I’m struggling to remember from point A to point B: I first saw Arcade Fire in a Midwestern college town, right on the heels of the release of Funeral, before their official anointment by every critic in North America. The show had to move from a smaller café to a bigger bar because of ticket demand, but, even still, no more than 70 people showed up. The next time I saw them, in a sold out rock club, the questioning was just beginning: Can they follow this up? Can they put together another great album?

Everyone’s got their own opinion on the new album, but, damn – what a jump this band has made. They are now the biggest band in indie rock, with a stage show big enough to take that claim even further. We’re talking 9 musicians, big screen projections, flashing lights, spooky videos – the works. No more strands of Christmas lights wrapped around a couple mic stands.

But if the band has considerably dressed up their impassioned sound for the bigger stages they appear ready and willing to inherit, it is still indie at its heart, pulsing with a rebellious spirit and an essential weird streak. It was ably performed too; the bigger lineup allows for a more intricate sound that, while occasionally lost in the cavern of Constitution Hall, was intricate without being overwrought. Little touches like violins echoing the backing chorus on “Rebellion (Lies)” and woozy horn accents through some of the new songs.