There is no excuse — none whatsoever — to ever let an Arcade Fire show go by without attending.  Reschedule your wedding, it's worth it.  It's shamefully possible that you have never heard of the Arcade Fire, or maybe you've been caught in an awkward indie conversation where you've heard of them, but haven't heard them.  Let me tell you this: the word 'energy' scarcely describes what it is that the Arcade Fire deliver.  Imagine, if you will, ten crazy Quebecoise running around a stage playing instruments including, but not limited to, violin, French horn, xylophone, an aluminum standup bass, accordion, mandolin, and hurdy gurdy.  Also hitting pretty much anything available with a drumstick — errant cymbals, a marching tom, motorcycle helmets, the catch-all mics at the front of the stage, the lighting rig, each other.  The band loves what their doing so much that you cannot help but be dragged in.  Numerous instrument changes, sexy-but-not-slutty dancing, very tasteful multi-media and one of the best groups of concert-goers I've ever associated with.  The last two songs before the encore were "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)" and the end of "Power Out' built up to an insane pitch before the opening of "Rebellion" snuck in underneath it all.  Amazing.  I'll admit it, I only knew about four AF songs prior to the show, but it doesn't matter.  I'm including the three songs most necessary to get the most from the show.
So, I don't want to say too much about how awesome the show was because you'll stop believing me, but I would like to say that I don't know how Montreal could have contained all of this.  When David Bowie found them and brought them to major label attention, he just may have saved that town from exploding.
I'm sorry, Billy Corgan, but I don't think that even Mellon Collie-era Pumpkins could hold a candle to this show.  But I'm still excited to see what you've got.

Here's what my concert-going buddy Dave had to say about it…

Arcade Fire // Myspace // Buy Neon Golden

MP3eesies: 

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Arcade%20Fire%20-%20Rebellion%20(Lies).mp3] 

Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #3 [Power Out] MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Arcade%20Fire%20-%20Neighborhood%20Three%20Power%20Out.mp3]

Arcade Fire - Wake Up MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/The%20Arcade%20Fire%20-%20Wake%20Up.mp3]