On Thursday I set off to Edinburgh for the first time for one reason, to see Arcade Fire. My love of them has really grown since The Suburbs came out last year, and after their amazing Hyde Park gig a trip to see them at Edinburgh Castle was too tempting to resist!

I arrived on Thursday afternoon, and after checking in to my hostel I decided to go and check out the Castle to see where they would be playing. As I got closer I could hear the band playing their soundcheck, and as I got closer still I realised that the esplanade was totally open due to tourists visiting the castle. I walked inside to see Arcade Fire performing their soundcheck to a small audience of fans and confused tourists! I was in my element! They ran through their set and included the track ‘Modern Man’, which was sadly absent from the set later that night, and then rather jokingly Win asked if anyone had any requests. Some fans in front of me yelled out their favourites, and as the rest of the band left the stage, Win and Regine stayed to play a lovely version of ‘Cars and Telephones’. I’m pretty certain I will never see them play that live again so it was a very special moment. When they had finished they came down to the side of stage and milled around for a bit, talking to people and having photos taken. It was totally surreal, and I’m so glad I decided on a whim to go up there early.

The gig itself was amazing as well, well worth the trip up to Scotland! I was on the barrier so I got some nice photos plus I had room to enjoy myself. I think they played the exact same tracks as Hyde Park but in a different order, with Power Out and Rebellion in the encore (as they should be!). I also bought myself a ‘Who the fuck is Arcade Fire?’ tshirt to add to my collection of band tshirts with fuck on them!

Setlist:

Ready To Start
Keep The Car Running
No Cars Go
Haiti
Rococo
Speaking In Tongues
Intervention
Suburban War
Wake Up
Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Month Of May
Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
We Used To Wait
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
————————————
Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)

More on my Flickr page.

The next day I wandered around Edinburgh being a tourist, shopping and buying rubbish presents for people back home. All too soon it was time for me to go home, but I had a lovely time and I’d like to go back one year for the fringe festival.

More on my Flickr page.