Did Arcade Fire annoy some people by suggesting people dress up for shows on their 2013 North American tour, then walk it back by saying the dress code was “super not mandatory?” Yes. Is the band going for a redux of that same controversy by releasing a message to attendees of its upcoming Everything Now release show at Grand Prospect Hall in Brooklyn asking guests to dress “HIP & TRENDY as if you are going to a concert or night out with friends” and prohibiting ”shorts, large logos, flip flops, tank tops, crop tops, baseball hats, solid white or red clothing”? Not exactly.
The band has responded to articles about the dress code like those in Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan to say that it was sent out by Apple, which will be live-streaming the show on Apple Music. That explains the bit about avoiding “large logos”—standard practice for video shoots—although the “HIP & TRENDY” bit is still pretty embarrassing. Maybe those dorks at corporate in Cupertino need to be reminded every once in a while, but do people in Brooklyn really need to be told to look cool? (We’ll leave that rhetorical question unanswered for now.)
The band hasn’t definitively stated whether cell phones will be locked in Yondr pouches for the duration of the show, except in the cheeky Twitter “statement” below. But we were at one of the Dave Chappelle shows in Chicago where the technology got one of its first test runs, and we can attest that it wasn’t that big of a deal and the most boring part was waiting in line to give the pouches back. Having a phone to stare at then would have been nice.