Critically acclaimed, occasionally adored, and Very Serious Indie Band Arcade Fire will play the final night of Summerfest 2018, the Big Gig announced today. The band will headline the American Family Insurance Amphitheater Sunday, July 8, and will be joined by a “special guest.” Tickets go on sale Friday, March 9, at noon, at Summerfest.com and Ticketmaster.com. Prices have yet to be announced.
This will be Arcade Fire’s first Milwaukee show in 14 years. Months before breaking out on the strength of their classic debut album Funeral, the band played a pair of shows at Mad Planet in the summer and fall of 2004. For folks who were there, it was a chance to see legends in the making. For folks whose bands opened for Arcade Fire that first night (Arcade Fire, in turn, opened for The Unicorns), it was a chance to videotape their own set but not Arcade Fire’s, because who were these crazy Canadians anyway? Surely they wouldn’t go on to become a generation-defining, Grammy-winning indie powerhouse? Nah. Better just to tape your own set that featured the singer playing his guitar while wearing a googly-eyed sleeping bag over his head. Great plan, Matt.
Luckily, Dale Reince taped the second show. Thanks, Dale! (The entire playlist is here.)