Small venues or big?

Arcade Fire has opted to play more nights in smaller venues than to move on to arenas.

TheStar.com. 2/11/07 - The heat begins to rise: "... the five-night, hometown residency that wrapped up last night at the Ukrainian National Federation, a 650-seat community centre located in the city's downtown, was an arrangement of choice rather than a matter of necessity. Arcade Fire is more than plenty big enough in Montreal – and a lot of other places – to have graduated to larger venues. ...

More of the same can be expected this week when Arcade Fire launches another sold-out-in-advance, five-night stand at the 400-seat Judson Memorial Church in New York's Greenwich Village.

The venues are small partly because Arcade Fire views these gigs, along with a previous run of comparatively intimate shows that received rave reviews in the U.K., as a touring equivalent of spring training....

'It's a question of balance,' says Butler ...

'You want to fit as many people in as want to see you, but you also don't want to play the Bell Centre,' he continues. 'It's not the greatest ambience. So you end up playing more nights in a smaller venue like a nice theatre, but then you don't get to as many places. You end up playing three nights in Chicago, instead of one night in Chicago and another in Champlain.'"