, 2022 by jannybruck

[zahidf]

1 minute ago, jannybruck said:

It's easy to convince yourself everyone engages with news and social media with the way people here or on other music places might but yeah, it simply isn't the case.

I have lots of friends who love and are obsessed with music to an encyclopedic level but they aren't terminally online discussing the minutae of an artist's career - or even give a shit about what they do outside of music, for better or worse.

As much as this might be the biggest news story on music-internet this week it is a drop in the ocean for most listeners who have their own stuff to be getting on with.

I don't know what the future holds for Arcade Fire long term but I know once they inevitably go on hiatus after this tour loads of people won't have a clue this stuff happened.

Oh that's fair enough. I blame the promoters and band for cracking on after all this has come out.

[zahidf]

Really???

 

 

 

 

[stuartbert two hats]

10 minutes ago, zahidf said:

Really???

 

 

 

 

Feist are (is?) in a tough spot here. A mid-level act under contract can't easily make a stand and walk away. This is a way of making a protest without legal jeopardy.

[stuartbert two hats]

19 minutes ago, jannybruck said:

It's easy to convince yourself everyone engages with news and social media with the way people here or on other music places might but yeah, it simply isn't the case.

I have lots of friends who love and are obsessed with music to an encyclopedic level but they aren't terminally online discussing the minutae of an artist's career - or even give a shit about what they do outside of music, for better or worse.

As much as this might be the biggest news story on music-internet this week it is a drop in the ocean for most listeners who have their own stuff to be getting on with.

I don't know what the future holds for Arcade Fire long term but I know once they inevitably go on hiatus after this tour loads of people won't have a clue this stuff happened.

But surely not loads of potential Arcade Fire ticket/merch buyers? 

[Hugh Jass II]

Genuine question… how long should an act be cancelled for? A year? Five years? Ten? Permanently? Does it depend on the crime?

Plenty of acts engage in scumbag behaviour, ride the backlash then come back. I’m genuinely curious to know what the consensus is on how long someone should reasonably be persona non grata for. Obviously there are caveats around the nature of the crime, severity, other people involved, whether the perpetrator has previous and the level of remorse shown and felt…

The criminal justice system is built on the principle that once someone has completed their sentence, paid their debt to society and been rehabilitated to a level the courts deem appropriate then they are free to seek a living. The court of public opinion works rather differently however.

[zahidf]

13 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Genuine question… how long should an act be cancelled for? A year? Five years? Ten? Permanently? Does it depend on the crime?

Plenty of acts engage in scumbag behaviour, ride the backlash then come back. I’m genuinely curious to know what the consensus is on how long someone should reasonably be persona non grata for. Obviously there are caveats around the nature of the crime, severity, other people involved, whether the perpetrator has previous and the level of remorse shown and felt…

The criminal justice system is built on the principle that once someone has completed their sentence, paid their debt to society and been rehabilitated to a level the courts deem appropriate then they are free to seek a living. The court of public opinion works rather differently however.

It would help if they acknowledged their crimes and did a proper apology 

In terms of arcade fire, they've victim blamed and cracked on regardedless. So without nuance, I'm happy to say they can go fuck themselves 

[scatteredscreens]

35 minutes ago, Hugh Jass II said:

Genuine question… how long should an act be cancelled for? A year? Five years? Ten? Permanently? Does it depend on the crime?

Plenty of acts engage in scumbag behaviour, ride the backlash then come back. I’m genuinely curious to know what the consensus is on how long someone should reasonably be persona non grata for. Obviously there are caveats around the nature of the crime, severity, other people involved, whether the perpetrator has previous and the level of remorse shown and felt…

The criminal justice system is built on the principle that once someone has completed their sentence, paid their debt to society and been rehabilitated to a level the courts deem appropriate then they are free to seek a living. The court of public opinion works rather differently however.

I wrote something similar on the APE thread but basically the way I see it is, if you're a performer, celebrity, position of influence and you exploit that influence you have you don't deserve to go back to your previous work. They are free to seek a living, but in the public opinion like you say, I think it's untenable, you've completely broken trust, you lost your chance. And at the end of the day, there are plenty of jobs in the world that aren't performing in a band that Win could do and live fine.

[Suprefan]

2 hours ago, Matt42 said:

I thought that was interesting 

Ive seen them open with it before, it just hits a diff way today.
 

so is London next week gonna be empty or pretty much business as usual cause rock stars can do what they want?

Edited August 30, 2022 by Suprefan

[Toilet Duck]

I’ve written posts for this thread a ton of times over the last few days, and deleted them every time. I just didn’t know what I wanted to say. Still not sure I know.

So…I went to the show tonight. Before this, Arcade Fire were in a holy trinity for me along with R.E.M and Radiohead. I loved the new album and was really looking forward to seeing them live again. Then the news broke. It’s the most conflicted I’ve ever felt about going to a gig. I’d bought all the tickets for my friends, they were all there and I wasn’t going, until at the last minute I drove in and met them. They all knew about the allegations, general consensus among them was he’s a dirtbag, but if we knew what went on behind closed doors, there’s probably many more in the bands we love, so unless or until he’s convicted of something, then we can think he’s a d*ck, but still like his music.

