i got a seat for saturday, but im considering standing out tonight for a spot.

did they go on at nine like tuesday? and what's the scene like at the door, a long wait to get in?

BV, the 3 day pass is sold out and tickets for Saturday and Sunday. Friday tickets are still available...

I'm seriously going to cry...coachella sold out...and I just saved up enough money to buy a 3-day pass...ARGHHHH

I guess I used up all my good music karma by scoring a last-minute face value ticket to AF last night :(

they promptly started at 9 and ended at 10:15. The line hit the end of the block; I am unsure if everyone was able to get tickets, but if you go on line at 6 you should be fine. Waiting is worth it.

I went last night, with tickets, and a friend from work went at 6 with no tickets and made it in fine buying one on the door.

As for the show, the band's sound was pretty dense and rich, though they're far from a tight band. That's part of their charm, mixed with having a crack at whatever vintage instrument is kicking around. They outshine their album live. Neon Bible sounds positively dull compared.

I only wish they'd played with this comfort and energy at their relatively boring show last time I saw them at Webster Hall. Still unsure if it's worth all this hype, but a fun night out, and a good short, sharp set.

Contrary to the NME's report, they ended on Tunnels, not Laika.

That said, my most resounding thought of the evening was wishing they'd played Town Hall. At least then (with better sound) they audience would have had a reason to not dance by sitting down. It was funny to listen to the band make fun of New York audiences, particularly Tuesday nights. Dare to move.

anyone know if they're selling more than one ticket per person at the door?

you pay as you walk in, dont actually get a physical ticket. no re-entry.. so i guess no, not selling more than one at the door.

dont worry, coachella tix will be floating around as it gets closer. that many tickets sold, they all won't be spoken for. dont sweat it.

Win is sick; I wouldn't be surprised if tonight was the last show.

video from last night at http://www.jonasbrandon.net/blog

Went last night and I have to agree with other reports that the sound quality is pretty weak in Judson. They are trying to push a ton of music through a very small speaker set up and the result is a very muddled, cloudy sounding show. It was fun none the less though, I was psyched when the band entered through the crowd, added a whole other level of intimacy to the show. It was so nice and roomy inside, felt so privileged!

last night's show was stellar.

highlights:

-win threatening to walk off stage if the crowd didn't dance (to which the crowed replied to).

-more mumblings about joe simpson at the beginning of antichrist television blues.

-regine dancing during haiti. the best. to say regine has been KILLING it wouldn't be an exaggeration by any means.

-win mentioning that they don't celebrate valentines day "where I'm from," but "because we're here, I'm dedicating this song to my beautiful wife regine." (my body is a cage).

-win slow-dancing with himself during "ocean of noise."

-juno-award-winning guitarist richard reed perry screaming at the sound guy to turn up the pipe organ.

great show, mildly dancey crowd, sound mix ranged from great at times (no cars go) to totally muddled (body is a cage), but the dancing/sound really picked up towards the end. as an op-ed, two things: (1) i don't think the "crowd" issue should even be an issue. if you want to dance, dance - be in the back and dance, get people around you to dance - and if you can't dance because the people around you aren't dancing (and billy idol would agree), you're doing it for the wrong reasons. and too-cool crowds are a symptom of the genre of music, not new york. (2) the arcade fire is going to be as good of a live show as you want them to be, and they really do play their asses off. to disagree with this is fine, but to call them "terrible" is just to object for the sake of objecting: if you want a polished, perfect show, go see, i don't know, carrie underwood or the grammy's or something.

as for the "don't come around our parts. asshats," i mentioned in the earlier post, whoever called me on it, you're right.

the point i was trying to make, however, was that people shouldn't come to the BV boards (or said band's shows) to trash on a band the way some here do - there's got to be a different way for those guys to get off that's less annoying. as for 'asshats,' yeah, it's toilet humor. but people who come on a board to add nothing to the conversation but "counting crows would tear these guys up in their asses" or whatever - which, let's face it, is a total non sequitur - kind of deserves to be called something. maybe not an asshat. "philistine" might work, though.

please stop taking photos. you don't need to prove that you were there. if i was there, i saw the band. if i wasn't, i don't need to see your photos.
-daniel

What's wrong with taking photos? I like photos.

Daniel,
Your photo comment is weak. Photos are not necessarily about "being there"... much like nyc crowds, hehehhe, jk. Much like why I take them is to simply capture a moment.
Peace

totally agree, please stop with the photos. while you're busy "capturing the moment" you're actually not really a part of the moment anyway. if your attention was fully focused on the sonic experience, you may find that your memory is enough. it's like "yay, i got all of these great shots of the show i spent trying to get these great shots". you may have some nice material to reflect back on 10 years from now, but it's a farce- you weren't really there. you may as well buy the poster.

oh, and by "capturing the moment" through a lens, you're often encroaching on my moment. You know, the one I'm actually in.

I love photography and respect photographers. I think the number one reason shows aren't that fun anymore, particularly in New York, is that you have 50 cameras and cell phones in the air at all times, and not enough people actually enjoying the music.

Remember the music? The "experience" that doesn’t show up on camera?

Agreed. Many of us go to so many shows that if we didn't take photos, we'd never be able to keep all the bands straight. And when I don't go, I like to see what I've missed.

BV...Great coverage as usual.
I'll be trying to get in tonight(fingers crossed).
Thanks for the info everyone.

I use my camera to take videos at shows, and they come out pretty good.

Is it really that annoying for someone to take pictures?

It seems like some of you look for reasons to leave a show disgruntled, as supposed to focusing on the reasons that it was enjoyable...

And for the Coachella comment...that kind of relieves me...I just hope I'll be able to afford the plane ticket once they start floating...

oh, and I totally agree, Régine was pretty awesome

Db,
Look, i was referring to the casual photographer, not the idiot boyz musicstupiddery and the fat asian with the ugly plaid suit jacket who takes video/pics and gets mad at ppl like me who are movin too much and who takes snap after snap and posts garbage pics. It's quite a talent to figure out which lighting and photo will look good (I may take like 4 to 10 max) and half are great and the camera is gone, forgotten, whatever is there is there. Either way, as for enroaching on your fun? Look your at a show, pics are taken, i was recently elated to see someone take a shot of me rockin out to lightning bolt admist the crowd. It was awesome. Then I threw a beer at his camera.

As a photographer. I agree. there are too many "photographers" at shows. The cell phone and digital camera have turned everyone into a photographer. The fact is, no matter how bad their pictures turn out, people are going to continue to take photos at show as long as they're allowed to. They will always be at shows, along with
- "the guy who yells Freebird"
-"the tall dude who pushes to the front only to stand directly in front of the short girl"
-people who talk loudly on their cellphone while the band is playing
the insanely drunk guy/girl who wants to slamdance at a Cocorosie show

and all the other hated concert regulars.
I'm just glad that people seemed to have stopped with the "call you friend and put your phone in the air" thing.

I will continue to shoot concerts on a regular basis. And that will bother some people. But I try not to hinder other people's experiences. I don't use the ever annoying flash.
Does taking pictures cause me to miss the moment? Not at all. You can photograph and enjoy a concert at the same time, but I opted not to bring my camera last night, mainly to experience The Arcade Fire to the full extent.

I take 5-15 non flash shots at every show I'm allowed to take them. The rest of the time I'm enjoying the music, not talking, maybe dancing(at least always headbopping, not texting, not spilling drinks and I'm not a tall guy.

If you don't like it TFB because I've got to put up with all the other people who are talking, spilling beer on me, texting, standing in front of me etc....

No I don't take photos as an IT thing. I don't care who sees them they are for me and I try to be polite in my taking of them. Its part of my concert experience.

HT

"the tall dude who pushes to the front only to stand directly in front of the short girl""

While the heated debate rages... I'm sure there are tall people who are dicks and deliberately find shorter people to stand in front of, but as a 6'4" guy, I tent to think I can stand where I want (so long as not rudely pushing to fit in) since I too paid my money to a General Admission show. Take it up with my mom and dad, they're to blame, but don't go peeing your pants. Bring a milk crate.

H the Tall Dude,
I was strictly referring to the tall dudes who rudely push to the front, and squeeze directly in front of people shorter than them. It's the act of deliberately squeezing in front of someone short that is bothersome. If a short person comes in after you and stands behind you, it's their problem, as much as it may suck.

A couple of commenters (assuming they're not the same person) on Stereogum's post about the "ugliest musicians ever" ( http://www.stereogum.com/archives/004617.html ) claim Regine deserves to be on the list (Feb. 14 11:28PM, Feb. 15 2:04AM).

the issue with tall dudes is that they are also chronically late. Very annoying for some asshole who looks like he should have a basketball stapled to his hand squeezing in the front 2 seconds before the headliner. Dick.

Anyone else thinking "bullshit" on the Coachella sellout already. Pixies reunion sure... Madonna probably... but this line up? 60,000 tickets per day already gone and at those prices? I'm very suspicious. Something doesn't seem right.

Thursday's show was fucking fantastic.

MUCH better than Tuesday night.

I didn't go to the other two so I can't compare, but the Thursday show was awesome. they really are terrific. I think they played a little longer tonight: 8:50-10:15.

The sound started off terrible but got steadily better as the show went on.

I thought the crowd was OK considering almost the entire show was new material.

i've been to all 3 shows...and tonight was the best of the 3...'wake up' in the middle of the crowd was excellent...i'll be there tomorrow too!!

If Coachella is sold out...my life is not worth living.

I've put off seeing most of the bands on the roster so I could see them all in one place.

ebay here I come...

Anyone know roughly how long of a cab ride it is from the Church to Penn Station? I have to have my car out of the parking lot by midnight which means I have to catch the 10:34 train. Just trying to get an idea if I have to leave the show before 10:15. Thanks for any help.

the thursday night show was GREAT! so much energy from the band and the crowd, and a lot of rock royalty in attendance (david byrne, lou reed)!!!

A USER-FRIENDLY GUIDE ON HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATE THE ARCADE FIRE TICKET RELEASE PROGRAM:

Yesterday I showed up at 5:50 and was 57th in line. I was 5-10 ft around the corner of the building. At about 7 the door man (who is a diesel trucker on his game) went through the line and laid odds. He said we were in the "gray area."

After they split the line into will call and no tix, I was on the corner. There are indeed 7:30 (extra tix released) and 8:30 (guest list no show evaluation) ticket releases. At 7:30 less people were let in than we thought (20ish). I was 35-40 people deep at that point (25 ft from the corner).

At 8ish the doorman came back through with a re-assessment. Right at my group he said, "You guys and beyond almost definitely will not get in." "Almost" kept us in the game. Shortly before 8:30 he counted off and counted 5 people behind me before cutting off. I indeed got in. I can't imagine more than 5-10 people behind me getting in.

And now it's the weekend people. You best get up in that business earlier than early.

As for the show, it was spectacular and well worth it (the doctor insists I only really need one testicle from a functional standpoint-- layer up but realize there's no coat check).

The sound system is fine. It's a church, so obviously it doesn't have Webster Hall's 20 ft high speaker towers. For the "I couldn't understand what anyone said" people, a more accurate statement would be to say, "I couldn't understand anything Richard Reed said because he kind of mumbles and his mic isn't turned up as loud as Win's." If your such a music snob that you make music snobs look like tepid NKOTB fans, I would think you don't enjoy most shows you go to.

Bottom line: if you love AF you're going to love the show. Godspeed.

last night's show far exceeded my expectations. I also think the crowd responded to all of the shit talking across these comment threads the last couple days. the band fed off that. set list:

"Black Mirror"
"Antichrist Television Blues"
"No Cars Go"
"Haiti"
"Black Wave/Bad Vibrations"
"My Body is a Cage"
"Windowsill"
"The Well and the Lighthouse"
"Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)"
"Rebellion (Lies)"
"Intervention"
------------------
"Neon Bible"
"Wake Up" (performed in the middle of the crowd)

Actually the door guy was way off. He told about 75 people that they was no way they were getting in. Most of the people behind me left and I was at least 20 people behind the may get in. After spurts of people getting let at about 8:48 I got in just as te band took the stage. I know at least a few more got in because I saw one of them inside later.

