Arcade Fire Rewards Superfans With Secret Show Ticket Lottery

By Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

One of the worst-kept secrets among Arcade Fire fans this week is that the band is playing some crazy-sounding secret shows in at the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles, 229 Meserole in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and possibly other venues, starting over the weekend.

Why “crazy-sounding”? Because if you go, you must be in formal attire (i.e. a tux or a gown) or some other form of costume — an approach possibly having been inspired by Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler having danced in Haiti while wearing a mask.

Anyone can try to buy tickets to these “secret” shows starting at noon ET today (Thursday). However, select fans who pre-ordered the group’s latest album, Reflektor appear to have received special codes along with their purchase that allowed them to find out about the shows and buy tickets early. 

Blake Robinson, a longtime contact, tells Evolver.fm that he received one of the codes via email, presumably sent to fans who pre-ordered the album from zipcodes near where these secret, dress-up-required shows are taking place. This appears to be a lottery sort of thing, because some of his friends who also pre-ordered from New York zipcodes did not receive the codes.

Would you be more likely to pre-order an album if it came with the chance to buy tickets to a secret show? Arcade Fire offered these lottery show tickets without telling anyone, but if the lottery were made less of a secret, this could be a really good way to convince more people to pre-order — especially if the secret shows offer an exclusive experience, like the opportunity to see the band with an audience who is similarly dressed to the nines, or in an otherwise impressive fashion, possibly while being filmed for some sort of new, immersive music video.

As for our pal Blake, he has already rented a “bomb ass tux.”

To whet your appetite, here’s Roman Coppola’s short film with Arcade Fire and friends:

(Photo courtesy of Flickr/Man Alive!)