So how did everybody first get into Arcade Fire?

dinahlou · 2023-03-17T13:45:52+00:00

lol, talking with an indie head crush on AIM and then downloading his recommendations on Limewire/Kazaa. then i bought funeral on cd

tylerpistol · 2023-03-17T13:25:08+00:00

I had just moved to Montreal in 2002 from Winnipeg and was checking our a church a friend of a friend recommended. The second week I went my friend Josh invited me to check out the band he used to play in at some small pub. The next week we saw them again in the band loft and he introduced me to his friend Win. I’ve been into the band a lonnnnnnngggggg time.

Glittering-Owl22 · 2023-03-17T11:45:49+00:00

I first heard Wake Up as an opener at the U2 Vertigo tour, loved it, bought Funeral, thought it was brilliant... And then somehow proceeded to completely forget about them! Dug out Funeral again during covid lockdowns, bought all the other albums and here I am, waiting for what's next.

One-Sea-6153 · 2023-03-18T02:58:47+00:00

Late to the party ...I'm 60. SiriusXM Spectrum plays Arcade Fire "Everything Now" frequently. Then I discovered The Suburbs. Then came WE. Then I flew to Seattle to see them in November. It was awesome.

GreenPlasticWaterCan · 2023-03-17T11:58:28+00:00

Have listened to Rebellion and Reflektor for ages but never gave the albums a proper listen. One day I did and became hooked and started "hating" myself for missing so many opportunities of seeing them live during festivals I attended.

odaigahara · 2023-03-17T11:57:23+00:00

First heard them from the Where the Wild Things Are trailer. 😎

djcooki75 · 2023-03-17T13:19:05+00:00

Was born in 2002, my parents discovered Funeral when it came out so I grew up listening to Arcade Fire

friskyspatula · 2023-03-17T13:03:54+00:00

Austin City Limits 2007

schwein11 · 2023-03-17T15:16:04+00:00

In January 2005 I was dragged by some friends to a concert at the 9:30 club in DC to see a band I hadn’t heard of. Best show I’ve ever been to

MuseofMike · 2023-03-17T14:13:41+00:00

Power Out.

taurentino · 2023-03-17T14:23:40+00:00

2007 SNL ep hosted by Rainn Wilson. They played Keep The Car Running and at the end of the first verse when like 8 people on stage all simultaneously screamed "WHEEEEN ITSSSS COMMMING" I get chills just thinking about it. Like who is this band that sings their songs with such incredible passion? I was hooked.

Lennon2217 · 2023-03-17T17:56:32+00:00

Fall of 2004. Those opening lyrics of Tunnels just sucked me straight in.

SnooSuggestions6394 · 2023-03-17T21:12:54+00:00

A girl I matched with on Tinder suggested The Suburbs. The date never happened but gave rise to what is likely a much deeper relationship with the band that I’ll cherish for life

themanebeat · 2023-03-17T13:06:34+00:00

Heard Wake Up played at a random house party in early 2005. Bought the album the next day. Saw the same song open U2's show later that year and then just had to go see them live. Nearly 20 years later I'm still going to their shows

Informal_Director662 · 2023-03-17T13:20:20+00:00

I remember “ready to start” when they played some award show when I was a kid. My brother was into them since that. I think I hoped on board during reflector

cosmicsugarstar · 2023-03-17T14:11:25+00:00

While getting ready for work in 2017, I was in my kitchen listening to the college radio station because I needed something different when Creature Comfort came on. I never heard anything like it, and I've been obsessed ever since. I'm sad that I didn't discover them in the early days, but at the same time, I don't think I'd have the same appreciation for their later material.

evilbatduck · 2023-03-17T14:43:53+00:00

Power Out was played a lot on the radio when it came out, bought Funeral and been a fan ever since.

