Now that North Carolina has become a major battleground in the never-ending race for the nomination, and Barack Obama is paying more attention to UNC Chapel-Hill than he likely ever will to his alma mater, Canadian indie prophets The Arcade Fire have announced two free concerts in the Tar Heel State to encourage young voters to get out.
Funny considering the band is Canadian! Actually, frontman Win and drummer Will Butler, brothers, grew up in Texas, but have lived in Canada since their respective graduations from Phillips Exeter. Win Butler has publicly expressed his support for Obama before, but it’s really hard to imagine Obama rocking out to the Arcade Fire’s antics.
I think almost the whole band is American, actually. Plus, AF did three shows in Ohio shortly before their primary.
Said Emily Haines,
On April 26, 2008 at 5:50 pm:
yep. not canadian. they’re about as canadian as columbia students are liberal…
Said …,
On April 26, 2008 at 6:03 pm:
They’re based in Montreal, Regine Chassagne is about as Canadian as they come, Richard Perry (the bassist, in case you guys don’t know) is an Ontario native, Tim Kingsbury is from Guelph (yep, also in Canada, if you’re still unsure about geography), Sarah Neufeld is from British Columbia (that’s in Western Canada, fyi), and Jeremy Gara is from Ottawa (wait, what country is that the capital of??? not sure.)
E-mail me if you two need any more geography lessons.
Said Ginia Sweeney,
On April 26, 2008 at 4:00 am:
yeah, you’re right. i’m an ass. i guess it’s only the butler brothers and regine who is now a dualie through marriage that make the band american at all… sorry to misinformedly goad you. that said, they claim on their website that regine’s father fought in vietnam. as far as i know, canada had limited involvement there (and somehow, i can imagine that the quebecois would be the last in canada to touch such a thing) so i wonder what the deal is with her dad. she has a pretty quebecois sounding surname…
that said, my “liberalness of columbia students” analogy still kinda works! yay!
Said …,
On April 26, 2008 at 11:37 am:
Ginia… half the band is American –
Will Butler - American
Win Butler - American
Regine Chassagne - American (dual citizen; dad served in Vietnam — not exactly “as Canadian as they come”)
Looks like most of this has already been said, but half the band is American, forgetting where they happen to record and the label they’re signed to.
E-mail me next time you’re in the mood for failed half-snarky remarks.
Said Emily Haines,
On April 26, 2008 at 4:32 am:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/magazine/04arcade.t.html
They record in a church in Quebec.
2.5 is not half of 7.
This argument is pedantic.
Said Ginia Sweeney,
On April 26, 2008 at 12:15 pm: