Who is The Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire is an orchestral rock band based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its members are Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Richard Reed Parry, William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld, and Jeremy Gara. Howard Bilerman, who played drums on the album Funeral, has since moved on to other projects. As of May 2005, the touring band includes horn player Pietro Amato (who is in Bell Orchestre and torngat) and violinist Owen Pallett. Pallett has also opened for their shows, appearing as the one-man band Final Fantasy. Although there has been speculation over whether a preceeding 'The' is necessary before the band's name, during their 2007 Glastonbury Festival set, Win introduced the band as "The Arcade Fire", which suggests that this is the name the band favour.

The band's trademark fashion is the waistcoat, giving them an air of "frumpiness". When asked about the rumour that the band's name refers to a fire in an arcade, Win Butler replied: "It's not a rumour, it's based on a story that someone told me. It's not an actual event, but one that I took to be real. I would say that it's probably something that the kid made up, but at the time I believed him."

Arcade Fire formed around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Joining together as recently as mid-2003, the current line-up solidified in late 2003/early 2004, when their first full-length album Funeral was recorded. Before this an eponymous EP (often referred to by fans as the Us Kids Know EP) had been sold at early shows. (read all)