C3X World Tour, Week Four: MrPrez’s Birthday Bash
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C3X WORLD TOUR
WEEK FOURMRPREZ’S BIRTHDAY BASH
Welcome to tonight’s show in beautiful Stanley Park, overlooking Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada! It’s my birthday, and I’ve brought YOU gifts this time.
Click the visualizers to download the CON file for each song, or check the database later today.
On with the show…
Matt Mays “Move Your Mind” by MrPrezident
After listening to Halifax’s Matt Mays’ debut album, one thing is made abundantly clear: the band has seasoned gusto, singing of wanderlust and old thwarted loves. “Move Your Mind” is a down-to-earth roots jam, and a tremendous warmup track.
The Inbreds “Any Sense of Time” by MrPrezident
British Columbia’s The Inbreds were prominent in Canadian indie rock circles throughout the 1990’s, known for their unique minimalist bass-and-drums approach, their melodies and harmonies drew upon classic pop influences such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The 1994 album Kombinator won a Juno for Best Alternative Album, and the single “Any Sense of Time” won a Much Music award for Best Alternative Video, and earned them a supporting spot with The Tragically Hip’s festival tour.
Ponctuation “Belvedere” by MrPrezident
Brothers Guillaume and Maxime Chaisson make up Quebec’s Ponctuation, explorers of lo-fi garage-rock with a thorny, punk groove. “Belvedere” from their debut album 27 Club is a blistering raw performance that quickly became a festival favourite.
Thanks to TheSheepQueen for her assistance.
Barenaked Ladies “It’s Only Me” by MrPrezident
Hailing from Ontario, BNL’s “Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991 – 2001)” functions as both a ‘best-of’ album, but it also served as a way to publish some long simmering B-Side material. The name of the album is an in-joke from one of their earlier songs, “Box Set” from 1993’s Gordon:
“Disc One, it’s where we’ve begun, it’s all my greatest hits,
And if you are a fan then you know that you’ve already got ’em”The song “It’s Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)” is a not-subtle euphamism for male masturbation.
Rheostatics “Record Body Count” by MrPrezident
Ontario’s Rheostatics are well known on the Canadian indie rock circuit as both unconventional songwriters and highly skilled and eclectic performers. The album Melville has been cited on numerous occasions as being one of the greatest Canadian albums ever recorded. “Record Body Count” is a short and satirical ode to high school angst, peppered many references to Canadian heritage.
The Trews “Tired of Waiting” by MrPrezident
In summer 2002, Nova Scotia rockers The Trews entered and won a high-profile contest which would prove to be their big break, and House of Ill Fame followed in 2003. “Not Ready to Go” reached number one, and soon after “Tired of Waiting” reached number two. “Tired” opens with a killer bass riff and hits the sweet spot between fun and slightly too challenging.
Hayden “Trees Lounge” by MrPrezident
The mid-1990’s alternative music scene in Ontario was reflective of the one mushrooming across America’s musical landscape. On this side of the border, Toronto’s guitar-toting singer Hayden Desser would achieve almost god-like status and helped usher in a new wave of indie folk-rock. Initially a solo artist, he quickly and quietly proved to his audience that the same rush of energy could be delivered at one-quarter volume. “Trees Lounge”, however, is a full-banded and full-volume ode to beer soaked floors and gum-stuck tables.
Thanks to TheWay123 for his assistance.
The Sheepdogs “Who?” by MrPrezident
Saskatchewan’s The Sheepdogs hardly need another introduction from me. I love their music, their look and everything about them. “Who?” is one of their earliest hits, reminicent of early Allman Brothers with a touch of CCR.
Rush “Dreamline” authored by NWS1-6, Farottone, EJtheDJ
Audio Source Lineage: 1991 Master/CD -> EAC -> Audacity (EQ and Aimplification)
Simple Plan “What If” authored by GreenPanda12
Shawn Mendes “In My Blood” authored by GreenPanda12
Keeping the content Canadian since 2017!
