Good God, it was cold out last night. On our trek up to the Greek Theater in Berkeley to see Arcade Fire in the first of their two gigs in the area, we ended up having to stop by the American Apparel store on Bancroft and Telegraph to buy a scarf. Who knew they even sold scarves at the daringly-bare no-sweatshop emporium?

We are now officially so old, we didn't even bother looking for seats down below, and went straight up the hill and got seats on the bleachers by the portapotties. Any shame we might have felt was somewhat assuaged by the commentary by the folks sitting behind us: "Thank god we're not down in the stands. This way we don't have to hear the people singing along." Truer words were never spoken.

Arcade Fire really are trying to turn into Montreal's Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band -- every song was an anthem, and they certainly know how to put on a show. We thought the neon bible logos they had on stage looked kind of like underpants, though.

YouTube clip of yesterday's Neighborhood #3 (Power Out). More clips here. One more gig tonight at the Greek at 8 p.m.