Arcade Fire (photo by Christinne Muschi/Associated Press/New York Times)
He's known for big-screen fantasies like "Brazil," "The Fisher King" and, uh, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." But tonight Terry Gilliam will attempt to translate the epic experience of an Arcade Fire show onto a computer screen.
He'll direct a live concert feed that will stream on YouTube as the band -- which just released its new album "The Suburbs" -- plays its second sold-out show at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.
Former Twin Cities critic Will Hermes was there for the first show on Wednesday and filed a glowing review overnight for RollingStone.com.
"The band, nine members strong, represented in their usual array of hipster street clothes, toting a couple truckloads of instruments, from guitars and violins to glockenspiel and accordion," Hermes wrote. "But where, over the years, clubs and even theaters could barely contain the band's energy, sound, sweat, Madison Square Garden ... was a perfect fit. Still, it was a little astonishing, like your little brother accepting the Nobel Prize."
Gilliam, who grew up in suburban Minneapolis (in Medicine Lake), will start his webcast with behind-the-scenes footage at about 8:30 p.m. tonight (Central time). The concert begins at 9 o'clock.
You can pick up the feed at www.youtube.com/arcadefirevevo.
The live webcast is the first of five concerts in a year-long series co-sponsored by American Express.