SomeOldGuys: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/someoldguys
MrPrezident: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/MrPrezident
Yaniv297 writes…
So, after all those magnificent Canadian opening acts opened up our evening, it’s time to clear the stage for one of Canada’s biggest and best rock bands: the Grammy-winning, critically acclaimed and brilliant:
Arcade Fire
The Canadian hmm, sextet (well they currently have 6 members) broke into our lives in 2004 with the masterful “Funeral”, widely considered a masterpiece, and one of the best albums of the decade, and have since released 4 more albums (which will all be represented in RB after this release), headlined just about every festival imaginable, and have left a huge mark on rock music. They already have a few songs on our DB – I’ll mention them below – but now they’re getting a major, career-spanning 9-pack, which means we’ll have cover for most of their classic tracks and anthems. We’ll do this in chronological order, by albums… So, here we go!
Funeral (2004)
Out of nowhere, back in 2004, a married couple and a bunch of weird Canadian dudes broke into our lives with this impeccable and astounding masterpiece. “Funeral” was a defining moment in indie rock, not only according to critics (best album of the decade according to LAS Magazine and Under the Rader, #2 at Pitchfork and Consequence of Sound, #3 at Paste and Popmatters, and many more) but mostly according to fans who keep coming back to it, and the countless bands it influenced.
Before today we only had one track from this great album – Ollie’s version of the great ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ – which was definitely not enough. So, today we bring you 5 (!) further tracks from this masterpiece.
Custom by agaed
Vocals by yaniv297They say you should start strongly, but I honestly can’t think of a band who started their debut album as strongly as Arcade Fire. I’ll use a lot of superlatives in this post, but here’s a definite one – in this narrator’s humble opinion, this is Arcade Fire’s best song. Not only that, but one of the best songs of the decade and pretty much my whole life. There’s just something about it – I don’t know, man. It’s something else.
Introduced by some piano, into an iconic guitar riff, “Neighbourhood #1” (or as it’s known among fans, “Tunnels”), kicks off with ‘And’ – as if to symbolizes we’re in the middle of a story – and than takes you into a journey into childhood, filled with infectious guitar riffs, groovy beats, and a brilliant, emotional delivery by singer Win Butler, before finishing in some climatic “oh oh oh”s. It translates perfectly into an RB, with all instruments being fun and varied, and overall it’s just a damn great custom and song.
Custom by yaniv297
How do you follow one of the best album openers in history? Well, Arcade Fire did perfectly. The second in the Neighbourhood series, “Laika” is “Tunnels” quirky, weird little brother. Not quite as anthemic or stadium-ready (even though it’s damn great live), it’s an addictive, fun and peculiar song about a brother leaving the family going out on an adventure, which involves some weird stuff like being bitten by a vampire. Kicks off with a great drum beat, it has ultra tight rhythm section, accordion and strings charted to keys, and it’s fun all around – especially to sing (or rather, scream) along – “Alexander! Our oldest brother!”. It’s just addictive, trust me.
Custom by MrBurpler
Vocals by yaniv297In episode three of our Neighbourhood series (#4 is on the album too, but wouldn’t be a great RB fit so isn’t charted here), this time we tell the story of an unfortunate power shortage in our town. “Power Out” is an epic, powerful and relentless track – and an absolute showstopper live. It kicks up firing on all cylinders, with a driving disco beat (drummers, prepare to work on that one!) and firing guitars, while later bass takes the lead in a fuzzy riff. Vocalist Win Butler absolutely spits out the stressful lyrics – “What’s the plan??” he screams as he describes as he goes out to “pick a fight with anyone”, before screaming in an iconic moment “Nothing’s hid from us kids!”.
Somehow, the song reaches it’s emotional climax when taking a step back to a melodic chorus, “when the power’s out in the heart of man”, before exploding into full on rock and roll madness again. A classic moment in Arcade Fire’s discography.
