Despite its picturesque Bolton Canyon surroundings and musical landmark status, the Hollywood Bowl is hardly an ideal venue in which to experience a rock show. High-energy music tends to lose its punch and muscular definition in this type of massive, open-air environment. The 18,000-seat amphitheater and summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic is much better suited to the more hushed tones of classical music and its more reserved patrons.
However, the adult alternative rock unit Arcade Fire proved to be well-suited to the cavernous environs of the Hollywood Bowl Thursday night. A lot of this had to do with the fact that, in concert, the Montreal outfit is as much an orchestra as it is a rock band. The Arcade Fire featured an astounding 10 musicians spread across the Bowl’s sprawling stage. There were two violin players, two horn instrumentalists, three guitarists, a keyboardist, a drummer and one particularly impressive multi-instrumentalist.
Instrumental versatility is a key component within the band. For example, the two horn-woodwind players tackled a slew of instruments, including French horn, tuba, various saxophones, trumpet and oboe. The fetchingly animated Régine Chass-agne proved to be Arcade Fire’s secret weapon as she played the hurdy gurdy, accordion, drums and several other percussion instruments. She also sang backup and even lead vocals on one song.
Given the breadth and depth of the instrumentation and layered vocals, there was little wonder that there was an exotic grandeur to the Arcade Fire’s dark hued music on this cool September night. At the Hollywood Bowl, the group proved infinitely capable of delivering epic-sounding moments with anthemic, big chorus numbers like the concert-capping “Wake Up.”
The focus of the evening was clearly on the Arcade Fire’s second and most recent album, the critically acclaimed “Neon Bible.” The stage was lit up with various neon forms, including a neon Bible hovering above the stage.
Arcade Fire scores big style points for a unique sound that merges art rock sensibilities with a more organic folk-orchestral base. There’s always a danger of ambitious bands like this tipping too far toward self-absorption and pretentiousness. But thankfully neither lead singer/songwriter Win Butler nor the rest of the band seemed too caught up with themselves on stage.
Butler came across as consistently humble and gracious. There was no sense of Bono-type self-congratulation when he announced that a dollar from each ticket sold from the band’s current tour is going toward health care in Haiti.
The group is performing at such a high creative level that it inevitably brings up questions about its future capabilities. Does the band continue to grow and amaze a la The Beatles, Talking Heads or even Green Day? Or does “Neon Bible” represent a peak that will never be duplicated or surpassed? Time will tell, though the fact that such questions are being asked at all speaks volumes about the Arcade Fire’s talent and promise.
