Song of the Week (Arcade Fire - Suburbs)

It's official: the 2010 Concert Calendar is en fuego. Why couldn't this have happened over the Summer? Is there some sort of conspiracy, perpetrated by the likes of Ticketmaster or Live Nation, that caused this to happen? Many a Thursday night was spent at home...longing for some sort of live music to stem the tide. Don't get me wrong...there were bright spots, but the Summer calendar lacked coherence and/or consistency.

That, my friends, has changed in a big way. I just want to get this out there: I in no way endorse all of the bands on this list, but some of you might, so I narrowed it down a bit...but not too much:

Monday, August 23 – Heart @ House of Blues
Tuesday, August 24 – Billy Idol
Thursday, August 26 – Meat Loaf @ House of Blues
Thursday, August 26 – Hot Hot Heat @ The Loft
Friday, August 27 – Ween @ House of Blues
Saturday, September 4 – John Mayer @ Superpages.com Center
Thursday, September 9 – The Wailers @ Trees
Saturday, September 11 – Dave Matthews Band @ Superpages.com Center
Tuesday, September 14 – Crystal Castles @ House of Blues
Sunday, September 19 – The Pixies @ Verizon Theater
Tuesday, September 21 – Tom Petty and ZZ Top @ Superpages.com Center
Wednesday, September 22 – O.A.R. @ House of Blues
Thursday, September 23 – Kings of Leon @ Superpages.com Center
Thursday, September 23 – Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals @ Palladium
Friday, September 24 – Charlie Robison @ Granada
Saturday, September 25 – Drive By Truckers @ House of Blues
Sunday, September 26 – The Black Crowes w/ Band of Heathens @ House of Blues
Thursday, September 30 – Michael Franti & Spearhead @ House of Blues
Friday, October 1 – Shakira @ American Airlines Center
Friday, October 1 – Citizen Cope @ House of Blues
Saturday, October 2 – Citizen Cope @ House of Blues
Wednesday, October 6 – Vampire Weekend with Beach House and The Very Best @ Palladium
Wednesday, October 6 – Local Natives w/ The Love Language and The Union Line @ House of
Friday, October 8 thru Sunday, October 10 – ACL Festival in Austin @ Zilker Park
Saturday, October 9 – The National @ House of Blues
Thursday, October 14 – Blitzen Trapper @ House of Blues
Wednesday, October 20 – Sufjan Stevens @ McFarlin Auditorium (SMU)
Wednesday, October 20 – Gorillaz @ Verizon Theater
Monday, October 25 – Jonsi (from Sigur Ros) @ Verizon Theater
Wednesday, October 27 – Interpol @ Palladium
Wednesday, October 27 – Widespread Panic @ Verizon Theater
Satuday, October 30 – Ghostland Observatory @ Palladium
Saturday, October 30 – Galactic @ Granada
Monday, November 1 – Massive Attack and Thievery Corporation @ Palladium
Tuesday, November 2 – Of Montreal @ Granada
Thursday, November 4 – Mumford & Sons @ House of Blues

Crystal Castles, Massive Attack, Mumford & Sons...OH MY! I get jacked up just thinking about how much Massive Attack is gonna dominate the Metroplex.

Enough of this...on to SOTW:

The SOTW is clearly "Suburbs" by Arcade Fire. If you haven't heard of Arcade Fire by now, then you are one step behind my Mom...FACE! Even my cat, Sam, has been known to jam a little "Crown of Love" on his keyboard...and you f'ing know my cat has a keyboard!

The album 'Suburbs' is a stellar concept album based on...you guessed it...the Suburbs, and Suburban life. Interestingly, Win and William Butler, the lead singer and his brother, grew up in a rather familiar suburb in Texas known as The Woodlands. In my opinion, this makes the album, that much more badass. Similar to how Dazed & Confused struck a chord with us in our youth.

I can picture a young Spencer English cutting his teeth on the not-so-mean-streets of suburban Houston. This song/album is neither anti-suburbs, nor pro-suburbs. It's a pre-apocalyptic view of the pinnacle of suburbia - Suburban-TX. So, to the rest of Urban and Rural America...go F yourself!

Although this video is fan-made, I really enjoyed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4JrQpzno5Y

Shoutout to DP...same page.

Hope you Dig,
JZ