"They're just an incredible band..."

I'm becoming a little tedious in my efforts to promote Arcade Fire to anyone who will listen. When initially cornered most people tilt their heads and frown slightly trying to adopt a look of polite and studious curiosity but most of them can't maintain it for long. As I start reciting the Band's biography their eyes flicker sidewards hoping to catch a glimpse of someone or something that will provide a distraction to cover their escape. The odd one or two show some genuine interest and there are a couple of converts that I can lay claim to, but on the whole, I've hardly been the band's most successful PR machine.

I'm sure all my good work will pay off one day and that Arcade Fire will eventually be rightly regarded as the finest band in the world. Thankfully this day draws ever closer and with their first prime time UK television slot as the closing band on the Jonathan Ross show on BBC1 last Friday, they have raised the stakes quite dramatically. Their performance on the show was typically wholehearted, although a tad overly dramatic with Win using his Mandolin to break a piece of candy glass placed in front of a camera as he stormed off stage at the end of 'Keep the Car Running'. The event was obviously stage managed and a little bit cheesy, if you ask me, nevertheless I dare say that a fair proportion of the 3 million who regularly tune in to watch Mr Ross would have found the performance interesting and refreshing. This perhaps reflects the fact that 'Neon Bible', the band's second album, re-entered the iTunes UK Shop top 10 album chart over the weekend.

I must admit to having a few lingering concerns though, particularly on the coiffure front. I worry about Jeremy Gara's (he's the drummer) efforts at becoming Eraserhead and Win's (he's the singer) reversion back to the familiar but puerile 'Curtains' hairstyle after a brief spell when he was sporting something a little more masculine. Ah well, nobody is perfect - onwards and upwards Win!