Arcade Fire debuted new songs at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion during SXSW

Three months after Arcade Fire released WE in 2022, Pitchfork published a report where frontman Win Butler was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple people, with more allegations following a few months later. Feist and Beck both dropped of the band’s tour, but Arcade Fire didn’t cancel dates while Butler maintained his innocence, saying, “I have never touched a woman against her will, and any implication that I have is simply false.” Arcade Fire have continued to play shows, were part of the recent SNL50 concert at Radio City Music Hall (where they performed Bowie’s “Heroes” with David Byrne and St. Vincent), and now appear to be teasing a new album, too.

As Stereogum points out, Arcade Fire made a surprise appearance in Austin on Thursday at Willie Nelson’s annual SXSW-week Luck Reunion Party. It was a lean version of the band — Win Butler (dressed as a jester), Régine Chassagne, Tim Kingsbury, Paul Beaubrun — who played amongst the crowd in the Luck Ranch’s very small Saloon, where they spent part of the set onstage and part amongst the crowd. They were joined by two other guitarists and members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and played a few new songs, including “Pink Elephant,” “Ride or Die,” and “Year of the Snake.” According to attendees on Reddit, they also told the crowd a new album has been made with Daniel Lanois (who was also performing at the Luck Reunion) as producer. They also played “Sprawl II,” “The Suburbs,” “Wake Up,” unreleased track “Cars and Telephones,” and covered cowboy classic “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

Some clips are below.

Setlist
byu/Dream_in_Cerulean inarcadefire

Pink Elephant Luck
byu/wamsankas inarcadefire