I love the band Arcade Fire.
There really isn't more i can say about it. There's this connection I have with their music and I can't help but feel overwhelmed with a flurry of emotions whenever I listen to it. I first saw them in 2005 at KROQ's Inland Invasion, then in 2007 at the Greek Theatre and Hollywood Bowl in support of their album Neon Bible, and twice last year at The Shrine Auditorium.
I was lucky enough to score entry to a secret show Arcade Fire had at The Ukrainian Cultural Arts Center off the 101 Freeway and Melrose. I waited in line 10 hours at the El Rey Theatre off Wilshire to be one of the 600 people that to gain entrance. You can also read more about this on The Hundreds website.
(side note: I wrote a very long entry that was about 4 paragraphs long... decided not to post it. but if you're interested email me and i'll send it to you. ;-))
Number 58 in line!
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Here's a shot of the line at the El Rey and the local entertainment... this dude said "i'm here to entertain you!". He really was here for us because he WOULD NOT LEAVE.
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10 hours in a line for tickets and the 9 hours of anticipation was well worth the wait. then around 9pm Friday night Arcade Fire hit the stage and proceeded to blow our minds away...
Ladies and Gentleman... ARCADE FIRE.
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
Arcade Fire Secret Show 02.11.2011
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That last picture is not the best picture of the show... but it accurately represents the daze I was in after the show. The show was by far one of the most amazing shows I've seen. If you missed out, here's a little video I made... you can also find it here on The Los Angeles Times website. (yeah i'm rubbing it in just a bit)

updated: Congrats to The Arcade Fire for winning Album of the Year for the record "The Suburbs". Knowing that an album that I've been listening to non stop since it came out won Album of the year makes me me feel like I won the grammy too! If any of you in The Arcade Fire ever read this blog or stumble across it PLEASE PLEASE let me be a your tour photographer! i'll give you a good price! ;-)
Enjoy!

-m

2 comments:

melissa says:
at: February 28, 2011 at 12:59 AM said...

ahhh! LOVED this. wish i could have been there

DreaTheGreat says:
at: April 15, 2011 at 12:09 PM said...

thanks for this.. your pictures helped me relive my moment with them!