seanmharcailin · 2023-03-17T14:55:37+00:00

It was May 5, 2006. I was in my friend’s dorm. We were pre-gaming before heading out for the night. I was sitting on the bed with an exchange student and he put on Rebellion (lies). I immediately loved it. Then a soccer ball rolled into the room and I jumped up to kick it out. Missed. Kicked desk instead. Broke toe. Went out anyway. Been a massive fan ever since.

daysweeksmonthsyear · 2023-03-18T02:34:33+00:00

Love this thread!! For me it was hearing lies on the radio when it first came out and I was like who is this I love wins voice and here I am still loving them so much more 20 years later

LaytonsCat · 2023-03-17T11:59:54+00:00

I heard Rebellion on a really shitty Prairie classic rock station in like 2013. Probably filling their cancon requirements.

Loved it

jaxon58 · 2023-03-17T12:51:15+00:00

I worked for a major video game publisher and our studio was closed down. Everyone was let go. Me and two other guys stayed in a massive office, just the three of us, for a few days to clear things up. One of them put The Suburbs on the office stereo several times and I loved it. Gradually got into the other albums over time.

bub2000 · 2023-03-17T14:28:14+00:00

Around 2005, one of the first things I saw their Laïka performance on Conan

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2tjix

dsanchez1989 · 2023-03-17T14:30:19+00:00

Voodoo fest 2016

Alien_Collaborative · 2023-03-17T14:50:12+00:00

I heard Keep The Car Running on the radio (wxrt Chicago) and I bought Neon Bible after that.

Party-Yoghurt-8462 · 2023-03-17T15:04:07+00:00

I first heard them in late 2004 on The Edge in Toronto. The first song I heard was "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)." I wasn't really crazy about the song at the time. Then a short time later they started playing "Rebellion (Lies)" and I became a lot more intrigued. Then they started playing "Wake Up" and I was blown away.

These were the days of illegal downloads so I downloaded Funeral and I just loved it. I have been hooked on the band ever since.

anners91 · 2023-03-17T15:12:22+00:00

In 2013 a friend of mine made a mixtape for me. Neon Bible was on it and it was the only track I constantly skipped. A few weeks after that my brother played „Joan of Arc“ while we were sitting in his car and I felt as if I had an epiphany. Loved them ever since.

tolleycr72 · 2023-03-17T15:33:07+00:00

The guy next to my cube at the office was the booking guy for a small club in Milwaukee. He said I’ll get you on the list to see this band Arcade Fire. He said listen to Funeral before the show. I fell in love with it. The show was Nov 2004. About 200 people at the show. Win was at the merch table selling. Epic.

theeroftheyear · 2023-03-17T15:44:40+00:00

Ready to Start on the radio

HerissonG · 2023-03-17T16:33:40+00:00

I saw the music video for Power Out on Much Music and I went straight to HMV to buy the CD…the rest is history.

muddyhands78 · 2023-03-17T17:12:05+00:00

I had Canadian friends when I was working in Kosovo and first heard Funeral there in 2005-2006. My friend got a cool local radio station to put it on their playlist. I have great memories of hearing Haiti on the radio while driving around Prishtina!

memwall · 2023-03-17T17:55:59+00:00

In 2005 my then-boyfriend’s father was dying of pancreatic cancer. It was horrible. A friend had introduced me to Funeral and I played it over and over and over as I drove the hour back and forth between his and my hometowns in the month after his death. It was such an accurate illustration of so many different feelings all at once. Still is.

purequantum · 2023-03-17T18:24:54+00:00

I first heard ‘Ready To Start’ on the trailer for Skins UK Season 4, which was around the same time they won the Grammy for Best Album. I just started listening to it and obvs fell in love with the music

Nacho_Sunbeam · 2023-03-17T18:58:36+00:00

I won an iPod nano on a giveaway on the Wendy's website back when iPod nanos were brand spanking new (I'm old), and was too poor to pay for songs, so I found a bunch of random free songs on Amazon, one of which was "Wake Up!" I also discovered My Morning Jacket the same way 😃

morjesta · 2023-03-17T20:22:54+00:00

i was in a student exchange program in Montreal around 2005 (i'm from Mexico), a friend invite me to hear a local band. Arcade Fire.

whynotcherry · 2023-03-17T20:40:14+00:00

I am a huge fan of David Bowie and when I saw his performance with Arcade Fire I started listening to them too.