Custom by Kamtoch
Vocals and keys by yaniv297When talking about Arcade Fire, the word “anthemic” is used often. Maybe it’s the U2 and Springsteen influences, but even as an unknown low budget band, Arcade Fire always aimed for a huge sound. But nothing, nothing in this album or the band’s career is as anthemic as the show-stopping, unique “Wake Up”. This is the show closer, the climax. Everything – from the opening guitar chords, to the bass-snare beat, to those huge soaring “oh oh oh”s – just screams big stadiums. Lyrics are sparse, each word counts, as Butler pleads: “Children, wake up”, before the song takes a surprising key change and ends on a double-pace, playful outro. The song made a big impact – it was used by U2 as a concert opener as early as 2005, and the band played the song with none other than David Bowie the same year. It also makes a rather brilliant custom – I’m sure you’ll have fun playing and singing along to this amazing tune.
Custom by yaniv297
So how do you finish an album where pretty much every single song packs a huge emotional sucker punch? well, by the biggest emotional sucker punch of them all. “In the Backseat” sees Win Butler’s wife and bandmate, Régine Chassagne, takes the lead vocals, as she tells the breaking tale of her mother dying in a car crash and the impact it had on her life. This song starts as a tender piano ballad, but in typical Arcade Fire fashion includes a big chorus, and ultimately finishes on a beautiful, amazingly powerful instrumental outro, with Régine delivering some of the most powerful “oh oh”s you’ll hear in your life, over a repeated strings melody and some driving drums and bass. It’s a unique and absolutely beautiful track, and a worthy closer to such an album.
Neon Bible (2007)
Following such a perfect album is never easy, and while I won’t claim “Neon Bible” is as good as “Funeral” – it’s still a worthy follow up. And at it’s best moments, it’s as good as the monstrous album it followed. One of those best moments, emotional closer “My Body is a Cage”, was already charted by the great BornGamerRob. And two more of those best moments are released today:
Custom by yaniv297
Starts with a church organ and an acoustic guitar, “Intervention” is a dark, cathartic and beautiful ballad, that (as is tradition) grows into a big emotional climax. It’s an ambitious tale of a soldier, fighting for his country, while also being an anti-religion tune. Naturally the main focus here is on the vocals, as the song builds from acoustic to full band, but all instruments are fun and great to play along. And if you sing, make sure you give your all on the big “working for the church while your life falls apart!” line.
Custom by Kamtoch
Vocals and keys by yaniv297Originally recorded for their debut EP, “No Cars Go” is a joyous, upbeat and great anthem, of late-night escapism from a world dominated by cars and planes. ”No Cars Go” is a huge fan favorite and brilliant live song, and for a good reason. Led by a driven drum beat and accordion line, with great energy before exploding into a soaring climax, “No Cars Go” is a musical celebration of everything that’s good about Arcade Fire. And it promises to be an absolute blast on Rock Band as well.
The Suburbs (2010)
Time for the next one, the ambitious, great concept album “The Suburbs”. Regarded by many as another masterpiece, the album was critically acclaimed upon release and it’s a huge fan favorite. The title track, “The Suburbs” is already in our DB thanks to MrBurpler, who contributes here yet another great song:
Custom by MrBurpler
Vocals and keys by yaniv297“Sprawl II” is a key track, and possibly the best track, in “The Subrubs”. Soundwise, it’s quite an unusual departure from Arcade Fire’s usual indie rock sound, taking a strong synthpop direction, and vocally led by the great Régine Chassagne. “Sprawl II” is a hugely emotional tune, discussing suburban life, and the difficulties of growing up in it. It became an instant fan favorite, a necessity on every Arcade Fire show, and widely regarded as one of Arcade Fire’s best songs.
Reflektor (2013)
This ambitious, dancy double album isn’t represented in today’s pack – however, make sure you check out Hotfuzz’s three pack of “Reflektor”, “We Exist” and “Flashbulb Eyes”!
Everything Now (2017)
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, “Everything Now” probably wasn’t a great period for Arcade Fire. After a lot of hype, the album was widely seen as a disappointment and as the first major misstep in their career. And the satirical promotion campaign (which among others, including a satirical article about an “Arcade Fire: Rock Band” game – now if only…) wasn’t well received either, with many thinking it’s not as smart as it think it is. But even in their lowest moment, Arcade Fire could still deliver some absolutely great songs, and one of them is right here:
Custom by yaniv297As soon as I knew an Arcade Fire pack was happening, I had to get this tune in there somewhere. It’s probably not as big as the others, but honestly I spent the better part of last summer with this song stuck in my head and singing it with my (even more Arcade Fire obsessed than me) brother.
