Arcade Fire Close Out Lollapalooza 2010

As Lollapalooza came to an end on Sunday, Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler felt the need to thank the crowd for coping with the band's new material. "It's intimidating to play new songs in front of such a huge audience," he admitted. Of the 17 songs that made up Arcade Fire's closing set on the Budweiser stage, seven were new tracks off their recently released third album, 'The Suburbs.'

Opening up with the newbie 'Ready to Start' it took a while for the crowd to warm up to the set, but the more familiar follow-ups 'Laika' and 'Haiti' helped a little. Butler had his own explanation for this. "I have to say, the last day of a festival people are usually so burned out," he said "You guys have paced yourself well. I hope you have some more in the tank."

Five years ago, when Lollapalooza first planted itself in Chicago, Arcade Fire's debut performance at the fest was a first encounter for many spectators. Their first album, 'Funeral,' had been out for less than a year and the curious gathered to see how the strings, guitars, etc., all exactly fit into place. Despite scorching temperatures, the Canadian indie rockers delivered a set -- dressed in their dark tuxedos and funeral garb -- that would project them to magazine covers and larger stages. While it may not have been as epic as that 2005 set, Arcade Fire's farewell to Lollapalooza 2010 was fitting given the back story.

Of the new tracks -- 'Ready to Start,' 'Empty Room,' 'Rococo,' 'The Suburbs,' 'Sprawl II,' 'We Used to Wait' and 'Month of May' -- the Regine Chassagne-sung 'Sprawl II' stood out with its heavier nods to synths. With such a long set, the band were also able to deliver all the gems that made people first fall in love with them -- 'Tunnels,' 'Power Out,' 'Rebellion (Lies)' and of course the always epic 'Wake Up' encore, which the crowd definitely proved they still had fuel in their tanks for.