Arcade Fire review — an uneasy blend of knees-up and damage limitation
Bringing maximalist showmanship to London, Arcade Fire's marathon Royal Albert Hall concert was an uneasy blend of rowdy celebration and damage limitation. Performing their newly released seventh album Pink Elephantin full, followed by a career-spanning second set, the Canadian-American indie-rock titans played for almost three hours beneath saturated hot-pink lights, artificial clouds and a revolving stained-glass heart. A Barbie band in a Barbie world. They also made inspired use of this venerable venue, with singer and multi-instrumentalist Régine Chassagne playing the Hall's magnificent pipe organ during several numbers, while her frontman husband Win Butler embarked on multiple extended walkabouts through the crowd.
These theatrical flourishes were highly effective, but at times it felt as if Arcade Fire were dancing around the giant (pink) elephant
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