Arcade Fire kicked off their Don't Think About Pink Elephant Tour Tuesday (4/22) pretty much exactly the way you should roll out a new album.
The first half of the show at the sold out Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City was a collection of songs from their somber new release, Pink Elephant.
Then on the flip side of the gig, the band, once heralded as the future of alternative music, doled out a greatest hits collection of sorts from their previous six offerings.
The band took the stage in dramatic fashion with multi-instrumentalist and co-founder Régine Chassagne, decked out stylish, as usual.
She sported a wide brimmed hat with long thin material dangling down. Like a brise-soleil headpiece or elongated veil from another time.
Something a mourner would wear if they also wanted to be seen. But this wasn't dark colors. These were white and red, the colors of pink.
The title track of Pink Elephant is gloomy, moody, and has an edge.
Because the album doesn't officially come out until May 9, many of us are still in the dark about the exact lyrics of all of the songs, but the vibe is clear.
Fortunately the band performed "Pink Elephant" at a surprise show back in March at Willie Nelson's club in Texas, the lyrics have appeared on Genius and contain a mysterious chorus:
Take your mind off me a little while
Through the darkest places show a smile
The way it all changed makes me wanna cry
Take your mind off me, yeah
It sure seems to be hinting at an elephant in the room.
Following "Pink Elephant" was another new tune, "Year of the Snake" which was available to fans who go to the gigs as a 7" single.
It's always nice to be able to get something unique at the merch table of a show that your lazy friends can't get their grubby hands on because they stayed home.
The trippy video of the single already has 350k views on YouTube after just two weeks of its existence.
The B-side of the single is the never-before-released "Cars and Telephones." At that surprise show frontman Win Butler said it was the last song he wrote before moving from Houston, TX, to Montreal, Canada when he was just 18.
He also mentioned it was the first song he ever played for Régine - who he would marry just a few years later.
25 years in the making, the tune is only available on that limited edition 45, as it's nowhere to be found on the streaming sites.
If that's not incentive enough for you to get your tickets to the eight shows the band have announced in New Orleans, Charleston, Montreal, Toronto, Brooklyn and Philly - pay attention to where those shows are: cozy theaters this band could sell out several times over.
This is the way to see them before they hit the festival circuit.
If you are especially fortunate you can also catch them at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Get your tickets on Arcade Fire's website.
