Arcade Fire - 2010-12-11 - Manchester Central, UK

A small group of us managed to get a place up front, stage left, and fortunately the recording turned out pretty good. This is particularly true given I was stood on the 2nd row with the left-hand speaker stack high above my head. There is the occasional moment of “crowd participation”, but what else would you expect when such singable and join-inable songs are on offer! Anyway, I’ve already berated one or two of the offenders (you know who you are!) on behalf of any potential listeners.

Many people expressed reservations about seeing The Arcade Fire in such a large venue, but all the reports I read gave both a big thumbs up, and I heartily endorse those sentiments. The venue was great and these days the band are equally at home in arena-style venues as they are in their occasional foray back into the realm of intimate shows.

Despite a somewhat unsavoury incident caused by the band's management (before the support act came on stage - an incident well-documented elsewhere), the show itself was typically excellent. And although their set lists remained pretty static during this tour (probably to help the band members plan for their next instrument and location from the myriad used during their shows), it was still a pleasure to watch these soon-to-be Grammy winners at work. You could tell they were enjoying it right from the moment they took the stage and this was often backed up by Win's frequent banter both between and during songs.

Enjoy!  :-)

Arcade Fire - 2010-12-11 - Manchester Central, UK - FLAC
615MB RAR archive, FLAC format


Arcade Fire - 2010-12-11 - Manchester Central, UK - MP3
178MB RAR archive, variable bit rate MP3s (min. 245 kbps)

Setlist:

01. Ready To Start
02. Month of May
03. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
04. No Cars Go
05. Haiti
06. Empty Room
07. Rococo
08. Deep Blue
09. The Suburbs
10. Crown of Love
11. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
12. We Used To Wait
13. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
14. Rebellion (Lies)
15. Intervention
16. -encore break-
17. Keep The Car Running
18. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
19. Wake Up

(Photo courtesy of John Gleeson - see more by clicking on his name)

(Download links updated on 27th January, 2013)