Advise if you wait tonight or sat. Wait it out the door guy has no clue how many he is going to let in and their is plenty of room inside.

In regards to the show, at times the sound system was a little of but it didn't matter because the Arcade Fire made up for it. Great show loved they had the horn players playing one song in the balcony and ending the show in the audience.

Plenty of people dancing and enjoying the show too.

Ryan, you are awesome. I was wondering what the coat check situation was. What time should someone with a will call ticket get there? I am sick and really don't want to wait 1-2 hours in the cold if I don't have to. (not that anyone would want to)

I wish I could go. Why can't they come to Florida!

is it really worth freezine your arse, balls, tits, etc off?

is it really worth freezine your arse, balls, tits, etc off?

yes

I stood in line for two hours on Wednesday and it was WELL worth it.

My only recommendation? Wear like 4 pairs of socks, and something that will keep your feet dry. That was the only body part I thought was going to freeze off.

And if you show up early enough and can stand right in front of the stage, you can put your coats/bags/whatever on the railing or right behind it...pretty much everyone close enough to reach did, and the people in the front were cool about letting those in the vicinity share the space.

Also, the sound was awesome right in front (which I hear is NOT the case from the very back), and it was not cramped at all...for some reason people were very cool about giving everyone their space...

I'm not the kind of person who usually stands right in front of the stage (in fact this may have been the first time), but since I had waited a couple hours and was the 9th person in the door (necessary to even get inside), I didn't see any reason not to. I probably would have walked to the back if people had started squishing me against the railing, but since there was a lot of extra space everyone was really civilized. And in hindsight, the sound issues that seemed to plague everyone else did not affect me, so it was a wise decision.

Word.

JK, you forgot KEEP THE CAR RUNNING which they played 2nd after BLACK MIRROR and before ANTICHRIST TELEVISION BLUES.

JK, you forgot KEEP THE CAR RUNNING which they played 2nd after BLACK MIRROR and before ANTICHRIST TELEVISION BLUES.

"is it really worth freezine your arse, balls, tits, etc off?"

Um...You bet your sweet arse it was worth it.
We got there about 7:00 and got in at 8:50 as the first song, Black Mirror, was starting. Then all of a sudden I forgot about my frostbit toes.
It was a "magnificent" (quote from David Byrne) show. I have to agree.

Learned about this last night:

http://pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/41185/Exclusive_Arcade_Fire_to_Play_Saturday_Night_Liv#41185

If you have a connection at SNL now's the time to use it

"I am sick"

Then do everyone else a favor and stay home, Typhoid Mary.

Arcade Fire.
2.15 & 2.17
Judson Memorial Church NYC.
Mind-Blowing.
http://mybigmouthstrikesagain.blogspot.com/

Set lists for all nights...

2/13/07
Keep The Car Running
(Anitchrist Television Blues)
Black Mirror
Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
My Body is a Cage
Neon Bible
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
--------------
Windowsill
The Well & The Lighthouse

2/14/07
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Mirror
Keep the Car Running
(Anitchrist Television Blues)
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
My Body is a Cage
Windowsill
The Well & The Lighthouse
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
--------------
Ocean of Noise
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

2/15/07
Black Mirror
Keep The Car Running
(Anitchrist Television Blues)
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
My Body is a Cage
Windowsill
The Well & the Lighthouse
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
------------------
Neon Bible
Wake Up (in crowd)

2/16/07
No Cars Go
Haiti
Black Mirror
Keep the Car Running
(Antichrist TeleVision Blues)
Black Waves/Bad Vibrations
Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son
The Well & the Lighthouse
Ocean of Noise
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
------------------
Neon Bible
Wake Up (in crowd)

2/17/07
Wake Up (in crowd)
Black Mirror
Keep the Car Running
No Cars Go
Haiti
Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son
Black Waves/Bad Vibrations
The Well & the Lighthouse
Ocean of Noise
Rebellion (Lies)
Intervention
-------------------
My Body is a Cage
Neon Bible
-------------------
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)

"Learned about this last night:"

also IN THIS POST.