Who: Arcade Fire
Where And When: The Main Stage. 10pm, Saturday at Reading Festival.
Vibe: Magisterial. Although the crowd wasn’t the biggest, and the band don’t have the fattest of back catalogues, their chamber pop efforts brought a dignified aura over the Reading site, especially after Axl’s shenanigans.
Best bit: ‘Wake Up’, of course, which they cunningly saved to the end in that time-honoured manoeuvre. ‘The Suburbs’ and ‘Modern Man’ from this year’s album sounded pretty awesome from where we were standing too (which, incidentally, was right by the front, it wasn’t too hard to get there).
Low point: Hard to pinpoint. Maybe the fact the set wasn’t long enough.
Banter: Loads. Between humbly wondering why they were booked when they don’t have a “hit record” and humbly announcing they once watched Nirvana on this very stage, Win even found time to get a dig in at G N’ R by remarking “At least we’re punctual, right?”.
Verdict: Sublime. It wasn’t a mass congregation (as we expected), but the devoted faithful were more than rewarded for their dedication.
Rating: 8/10
Reading And Leeds Festivals 2010 – Full Coverage
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Arcade Fire at Leeds: video interview:
Watch the BBC’s coverage here: