Arcade Fire Play First Pandemic Concert at Corporate Event for Cryptocurrency Company

Over the weekend, Arcade Fire played their first concert of the COVID-19 pandemic at a corporate event in Las Vegas for a cryptocurrency video game company.

The Canadian rockers last performed in front of an audience in February of 2020, just a month before the first wave of lockdowns. How they found themselves at the #IntoTheGalaverse convention remains a mystery, though it’s probably safe to assume that a small fortune migrated down the blockchain in their direction.

Gala Games boasts a fairly standard offering of games, including PvP brawler Spider Tanks, strategy epic Echoes of Empire, first person shooter Last Expedition, and more. Why put the games on the blockchain instead of, you know, any existing video game platform? The main selling point seems to be ownership of in-game items as NFTs. As the official website says, “If you earn or win a magical sword on the Gala Game Platform, it is yours. Your items and any inherited status is a verifiable asset on the blockchain you can trade to another person or play with in-game.” In other words, you can actually sell in-game power-ups for real money to the highest bidder, which is generally frowned upon in more traditional gaming environments.

No setlist or clips have surface from Arcade Fire’s portion of the event, and while they probably played newer material, tracks from Neon Bible would have been viciously on theme. It’s not clear what kind of reception they got, but it does appear that the attendees weren’t their usual audience. Instead, based on Twitter reactions, convention-goers seemed much more hyped about Maroon 5, Kings of Leon, a DJ set from Steve Aoki, and most of all, an appearance by SimCity and The Sims creator Will Wright. Check out social media reactions to the event  below.

While they haven’t been touring, Arcade Fire have been lighting up the studio during quarantine. They debuted a new song, “Generation A,” during Stephen Colbert’s election night special, and have also written what frontman Win Butler called “two or three” albums worth of new material.

I still can’t believe we had a private concert with Maroon 5 and Arcade Fire at #IntoTheGalaverse. And there are more amazing bands and sets happening tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/xWwAHBbGC0

— Cynthia Miller (@cynthiawmiller) December 12, 2021

DJ Steve Aoki ladies & gentleman! #gala #GalaGames #Galaverse #IntoTheGalaverse https://t.co/uXX7Kuq7FG

— Donut Bunny (@mrdonutbunny) December 13, 2021

Surprise guest Will Wright, creator of The Sims, just walked on stage at #IntoTheGalaverse and announced he’s designing the game for VOX. Probably nothing. ✨ pic.twitter.com/Zjj9Tfn9Wa

— Cynthia Miller (@cynthiawmiller) December 11, 2021

This is huge. Will Wright, Peter Molyneux, BitBender and Bux. #IntoTheGalaverse @GoGalaGames pic.twitter.com/XZ2tEcmo2I

— NFT Punk (@nftpunk) December 11, 2021

Highlight of the weekend among so many highlights was belting out “Use Somebody” at a live Kings of Leon concert at #IntoTheGalaverse. And the night isn’t even over. pic.twitter.com/8FyXqcj4uv

— Cynthia Miller (@cynthiawmiller) December 13, 2021

#IntoTheGalaverse pic.twitter.com/6CuhIFBuhL

— Cynthia Miller (@cynthiawmiller) December 13, 2021