This review is a little late but definitely worth posting. I could go on forever about how highly anticipated _Neon Bible_ was for not only me and everyone I know in the internets/mog community as well as the real community outside this "series of tubes" but I think their live performance is an entity worth discussing entirely by itself.

The first issue of note is that I was a little surprised to find Arcade Fire playing a venue as huge as the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center (4600 seats). Yeah, that's right seats. As in, no standing room. Theatre style seats with thin rows and a huge balcony.

After their European church tour, I thought for sure that they would be interested in playing a venue called the Tabernacle which is an old converted church here in Downtown Atlanta. It is a smaller venue but bigger acts have stayed two nights in order to allow for bigger crowds before.

Anyway, ultimately what amazed me more was the energy when I walked in. The place was PACKED all the way back wall of the balcony. The mix was what I expected, college kids, tight-panted hipsters, and even a couple with their parents in front of where I was sitting.

This is a good time to mention where I was sitting. I was in one of the boxes that swept down, literally, onto the stage from this enormous balcony. That will come into play later.

So, the show starts with video being played on kind projection box type things spread about the stage and some evangelical murmuring barely intelligible over the screaming of the huge crowd. Then the band comes out.

Here is the biggest note about the show.

The single biggest mistake that bands make playing for a crowd of that size is that they are just a sea of screaming drunk crazed idiots. If you phone in your interest in playing your music, even if you are a blip to row ZZ, the crowd can tell.

Every member of Arcade Fire enjoyed that performance more than any member of any band I have seen perform in years.

This is vital for any show. I kept having to look back because it was so surreal to see kids all the way in the nose-bleeds on their feet screaming the lyrics back at Win, along with everyone in between. And it was all because they could tell what I could tell, this is amazing music every time.

Special thanks to:

The percussion section: You went off during every song and one of you ran two stories up on the banister and stopped right next to where I was sitting. Fantastic.

The accordion: Screw the harp. You are God's gift to the world.

Win Butler: You allowed everyone to flood the aisles and rush the stage. This probably broke some fire regulations. But you threw caution to the wind for your fans. Thank you so much.

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