Arcade Fire played two shows at London's 02 Arena last week. Both were sold out. The venue's capacity hovers around 20,000. Fortunes have officially well and truly changed since these days.

The crowd (according to the excellent HD clip of 'Wake Up' embedded below) looked something like this:



The Guardian were on hand, as ever, and thought they were alright, reporting:

Like the young U2 or Bruce Springsteen at similar stages of their careers, the Montreal-based band are driven by a fierce desire to punch through layers of cynicism and reserve to make a visceral emotional connection with their audience. This urge gives them a compelling high-wire quality. They are forever on the verge of not working at all, and the risk of being too messy, too obvious, too shrill, too bombastic is so real that their success at striking a balance is all the more impressive.

The Quietus meanwhile, were a little more poetic, saying:

Naturally the encore climaxes with 'Wake Up''s celestial roar, with lighters replaced by the now-ubiquitous mobiles as the verses' arduous slopes give way to world's-end panoramas at the chorus summits. It's these sounds that continue to echo into the freezing cold night, and into the cold, dead heart of Cameron's Britain. Say what you like about Arcade Fire being trite or pretentious or middlebrow; at their imperious best they represent everything that's great about popular music. And tonight's a prime example.

Rumours have swirled for a while about a pending Arcade Fire visit to Australia (from February onwards) but so far nothing's come to light.

Does this mean they''ll be playing stadiums now? Crap.


Arcade Fire - 'Wake Up' live at London's 02 Arena, Dec 2010


Arcade Fire - 'Power Out' live at London's 02 Arena, Dec 2010


Arcade Fire - 'Rebellion (Lies)'  live at London's 02 Arena, Dec 2010


Arcade Fire - 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' live at London's 02 Arena, Dec 2010