I was genuinely surprised at the warmth of the reception they received (this was the album presale crowd, I was in different parts of it during the gig and everyone knew every word of every song from every album). There were precious few casuals there. And everyone knew. The band and Win came out swinging. Started with Wake Up (as they did the first time they played in Ireland), played from the mini stage in the middle of the crowd, and anyone who may have been floating away beforehand was hooked and reeled back in in that instant. At one point, Win acknowledged the allegations, simply to say don’t believe everything you read (so, he’s clearly a way away from actual contrition). Notably, it didn’t receive any reaction, almost as if the crowd were saying, don’t push it (well, either that or don’t mention it). I really struggled for the first few songs (even though they were Wake Up, Age of Anxiety I and Ready to Start, all of which sounded fantastic)…and then during Tunnels, I thought, F*ck you Win, you’re not taking this away from me. It was selfish and I went back and forth all night.

As far as their performance goes, it’s the best I’ve ever seen them (they finished with a cover of Dreams by The Cranberries sung by Regine and left an enraptured crowd behind). If it wasn’t for what preceded it, I’d be loudly and repeatedly banging the pyramid headliner drum. But not now. It’s tainted. The only feeling close to it is hooking up with your ex. You run into them, they look great, you chat, you remember why you loved them, you have a great night and in the morning, you hate yourself for falling for it and remember why you broke up. 

[scatteredscreens]

15 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

I’ve written posts for this thread a ton of times over the last few days, and deleted them every time. I just didn’t know what I wanted to say. Still not sure I know.

So…I went to the show tonight. Before this, Arcade Fire were in a holy trinity for me along with R.E.M and Radiohead. I loved the new album and was really looking forward to seeing them live again. Then the news broke. It’s the most conflicted I’ve ever felt about going to a gig. I’d bought all the tickets for my friends, they were all there and I wasn’t going, until at the last minute I drove in and met them. They all knew about the allegations, general consensus among them was he’s a dirtbag, but if we knew what went on behind closed doors, there’s probably many more in the bands we love, so unless or until he’s convicted of something, then we can think he’s a d*ck, but still like his music.

I was genuinely surprised at the warmth of the reception they received (this was the album presale crowd, I was in different parts of it during the gig and everyone knew every word of every song from every album). There were precious few casuals there. And everyone knew. The band and Win came out swinging. Started with Wake Up (as they did the first time they played in Ireland), played from the mini stage in the middle of the crowd, and anyone who may have been floating away beforehand was hooked and reeled back in in that instant. At one point, Win acknowledged the allegations, simply to say don’t believe everything you read (so, he’s clearly a way away from actual contrition). Notably, it didn’t receive any reaction, almost as if the crowd were saying, don’t push it (well, either that or don’t mention it). I really struggled for the first few songs (even though they were Wake Up, Age of Anxiety I and Ready to Start, all of which sounded fantastic)…and then during Tunnels, I thought, F*ck you Win, you’re not taking this away from me. It was selfish and I went back and forth all night.

As far as their performance goes, it’s the best I’ve ever seen them (they finished with a cover of Dreams by The Cranberries sung by Regine and left an enraptured crowd behind). If it wasn’t for what preceded it, I’d be loudly and repeatedly banging the pyramid headliner drum. But not now. It’s tainted. The only feeling close to it is hooking up with your ex. You run into them, they look great, you chat, you remember why you loved them, you have a great night and in the morning, you hate yourself for falling for it and remember why you broke up. 

Just wanted to say, don't feel bad about attending the gig. I'm not judging anyone going to these shows now. You're not to blame, and you've paid your money (lord knows the value of it now) without knowing and it wasn't cancelled. I'd certainly be having conflicting opinions too but I wouldn't judge anyone's personal judgement on attending, especially if they're given it as much thought as you have.

[zahidf]

5 hours ago, scatteredscreens said:

Just wanted to say, don't feel bad about attending the gig. I'm not judging anyone going to these shows now. You're not to blame, and you've paid your money (lord knows the value of it now) without knowing and it wasn't cancelled. I'd certainly be having conflicting opinions too but I wouldn't judge anyone's personal judgement on attending, especially if they're given it as much thought as you have.

Yeah, it's a lot of money to throw away. So no judgements if you bought tickets ages ago...

Its the bands fault now. From Wins comments onstage,;it's clear he's not sorry about what happened.  So I'm a lot clearer about cancelling the fuckers

[FuzzyDunlop]

Due to a few things, Ive not really kept up with the news recently. Yesterday, reading this thread was the first I knew about the allegations.

I have a ticket for Saturday's show in Manchester.

There are 6 of us going, including 2 women. 2 of the group have a hotel booked. I put it in a whatsapp group. Our consensus is - we are going. 

We have already paid. Not going makes no real difference to AF or Win. Maybe it does? I don't know, maybe. 

This is gig probably goodbye & thanks for the memories though. Im not willing to say he's 100% guilty as I don't know, but it doesn't look good. This will be the last time for me, I am pretty sure of that. If they'd have cancelled, I'd rather have had that if I am honest.

Edited August 31, 2022 by FuzzyDunlop