Celtic_wolf75 · 2023-03-18T00:12:31+00:00

The first song I heard was Wake Up when U2 used as their entrance song on the Vertigo tour. I then saw the Power Out and Rebellion videos on MTV2 and proceeded to buy Funeral. I kept an eye out for them releasing new music and got Neon Bible and seen them on tour and ever since I've bought their albums and seen them on tour.

AthenaCookie · 2023-03-18T04:35:43+00:00

On my local NPR station they were having people call in and talk about their favorite bands and what got you into them. One guy called in and said was Arcade Fire and he was addicted to them after 1 song. I looked them up online and watched the Rebellion video. That was it , I was addicted as well.

123Hupsi · 2023-03-18T06:19:02+00:00

I was driving home after work 8 years ago, and it was a radio station from the university of my hometown, making from the students. It was the so called "song of the week", ressort was called. 'indie pop'. It was the song, "sprawl" . I guessed the title of the song and the band, but I have had to hear it one more time. So I wrote a message to the radio station and they send me the name AF and the name of the song Sprawl. Since this time I have been following all of the songs, the earlier years, the videos, have buying CDs and was in Berlin 2022. I had tears in my eyes, as I was there. My long way to them was fulfilled an it was great. And now I hope, I will see them once again. That's it.

bkmonkey19 · 2023-03-18T07:53:22+00:00

I heard Power Out on the radio coming home from soccer practice (early teen), instantly loved it. Saw them at Coachella 2005 a few months later, was hooked for life. Got an AF shirt at Coachella and was wearing it later that fall, when a boy I had a crush on in the local music scene noticed my shirt and offered to burn me a cd of their xmas bootleg. We got married in 2018 <3

rfamico · 2023-03-17T13:01:46+00:00

Came to discover them through iTunes recommendations back in 2004, purchased Wake Up and Rebellion based on the popularity of the tracks. I was a sophomore in HS at the time, so I had no clue the band was blowing up. Didn’t really fall in love until I saw them perform on SNL in 2007. Was completely blown away by their performance (the outfits, variety of instruments, the number of people on stage, the megaphone duct taped to a mic stand lol)

2023-03-17T14:01:21+00:00

I went to New York City with my friend by train and on the trip up there we listened to their entire discography together.

jesse703 · 2023-03-17T14:55:53+00:00

Around 6th grade I remember my sister showing me the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are and we fell in love with Wake Up. We bought it on iTunes later that night. I would listen to that song very frequently for the next 11 years. Fast forward to 2020 during COVID I figured I should try new music so I decided to listen to the rest of Funeral. I absolutely fell in love with Funeral that summer and listened to the rest of the albums throughout the year.

atreides78723 · 2023-03-17T15:51:14+00:00

I was reading a college best of 2004 list in early 2005, and it highly recommended the debut album of this new band. Since my listening tastes hadn’t calcified yet, I checked it out, and here we are. :)

Interesting-Ad9401 · 2023-03-17T15:56:36+00:00

Came across with Wake Up and fell in love with the band immediately

Juronimo · 2023-03-17T16:56:19+00:00

Ironically, through the Pitchfork review of Funeral.

OoooohKay · 2023-03-17T17:14:54+00:00

In 2015ish I heard Wake Up as a YouTube suggestion and was hooked, but it would take another few months after that for me to explore more of their stuff. When I heard The Suburbs I got hooked.

Deez4815 · 2023-03-17T17:50:08+00:00

Lol I found out about them through a really obscure way. Google Chrome used to have this page called Chrome Experiments that had a bunch of interactive games. One of them was called "The Wilderness Downtown" that played We Used to Wait once it rendered your personalized experience. I loved the song and downloaded it on my iTunes. I later listened to the rest of The Suburbs and fell in love, the rest is history...

