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And so, since it is possible to be "big" in the sense of being creatively and culturally important without being "big" in the sense of selling a lot of records, the term indie rock no longer really applies. If indie was created as a way to describe bands in the era when mainstream popularity was a criteria for success, and the pipeline to new music was closely controlled - well, we are clearly now in different times where the obstacles of the previous era are easily breached. These factors also have a lot to do with U2's extended run. As things opened up it also meant there was no longer going to be a consensus. As the last holdover to a bygone era, U2 retained the title almost by default. Even during their fallow "Pop" period, the fleetingness of successors like Pearl Jam, REM, Coldplay, and the Dave Matthews Band was merely indicative of the beginning fracture happening within musical culture. In the late 1970s it took the death of Keith Moon to shift the balance of power from The Who back to The Rolling Stones. All it took to reinstate U2 in 2000 as the biggest rock band in the world was the lack of a consensus alternative.

Is Arcade Fire still an indie band if they've been embraced by the music establishment? Well, Arcade Fire hasn't been indie for a while, if they ever were. They promoted the release of The Suburbs with two sold out shows in Madison Square Garden, the first of which was broadcast live on YouTube. Their most famous song, "Wake Up" was used to promote the NFL and the movie Where the Wild Things Are. These are not signs of fringe, indie levels of popularity, nor is winning a Grammy. Rosie O'Donnell may not know who Arcade Fire is, but thankfully that is no longer a prerequisite for becoming a big band, or even the biggest.

What Arcade Fire is, since it is not indie, is a band that follows its own creative vision, in servitude to no one. They play for themselves, they play for the critics (inasmuch as it matters when critics say something is good or something sucks), they play for the sake of trying to make something worthwhile, and today that is enough of a mission statement to go all the way from Montreal obscurity to the epitome of mainstream acceptance in the span of 10 years. They play crit rock.

--Steve

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