“Put Your Money On Me” is widely seen as a highlight and probably the best song of “Everything Now”. A catchy disco tune, which eventually evolves into an ABBA-style, infectious chorus with a three-part harmony. It’s been released as a late single and exceeded expectations, and it’s surely one huge positive spot in this era for Arcade Fire.Setlist suggestion
So you have all those cool Arcade Fire tunes now, what do you do with them? Well, I’m here to help! This is a setlist I built, based on real life Arcade Fire setlists (mostly from the last two tours), and adjusted to the songs we have here in RB.
Kick off with the epic ‘Reflektor’ into the soaring ‘Laika’ and an early anthem in ‘No Cars Go’. Things get emotional in the middle, with ‘Intervention’ into ‘My Body is a Cage’, before treating your audience with two singalong anthems in ‘Tunnels’ and ‘The Suburbs’. Get into some disco groove with ‘We Exist’ into ‘Sprawl II’, before finishing the main set with the legendary one-two punch of ‘Rebellion (Lies) into ‘Power Out’ (It’s a shame we can’t connect the songs here like they do in real concerts…). Take a few minutes rest as the audience applauds, before breaking their hearts with ‘In the Backseat’, and finishing off with the most classic Arcade Fire show closer, the cathartic and huge anthem ‘Wake Up’.Play this setlist for the ultimate Arcade Fire RB experience!
- Reflektor
- Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
- Flashbulb Eyes
- No Cars Go
- Put Your Money On Me
- Intervention
- My Body is a Cage
- Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
- The Suburbs
- We Exist
- Sprawl
- Rebellion (Lies)
- Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Encore:
- In the Backseat
- Wake Up
And most importantly, have fun!
Keeping the content Canadian since 2017!
SomeOldGuys: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/someoldguys
MrPrezident: https://db.c3universe.com/songs/all/__user/MrPrezidentAmazing job everyone!! Special shout out to Yaniv for championing the Arcade Fire pack. If not for the pack existing, I probably wouldn’t have released these tracks for a while. Hope everyone enjoys them! Unfortunately I’ve gotta wait til I’m off work before I can upload my tracks to the database though.
Yes! Great to have this pack finally out there. To think it started as a 3-pack that should have been released back in July… pushed back due to the tour concept and it just grew and grew. Many thanks to Kamtoch, MrBurpler and egead for their contributions. Hopefully everyone will enjoy those songs!
Arcade Fire alone make this week, but to have Dreamline AND a Rheostatics track here? Awesome.
Side note: Whale Music is an underrated album.
Happy birthday MrPrez, you do Canada (and our customs scene) proud
” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />A first off and most importantly happy birthday to the Prezident. You were the one to really introduce me to the rest of this community in opposition from my more distant approach I had taken from the start. Your work in C3 leadership and leading the creation of so many customs has been wonderful and inspiring. Love the work you’ve done so far with C3X and can’t wait to see more (hint hint?).
Now for Arcade Fire. I came across Funeral years ago back in high school, coincidentally around the time of a funeral in my actual life following the death of an immediate family member. So I found not just an indie rock classic but an album that so perfectly captured the range of somber emotion that was defining my life (and my family’s lives) around that time. That’s of course because it was honest, they were feeling the same when making the record. I fell in love with their other music too. Sprawl II became my favorite song of theirs and I’m so happy to see it in the game now.
Last month I had the unbelievable experience of seeing the band play the album live from start to finish. I had put the albums aside in recent but the show completely rekindled my love for their music, the ones that meant a lot to me and the ones that were just fun. This pack could not have come at a better time. Thank you very much.
Happy birthday, Mr. Prez!
And good grief, I could not be more stoked about the Arcade Fire pack. Great day all around! Thanks, everyone.
just want to mention, the link for the “Simple Plan – What If” custom, does link to the “Shawn Mendes – In My Blood” custom.
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