×

16
17

What's Going on This Summer? (self.arcadefire)

submitted by Graham433

I know they have two festivals booked, but frankly, they haven't promoted them at all and I can't imagine them shipping their set and bringing their crew to Europe to only play two back-to-back festivals. Do you think more announcements are coming? Will they drop out? Play other gigs? WE_Continued tour?

all 24 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]AxDias 8 points9 points  (3 children)

I was happy but confused when I saw them confirmed for a music festival here in Portugal. Definitely not gonna miss this opportunity

[–]sebasblox 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I'm coming from nyc for meo kalorama!!

[–]Graham433[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I'm thinking about going for Cala Mijas the day before... only because you get the Kalorama headliners plus The Strokes. But definitely not buying tickets until it's clear that they will actually be playing the fest or announce better dates.

[–]teadrinkerboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. Feels risky buying them right now though

[–]rfamico 6 points7 points  (9 children)

I’m VERY curious as well. They still have some major/minor markets in Southern and Central US that they haven’t played yet, let alone South America. The plan was to play more shows this summer. My guess is that if those plans hold, expect additional announcements in March or thereabouts

[–]Monkeypud 7 points8 points  (8 children)

I think they were definitely planning on playing a ton of festivals this year (as they’ve typically done following a new album release) but clearly they’re being given the cold shoulder. I’m sure there is a fear of artists dropping out (a la Beck and Feist) and people boycotting festivals if they are given top billing. I personally don’t think it would make a big splash if they did but I know a small very vocal minority would lose their shit (just check any social media post about the band).

The fact the two festivals they are booked in announced their lineups super early makes me suspect they were agreed upon before the pitchfork article came out.

[–]rfamico 8 points9 points  (7 children)

Honestly any time I see Lumineers with a headlining spot, I assume it was meant for AF

Oddly enough, Feist and Beck dropping out probably netted the band more in net income than anticipated given that BE couldn’t possibly command as high a price for services

[–]Monkeypud 9 points10 points  (4 children)

I saw this posited a few months back and thought the same thing but a little investigating revealed that The Lumineers are waaaay more popular than I possibly could have imagined.

Some insane Spotify stats:

Lumineers Monthly Listeners: 18 mil Arcade Fire Monthly Listeners: 4 mil

Ho Hey and Ophelia are on the cusp of 1 billion streams (with a handful of others at 300+ mil), while AFs biggest songs are The Suburbs and Wake up at around 125 million. Nothing else in their catalogue cracks 100 mil.

Wish it was the other way around but when have the best artists ever been the most popular?

[–]rfamico 8 points9 points  (3 children)

Arcade Fire walked so Lumineers could run I guess

[–]Monkeypud 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Yep. It’s the same Radiohead/Coldplay dichotomy. The worse you make your music the more popular it becomes.

[–]rfamico 13 points14 points  (0 children)

What’s funny is that both of the inspirations have long since moved past the sounds that Lumineers/Coldplay aped. The AF today doesn’t even seem like the same band as the Funeral era band. Going from 7 Kettles to Rabbit Hole. Wild journey

[–]rfamico 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also wonder if they may try to pull a few surprise sets to avoid any pre-festival social media handwringing

[–]Graham433[S] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I feel the same way about The Lumineers and a ton of other bands like that. Every fest I see the Yeah Yeah Yeah's or Strokes get booked, I feel like a year ago Arcade Fire would've totally had a spot at. Even though The Lumineers have more listens--and this is just a theory--but I think it's because they have more mainstream "playlist-friendly" music, that gyms and cafes can put on shuffle and please everyone with. Aside from Wake Up and Suburbs, Arcade Fire has really never been that band.

[–]Monkeypud 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, for sure. Spotify streams are just one metric, and the Lumineers definitely do make more radio friendly music that caters to a wider audience. Curious to know how their album sales compare.

There is an argument to be made over the importance of quality over quantity from a fan standpoint as well. A highly acclaimed band like Arcade Fire, who has very passionate fans (are there that many Lumineers tattoos out there?) can be a big attendance draw because the fans will show up to everything.

I mean, the proof is that Arcade Fire has frequently received top billing at major festivals alongside pop and rock superstars for well over a decade now.

Edit: I know Reddit is a music snob echo chamber, but look no further than 4000 members in the Lumineers subreddit, vs 25000 for AF. I’m not trying to bash the Lumineers here, they’re fine, just find this all interesting.

[–]memwallNeon Bible 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I am also very, very curious.

[–]bbrodsky 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Back in 2016 they just did a couple random festivals, so it’s possible.

[–]Graham433[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely possible, but that was also part of the buildup to Everything Now. And those festivals were certainly bigger than these ones... I mean they headlined Panorama in New York with Kendrick Lamar, LCD, Sia, A$AP Rocky, The National. But my big concern is just that there has been no promotion (the bands website says they have no upcoming dates), and the more festival lineups come out that don't feature AF, the more it looks like those shows might be the only ones booked.

[–]Lennon2217 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I honestly don’t expect much from the band in 2023. They gotta let the dust settle from those very ugly Win allegations. All the media outlets that once embraced them have basically shunned them ever since unless it’s more bad news to dump on. They were forced to do that full tour because the article dropped less than 48 hours before it launched. Those festivals were also booked long before the allegations were made public. It’s hard to cancel or postpone a tour like that last second. Venues booked. Contracts signed. Crew members counting on that tour income. It’s a load of pressure. Win really needs to take a long time out which sucks for the band because they just came out of a 5 year hiatus. If or when the band ever does surface again with another album I got a feeling the band will look/feel very different.

[–]Ok-Criticism-7041 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Is anyone coming to Cala Mijas?
Do you have any recommendations on where to stay?

[–]the-boxmanNeon Bible 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've decided to expect nothing, and just enjoy that WE managed to get an album at all. That's it for now I expect. It's hard not to think about what even happens for this band next.

[–]sailor_rose 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Total side note, I'm genuinely curious, do you think all the members make equal amounts of money? I always saw Arcade Fire as having Win and Regine be the "main musicians", at least most known and those are the ones who are being featured and interviewed the most, from what I've seen.

[–]Graham433[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'd imagine Win, Regine, Jeremy, Richard, and Tim all make the same amount touring and Paul, Dan, and Sarah all make an equal but smaller amount of money touring.

[–]Party-Yoghurt-8462 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If they're going to announce anything, I'd expect it to come sometime in the next six weeks. The sort of unofficial summer tour announcement deadline is usually right around the end of winter. I was hoping for a summer amphitheatre tour. That's about where their audience seems to be at now, a place that doesn't look empty if there are only 6,000 or 7,000 people there.

Honestly, I have no idea what the band is going to do. I'd like to think there is a "plan" in place, but as each day goes by, I feel less and less confident about that.

I do wonder that if they don't do any additional touring, disappear for a couple of years, then release an album in say 2025, is anyone going to really care (aside from the core fans) at that point?

[–]teadrinkerboy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Extremely curious too. And I have the same thoughts. I’m wondering if those festivals will be cancelled but they’re literally top headliners. It’s clear the rest have shunned them. I wonder if they’ll play those two and do some tiny shows like in 2016.