Reigning as the music industry’s top alternative act comes with its consequences, and none are more notable than those associated with releasing new music.
Swearing the band is either selling out or drawing from the wrong influences, some longtime fans will insist the new music marks a departure from what made the act special.
Those unfamiliar with the band, save for critical and media attention, will meanwhile react with puzzlement as they label the hype overblown and buzz undeserved.
One look at Twitter confirms that polarity: Arcade Fire, which performed on “Saturday Night Live,” drew a combination of reverence and disgust for its pair of performances.
Criticism of all sorts, ranging from comments about the size of the band, to its eighties influences, to accusations of drug use, emerged alongside praise for the band set to release its upcoming album “Reflektor” on October 28th.
One common Twitter joke–that the band’s second performance, that of new song “Afterlife,” came across like a Saturday Night Live skit–was unavoidable given the band’s earlier appearance in a sketch entitled “New Cast Member or Arcade Fire.” As the name makes obvious, the fake game show asked a contestant, played by host Tina Fey, to guess which of the two people in front of her, one part of the new SNL featured class and another of the band Arcade fire, was the cast member.
But praise for the band’s eccentric stage presence and musicianship was also easily located, confirming that The Arcade Fire’s march towards “Reflektor” will come with support from a very large audience.
In addition to “Afterlife,” the band also performed the new album’s title track and lead single. It then played more songs from the album in NBC’s post-SNL, celebrity-cameo-rich special “Here Comes the Night Time.”