The 90-minute set zigzagged between cuts from “Funeral,’’ 2007’s “Neon Bible,’’ and the new record, “The Suburbs’’ (out today). In contrast to the group’s strained, pressure-filled “Neon Bible’’ tour, Sunday’s appearance found Win Butler and company looking downright giddy as they clapped hands, pounded on tambourines, and bounced around the stage.
Band members switched off on a grab bag of accordions, xylophones, violins, and other instruments that, unfortunately, were mostly drowned out by the chugging bass and layers of guitar feedback. A rotating stable of drummers maintained a tensely locked rhythm throughout, though the playful “Haiti’’ showcased a more sprightly percussive touch even as it delved into darker subject matter.
To the inevitable disappointment of many fans, Arcade Fire harbored no reservations about playing tracks from “The Suburbs,’’ even while it still seemed to be working out how to translate the songs’ understated confidence to a live setting. None of the tunes could match the immediacy of “Funeral’’: The title track lost some of its breezy acoustics in concert, and “We Used to Wait’’ didn’t display the intense dynamics that the promising album version suggests. Elsewhere, Régine Chassagne’s urgent vocals proved a welcome respite from Butler’s weighty warblings on the atmospheric synth-pop on “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),’’ which the group had just debuted the night before in Montreal.
