Arcade Fire Performed As The Reflektors on The Colbert Report Last Night, Playing 'Normal Person' and 'Afterlife'

In keeping with the current marketing campaign playing as The Reflektors — the band recently played two shows in Brooklyn as The Reflektors and debuted their first single under that name at a show in Montreal — Arcade Fire stopped by the Colbert Report to play two songs off their upcoming album.

Before the band, which he called the "Steely Dan of Canada," hit the stage, Colbert joked around with brothers Win and Will Butler about a range of topics. He argued that Win was a better name that Will, to which Will responded, "You have to have the Will to Win, though." He then told them he had only heard of two Canadian bands, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and the "pretentious" Arcade Fire and asked which one the brothers liked better. Getting more into the album, Colbert said that it was more of a dance album and wondered which was more important to the band, "Getting people to listen to lyrics and think about the message of isolation in the modern world or getting them on the dance for to shake that ass?" Win responded, "I guess, ideally, you'd be shaking your ass with a little tear in the eye." He also transitioned to more serious topics, such as the band's time in Haiti.

Following the interview, The Reflektors performed "Normal Person" and "Afterlife." The set began with a fake-out performance at Colbert's desk with band members wearing paper mâché heads. The cameras then panned to the over to the reveal the real band on stage.

It was a pretty interesting guest appearance, if you haven't noticed. Arcade Fire's Reflektor is due out Oct. 29 via Merge Records. Check out the replay of their Colbert appearance here, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

Tags

Arcade Fire, The Colbert Report