Arcade Fire with the Breeders at the Xcel Energy Center, 10/29/17
Everything Now A friend invited me last-minute to see the Arcade Fire on their stadium tour. I had caught them once at a festival and remembered it as a raucous celebration of a show -- in my memory, now, it's more of a bright roar than anything. I thought it sounded fun to revisit, even though I haven't really heard any of their last couple of albums. The gimmick of Everything Now is that the band is sponsored by a bunch of fictional global corporations. The logos cover all the merchandise, the performers' clothing, and scrolled across the scoreboard and banners in the arena. I wasn't sure how I would like this. The pre-show was fascinating and also irritating, by design. Every few minutes a green-screened cowboy would take over the scoreboard and make an announcement in a patently fake accent. Win Butler's visit to our section Just as the band was entering, in a boxing-style procession to the center of the arena, I realized I had lost my wallet. I was...