Tampa Bay’s long wait for a set by Arcade Fire finally ended last night as just under 4,000 fans joined the Canadian rockers at the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome Arena. The room, which can accommodate around 10,000 bodies depending on an event’s configuration, is now being managed by a Jeff Vinik company, Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties, and Arcade Fire — which arrived on the indie-rock scene in a big way after its 2004 album Funeral — was a bold booking for a venue that traditionally hasn’t always been on the front of Bay area concert goers’ minds when it comes to places to see an arena show.
Our correspondent, Gabe Echazabal, seems to think any doubts about the Sun Dome’s place a potential home for mid-level acts was squashed last night. Here’s part of what he wrote:
As dramatic swaths of intensely colored spotlights and pulsating strobe lights penetrated the room or tongue in cheek infomercial-like videos beamed on screens, Arcade Fire never allowed gimmickry to overshadow its presentation. Making sure to represent all five of its superb albums throughout the night, one of the many highlights came with the downright jaw-dropping presentation of “Here Comes The Night Time” from the acclaimed 2013 release Reflektor. As many longtime concert goers in the area know, the Sun Dome was, for many years, a source of frustration due to the poor acoustics and sound issues it used to be plagued with. Not the case anymore; as the sonic intricacies of the song unfolded, every nuance and subtle movement could be heard and felt clearly thanks to the much-improved upgrade and design of the arena.
Read the rest of Gabe’s review — and see more of Camren’s photos — here, and listen to a playlist featuring songs from the show below.
This article appears in Sep 21-28, 2017.