2023-03-17T20:25:33+00:00

A friend in high school made me a mix-tape (or CD) with the songs "Neighborhood #3" and "Intervention" and it was off to the races from there, immediately bought the albums.

177106tr · 2023-03-17T21:20:48+00:00

A friend showed me Joan of Arc and immediately fell in love with them! Reflektor is still my favorite album

StacyMoo83 · 2023-03-17T21:50:56+00:00

My best friend, would play Power Out over and over at every party we went to, eventually I loved it, that's what got me interested, never looked back since, and that was around 2008/2009 🩷

wowzra · 2023-03-18T03:19:11+00:00

Neighborhood #3

BullBanter · 2023-03-18T08:13:39+00:00

A friend at school showed me funeral a week before the suburbs came out. I was 16. Life changing stuff.

FR3SH2DETH · 2023-03-18T18:08:37+00:00

Saw them in an afternoon slot at a music festival on Olympic Island that was curated by Sloan in 2004. They opened for another then unknown band, Death From Above. Got to meet Regine and Richard who were just hanging out. Regine signed my friend's EP.

brugeoise · 2023-03-18T19:34:58+00:00

Heard Everything Now playing in the radio, had to look them up and ended up liking them.

Graham433 · 2023-03-19T23:29:30+00:00

Wake Up was one of my favorite songs when I was a baby. Over the years, I always knew they were a good band but never gave any of their albums a listen. Cut to one year ago, I heard about the secret Bowery shows and rushed to Manhattan to see if I could get tickets. After two days of failed attempts, on the third day I got tickets in Washington Square Park. That night, I heard almost all of their songs for the first time (and live!) and totally fell in love, going to bed with the hum of Rebellion and chants of 'Just a reflection of a reflection'. From there, I went down the rabbit hole.

Alynn_Wings · 2023-03-21T07:23:24+00:00

My little cousin made me mixed CD's for many many years and he would have a couple Arcade Fire songs on them in the early 2000's. But, it was Antichrist Television Blues that grabbed me hard and sucked me in about 15 years ago. So much of my music taste was shaped by those mixed cds.

OfflineHackV · 2023-03-17T19:03:44+00:00

Grammys 2011. Saw some awkward people receive album of the year over the other music that sounded on the radio. After that they performed live. Gosh, I thought: “they’re so awkward that they are so cool”

MwkkwM · 2023-03-20T10:55:46+00:00

I googled "best indie rock albums" and Funeral was #1 on some list

_Halfway_home · 2023-03-21T03:08:41+00:00

I love using music websites to find music and Arcade Fire was one of the highest rated artist on the list. Loved them ever since!

Nilaye · 2023-03-22T00:45:59+00:00

Admittedly, it was because Wake Up was U2's entrance music during the Vertigo Tour.

BatManu91 · 2023-03-22T02:11:32+00:00

2004-05 I went to one of their shows at, I wanna say the original Emos or somewhere like that, in Austin, TX. Then I saw them at Austin city limits festival around that time and fell in love with Funeral. Saw them again at ACL Neon Bible era. Then became obsessed with the Suburbs, it was the soundtrack to my life. Saw them a lot around that time. Spike Jonez came to my high school in Austin and secretly casted kids from my school for the suburbs video/short film. Knew all the kids in that, so that was cool. If I had known it was Spike Jonez or the Arcade Fire I would of definitely auditioned myself but it was all kinda secret and when they made the announcement they didn’t say it was Spike and they definitely didn’t mention it was for AF

leftymeowz · 2023-03-26T07:20:46+00:00

A friend introduced me to The Suburbs when I was going through a hard and scary time, and the second to last episode of my favorite show used (commissioned) a song by them at the end.

arcadefire

MODERATORS

arcadefire

MODERATORS

Welcome to Reddit,

Want to add to the discussion?