Again, late on this whole blog thing. Finales are coming up and blah blah blah...
Anyways
So last Sunday at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros was the last band for the festival. How can I put this...if you have not heard of this band, you must listen to them now and go ahead and buy yourself a ticket to the next show they have. These guys are phenomenal, they where just in Arizona on the Railroad revival tour (which I missed out on) just a week before and still came back to help put on a show at the Festival, which was raising money for a couple of charities in Arizona.
Even though you could tell these guys where exhausted before they came on stage, they still gave over 100 percent of their energy and gave a amazing performance. Besides playing almost all their songs off their album, they also played a couple of songs that were in the works (which I must say just from the 3 songs they sang, I already know it's going to be a great album). For their popular song Home, Jade was gone (not sure why) so Alexander (the lead singer, no there is no body in the band named Edward Sharpe) invited fans who knew the words to come up and sing with the band.
Gotta give the kid in the yellow shirt/hippie dad shirt his props. He had a busted up foot and came to this festival. Got to love those kind of fans. Of course everyone sang to this song and wend crazy for it.
For those of you that don't know what Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros sounds like, I guess the best way to describe it as....the 1970's folk music meets the 2000's. Their music reminds me a lot of the era. It's a fresh yet familiar sound.
One of the things that I must say I admire about the band is how much they truly love their fans. Most bands kind of shrug off fans as if they are possessive idiots but these guys don't. When I saw a partially crazed fan (who pushed her way to the front) ask to get a picture with the lead singer, he actually stood there and explained why he couldn't do that. Usually most lead singers brush fans off and keep walking like most band members I've seen do. Everyone must respect someone with that much genuine care for fans. These days I fill like most bands that start getting just a little popular, start to forget who put them there. Fans. Doesn't matter if they've been there since the first demo release or got turned on by the radio. Fans are fans.
So there's my little rant on that. Enjoy the pics! Again, wasn't able to use my Canon beast. Thank God for Panasonic!
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Once in a blue moon does a band appear and are truly original and utterly astounding.
Arcade Fire would be just that. Their music is manna from heaven. A God send. They are not a footnote or a paragraph and don't just fill a niche or a void in the ongoing story of music. They have an entire chapter!
This past Wednesday I had to opportunity to see them perform at the Comerica Theater here in Arizona, all without having to spend a cent on a ticket. How I did this was by volunteering to help with the Partners In Health booth. If you have never heard of this amazing non-profit organization, you must check them out. It is a cause that I am truly believe in. Not only are they making a difference in poor countries around the world, but they have created stability in helping them out.
Before I tell you about the ringing in my ears from the concert I want to take a sec to tell you about Partners in Health. They started in 1987, first starting their mission in Haiti. They work in several other countries as well including the U.S.. They provide free health care and education for the people of Haiti. 90% of the employees in Haiti are Haitian. Unlike other organizations, they listen to what they people say they need, not telling them what they need. And are proactive with Haiti's Government.
If you didn't know Regine, one of the lead singers of Arcade Fire, is Haitian. Though she was born and raised in Montreal, both of her parents are from Haiti. How the band became involved in with PIH was by reading the book "Mountains beyond mountains" by Tracey Kidder. The book is about PIH and the CEO founder Dr. Paul Farmer. I have read the book myself and I recommend everyone to read it (which means a lot because I hate reading). It is a wonderful book that is both inspiring and moving.
The group of volunteers and I got to sit and talk with Markia, one of the violinist that travels with Arcade Fire, and just hearing her talk about PIH and how involved the band is and seeing the passion that even she had for the organization was great.
Anyways back to the concert. (But seriously check out Partners In Health, they are an amazing organization).
My ears are still ringing of the phenomenal sound of Arcade Fire. The best tinnitus there is.
I've been in love with Arcade Fire for the past 3/or 4 years. I wish I was cool and be able to say I've been listening to them since I was 13 like my hipster friends. But sadly I can not.
The screen on stage light up with the start of an old fashion movie theater "Feature Presentation"title
Arcade Fire opened up with "Month of May," with full energy. From then on they continued to play a variety of songs off their new and pass albums. Through out the entire show all the members of the band played with 110 percent of their energy and passion. Even when one person only had a couple of notes to play they would still be rocking out. The best part of watching them perform was seeing one of the members dance while playing the xylophone.
What I find one of the most unique thing about the band, is that majority of the bands members rotate playing instruments. Regine (1/2 of the lead singers and co-founder of the band) seemed to be everywhere when it came to playing on stage. First she was playing the drums, then the piano, then became the front woman singing, then the accordion, piano again, then some kind of instrument that I had never seen in my life before.
At the end of the set they played their hit Wake Up. I personally love it when a band plays that one song everyone in the room knows and loves. Mainly because of all the people freaking out and finally getting their butts off their seat and dancing. Then they encored with Ready to Start and Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). Sprawl II being my favorite off their newest album "The Suburbs"
In a nutshell, if not number one, I'd have to say that is the top 3 best concerts I've ever been too. The energy, sound and passion coming from the band that night still makes me geek out when I tell people about it. Definitely put them on my list of bands that sound better live than on their CD I recommend everyone reading this to check this band out. If you don't like them, then your tone deaf or have no taste in good music ;P They aren't your generic,run of the mill band.Check.Them.Out.
Here are some of the pictures I caught from that night. Didn't use my professional camera (I knew I wouldn't be able to bring it in), so I used my Panasonic Lumix to capture the overwhelming greatness from that night.
Enjoy!