#22 - Arcade Fire on SNL

So, the Arcade Fire is one of my favorite bands, and "Intervention" is not only my favorite song by them, but also maybe my favorite song ever. This weekend, the replay of SNL was the one where they perform the song, and I have to go on record - it might be my favorite performance of all time. (I would link to it, but it isn't on hulu or youtube.) Really, a couple of bars in and my eyes welled up a little. Arcade Fire is the only band that can produce this emotion out of me consistently.

Once, when we went to a Cowboy Junkies concert, someone in the crowd yelled out "Sweet Jane". Margo explained that they don't perform the song anymore because they have played it so much so often that it lost that initial meaning that it had for the band. I always wondered that about musicians - can you play one of your hits so many times that it loses that fire and emotion that it had the first time it was written? Does Eric Clapton still cry every time he plays "Tears in Heaven"? Was Rage Against the Machine still pissed the 8000 time they played "Freedom"?

But the SNL performance is great to me because it was before the album even came out. Win Butler hadn't had that chance to play "Intervention" so many times that he didn't still get pissed off so bad when he plays it. *Quick side note here - the song gets me all riled up too. And I don't know why - I don't fully understand the lyrics. I like to think they are anti-war, anti-Bush, against the hypocrisy of going to war for religion, etc. But, you can see the anger on his face as he starts the song, and the song is really beautiful, and you can just feel the emotion involved while they play the song.

The end of the performance on SNL though - Butler fully breaks a string on his guitar, and he is so agitated that he just rips the other strings off his guitar before slamming it into the ground. I remember when it first came out, that people called it a poser move and all, but really, when I watch it, I just think he is so angry by the song and the music that it is all he can do. So I can't really say anything bad about it.

Now, I know that they aren't the favorite band of everyone who reads this blog, but I just had to go on record - the performance moved me so much the other night that I just had to reaffirm my love for those guys. To see a band I love so much, playing such an emotional song so early on in the life of the song - good stuff.