But Catherine's right — Friday's Arcade Fire show wasn't a particularly great one. Don't get me wrong: it was very good — amazingly so, given the terrible venue. But it wasn't up to the standard they had set during their shows at the Black Cat and 9:30 club. There wasn't much improvisation; the three-song encore was short; Regine really can't sing while drumming; and they generally seemed less-committed to the performance than they have in the past.

I got my money's worth, but this is a band whose live act I typically rank behind only Springsteen and the Flaming Lips. The performance at DAR wasn't nearly that good. The Saturday show in Philadelphia was considerably better despite having a nearly-identical setlist (this was partially a function of the venue being less than godawful, though).

It makes me happy to see that a lot of people enjoyed the show, and I certainly don't want to take away from that. But trust me: this band is capable of even more.

ALSO: It might be worth noting that Joel, who knows a band member, reported that Winn went home immediately after the Philly show. They cancelled the final part of their European tour due to illness, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were just getting a little tired of being on the road.