Arcade Fire Addicts Anonymous

Hi, my name is Reed, and I’m addicted to the Arcade Fire. It’s been 43 hours since I last played Funeral in its entirety. No, please don’t applaud. I listened to Power Out before work this morning. It’s OK, though. I’m not ashamed anymore. I’m just going to have to live with listening to the Arcade Fire for the rest of my life. I can't pinpoint how I got hooked. I’m pretty sure that the first time I tried it, nothing much happened to me. I was basically unaffected. But then, people kept playing it when I was around. By about the fifth time, I realized I had to get my own copy.

I can’t really remember the steps that happened next. I just know that I kept spinning Funeral more and more often until one fateful day when I played it on repeat and decided I couldn’t leave my room for any reason. I was lucky to make it out of there. I think my friend Kyle lured me out with the promise that he’d let me hear their first EP if I’d go outside and take one deep breath of fresh air.

Then there was that time I was playing my I-pod on shuffle, and right as I disembarked from a plane, Wake Up came on. I turned it up, and as I strode through the terminal, I felt eleven feet tall. I was floating past everyone. Granted, I was finally free of a cramped seat next to an obese man who fell asleep on me and snored for an hour, but this was a truly serendipitous shuffle event. I can not walk through an airport after a flight without putting on Wake Up now. I highly recommend it. Just know it’s a new level of addiction. I can never go back.

However, there’s another level of demand I have heretofore merely tasted - seeing the band live. My lone experience with this was at Lollapalooza ’05, on a day where the temperature peaked at 108. The band surpassed my wildest expectations. They were beating each other over the head, tackling one another and diving into the audience. The entire crowd was blown away. You can ask anyone who was there. I had another opportunity to score some live Arcade Fire when they returned to Chicago to play the Riviera. Alas, I was unable to hook myself up. I tried hitting up the furthest reaches of craigslist and stubhub, but all I got was offers for Ween and Cibo Matto. I long to enhance my devotion to this band and take things to another level, given the proper connections. I just fear what that will mean for the rest of my life.

Thank goodness I have another fix coming on March 6th in the form of Neon Bible. And if they don’t have a copy for me at the store, I might throw a fit that will get me arrested. I’m getting the shakes just thinking about it. Quick, I-pod, play me some Funeral. Ahhhh, that’s the stuff…