Chantal Guy and Marc Cassivi | Arcade Fire: the pink elephant in the room

Our columnists Marc Cassivi and Chantal Guy saw the Arcade Fire show on Wednesday evening at Olympia. They exchange their impressions about the return to the stage and in album of the famous Montreal group, three years after the allegations of sexual misconduct against Win Butler.

Posted at 5:45 a.m.

Chantal Guy : Marc, it was you who made me discover Arcade Fire in the 2000s with their first album, Funeral. Your enthusiasm had stolen my curiosity for this Montreal group, and I went to see their show at the Corona Theater, in your company and that of many colleagues. Big thunderbolt, which made me follow their career. You were kind enough to invite me on their return on stage at Olympia on Wednesday evening, and I felt like we were completing a loop. But let’s say that a lot of water has flowed under the bridges since Funeral…

Marc Cassivi : We were young! There is a lot of nostalgia in my report to Arcade Fire. I walked in front of the hotel2tango, the studio where Funeral was recorded, on the way to the metro station on Wednesday, trying to remind me of the number of times I saw the group in the show. A dozen: on tour in England for Funeral – In Birmingham, there must have been 250 people – at the Granada theater in Sherbrooke for the world first of The Suburbsin Ottawa in the first part of U2, in place of festivals, at the Bell Center the last time, in 2017. I wanted to see Arcade Fire in a small room, as in Corona the first time with you. The opportunity makes the thief. We won’t be able to talk about the pink elephant in the room. I have the impression that we were also at the show to assess our degree of discomfort against Win Butler …

C. G. : You are the real specialist in Arcade Fire, which I saw four or five times, in very different contexts, including once during a JAM at 2 a.m. Reflector. A memorable moment, we were only thirty. My last Arcade Fire show goes back to the tour Everything Nowin the Bell Center, in a flamboyant staging, which I loved. Then the investigation of Pitchfork On the allegations of Win Butler’s sexual misconduct cooled my ardor, I passed my tour for the tour We. Three years later, for Pink ElephantI was still curious, while having the impression of participating in the return wave of “canceled”. But if Eric Lapointe fans return to his shows, why not me for Arcade Fire? Because in fact, it was not Win Butler that I wanted to see again, but the group, especially since he returned to his beginnings in a smaller room like Olympia. And it was rather successful, even if a certain innocence was lost on the way.

M. C. : I think that the fact that the group has remained united, that Sarah Neufeld is still there at the violin, that Régine Chassagne takes even more space on stage allowed me to reconcile me on Wednesday with the fact that I believe the alleged victims of Butler, but also in his excuses. I crossed a half-dozen friends at the spectacle, head women that I consider a lot. And then there were lots of young women in the room, not just “bros” who do not care about the investigation of Pitchforkthat I read before the show. It may be a little loose to use it as a screen, but it also contributed to the fact that for two hours, I let myself go to the pleasure of reconnecting with Arcade Fire en spectacle. It is on stage that the group takes its full measure. I understand that some pass their turn and you are absolutely right to say that an innocence is lost on the way. I had no desire to see Win in 2022-I did not go to the Bell Center-, but I do not regret our meeting this week.

C. G. : Me neither. I preferred to be there to see in my living room the Canadian being eliminated by the capital, in any case. I do not adhere to this idea that we must separate the man from the artist, and these allegations to which I will be part of his career forever. This reminds us that artists should never be put on a pedestal. But since #MeToo, there is a principle that I want. The works also belong to the public, and each spectator makes his choices in his soul and conscience. It is my story with this music that I also found when I went to see this show. And if we talk about music, I found it interesting that the first part was entirely devoted to the new album, of which we only heard two pieces. It’s always special to discover a show album, and Pink Elephant seemed darker, more “noise”, than the previous ones. I still have the ears that buzz.

M. C. : I also set myself with my buzzing ears. We are no longer young! I found it ingenious to present the whole new album in one go before a break. It is as if they made their own first part themselves. I liked this guitar wall, with that of Dan Boeckner – which was there at the time in Corona, in the first part precisely with Wolf Parade – which was added to those of Tim Kingbury, Régine and Win. I felt like I know the touns, when I heard most for the first time. And then the New Wave side of the pieces sung by Régine, with this Beat at the New Order, I liked it. She played Thérémine and she danced as on an exercise video of the 1980s while this big broken glass heart spun above the scene. She doesn’t change! I thought of Debbie Harry, for Heart of Glass. With Radiohead, it’s not bad my favorite band, Arcade Fire.

C. G. : Do not throw me on Radiohead, which I saw more often than Cidade Fire! I was really happy to see Régine Chassagne and her voodoo goddess side. It is true that the Son Arcade Fire means that you have the impression of already knowing the Tounes, obvious to their seventh album. Year of the Snakeit’s pure juice arcade and I particularly liked Circle of Trust. It is obviously in the second part, with a success list like Afterlife, Everything Now or Wake Upthat the reunion took place, even physically with Régine and Win who were walking in the audience, visibly happy also to reconnect with him. The advantage of a small room is this proximity. It was not as delusional as other shows that I saw Arcade Fire, but we couldn’t resist, and we all sang.

M. C. : I hope I have not broken the ears of my neighbors! They really know how to heat a room. I was afraid that Win will get out of the balcony to do crowd surfing. I was happy to see Richard Reed Parry at the reminder, taking a break from his paternity leave. An Arcade Fire show is always generous. It becomes a series of great successes. Personally, I would have taken more songs from the first albums, especially Funeral. I love singing these incantatory hymns in chorus. In show, it’s magic. Unlike Tuesday, we were not entitled to Rebellion (Lies) or at Ready to Start. On the other hand, they played No Cars Goone of my favorites since the first EP, and Haitiby emphasizing the work of the Kanpe Foundation. And then as in Corona in April 2005 – exactly 20 years ago! -, the group finished the show by walking towards the public to the sound of Wake Up… and a fanfare of Haitian carnival. In the taxi, after having placed you, Don’t Stop « Til You Get Enough by Michael Jackson played on the radio. Another good toune.