Funeral for Arcade Fire in Glasgow? Sex misconduct claims spark 'boycott', but...

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ROCK band Arcade Fire's Glasgow gig has been hit by an apparent boycott after the band's frontman was accused of sexual misconduct.

Some fans started selling their tickets at up to half their face value online while others sought refunds as singer-songwriter Feist walked away from her support slot on the Canadian band's world tour.

Four people have accused Win Butler of behaving inappropriately, with allegations including forceful touching and unwanted, sexual text messages.

The allegations, which Butler denies, saying each relationship was consensual, emerged at the end of last month, shortly before the first date of the band's world tour. There is no news of any police investigation.

Feist, who played the first two dates, says she decided to "go home".

Ticketmaster has had a raft of requests for refunds from fans who no longer wanted to go to the gig a the OVO Hydro in Glasgow - while others have taken to try and sell theirs for less than half their face value.

The OVO Hydro has said nothing about the staging of the concert.  Feist's place was taken by a  DJ.

One fan said: "In the light of the sexual misconduct allegations made... I don't feel comfortable attending the gig on September 5 in Glasgow, I would like to request a refund for my tickets, please."

As late as noon on the day of the concert the tickets resale site Twickets was offering two tickets for the Hydro concert at up to 82% below their face value.

One fan was offering two standing tickets for the Glasgow gig for £90 - £60 under the face value.

Another said: "Really hope Arcade Fire cancel this Glasgow show and the rest of the tour. Paid more than I should have for tickets, and with everything that’s happened I’m thinking of not going and like “is that just £150 down the toilet aye”

That is one narrative.

Picture: Calum Mackintosh (Image: Calum Mackintosh)

The other takes place within a packed Hydro, as the band with a devil-may-care Win Butler, seemingly supportive and effervescent wife Régine Chassagne and the rest of this irresistible combo do just over an hour-and-a-half of some of the most euphoric art rock music that you will ever hear.

In a public statement, Régine Chassagne called the musician “a good man who cares about this world, our band, his fans, friends and our family.”

She affirmed her love for him, adding, “I know what is in his heart, and I know he has never, and would never, touch a woman without her consent and I am certain he never did.”

Arcade Fire dead? Well if they are, this corpse is twitching engagingly and the crowd remain apparently adoring, from the "Lies Lies Lies" chant on a triumphant Rebellion Lies to the Whoah-oh-ohs on the unforgettable Wake Up finale.

It is, perhaps, weird that at a time when some radio stations in the United States and Canada abruptly stopped playing the group’s music in the wake of the furore, some of their most evocative songs here remain on their inimitable debut album called Funeral.

It will in some people's minds be wrong to be here, applauding a band whose front man is engulfed in such awful allegations.

As far as we know, he has yet to be arrested, or questioned by any law enforcer in relation to any criminal complaint related to the allegations.

But can you divorce the allegations from the performance?

For thousands in the Hydro, it looked as if nothing had happened.

For some like me, who remember the Montreal-based band's first Glasgow gig at the Barrowlands in 2007 just as they were to bring out their second album Neon Bible - a show the band themselves remembers as special - it is perhaps easier to bury yourself in the music for the 90-or-so minutes and put off-stage affairs out of your mind. Perhaps.

Fifteen years ago, their explosion of strings, driving percussion and Win Butler's imploring vocals in that steamy, claustrophobic venue was as intoxicating as it gets and one of the most memorable shows I have been to.

They have since carved out a reputation for musical creativity and a desire to examine personal and social issues candidly. 

What is remarkable is how this band has transcended small venues to become an arena beast making every gesture, every musical flourish, that bit bigger.

In 2022, modern day Arcade Fire have their sixth studio album WE to promote, of course, and none of the smattering of tracks from it sound out of place within the band's glittering back catalogue paraded in Glasgow.

They may even nod to Kate Bush's Running Up The Hill in the piano part to the sublime Age of Anxiety I and then give a huge lowering and raising of the head to Abba's Dancing Queen on the crowd-pleasing Everything Now.

A quirky new album track, gig highlight and my end of night earworm,  Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole), starts with a tender piano-and-vocal harmony part, before exploding into an addictive slice of electropop.

Win Butler's only comment of note during the night apart from the usual crowd-pleasing platitudes is to say: "We are just a bunch of humans doing our best."

Make of that, what you will.

And as he leaves a second mini-stage at the end of the show, he cannot resist a further encore, while wandering in the crowd. Accompanied only by a tambourine, he sings Iko Iko, the much-covered traditional New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian call and response song.

It is a victory chant that the Indians would shout when they went into battle.

There is certainly one form of victory on stage in Glasgow.  Off stage, it is an entirely different story.