Arcade Fire played a huge homecoming gig as they headlined the opening day of this year’s Osheaga festival in Montreal on July 31.

The band, whose members are based in the French-Canadian city, thrilled fans with a hit laden set, including material from new album ‘The Suburbs’.

Much of the festival’s 25,000-crowd had gathered at the main stage in anticipation of the performance.

Opening their set with new song ‘Ready To Start’, Arcade Fire established a relentless pace, moving into ‘Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)’ and ‘No Cars Go’.

After a potent rendition of ‘Intervention’, singer and multi-instrumentalist Régine Chassagne acknowledged the crowd as “mes amis” - my friends.

She continued to speak in French throughout the show, while her husband and singer Win Butler spoke predominantly in English.

Much of the middle portion of Arcade Fire’s set was accompanied by a fireworks display on the nearby Jacques Cartier Bridge.

The spectacle takes place every Saturday during the summer, but proved to be a fortuitous addition as the band played new song ‘Deep Blue’ and crowd favourite ‘Rebellion (Lies)’.

As a reward for the hometown audience, the band played the two most notably electronica-influenced songs from their new album for the very first time live.

Ahead of the ‘Half Light II (Celebration)’, Butler said: “Thank you very much. We love you. We’re so happy to be here’.

And after a false start, he led into ‘Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)’ by telling the local crowd: “This is the first time we’ve played it, so we just thought we’d play it for a few of hour closet friends.”

Clearly emotional on stage, Arcade Fire closed their set with the fan favourite, ‘Wake Up’.

Arcade Fire's setlist was:

1. Ready To Start
2. Neighbourhood #2 (Laika)
3. No Cars Go
4. Haiti
5. Empty Room
6. Intervention
7. Rococo
8. Crown Of Love
9. Deep Blue
10. We Used To Wait
11. Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
12. Rebellions (Lies)
13. Month Of May
14. Half Light II (Celebration)
15. Neighbourhood #1 (Tunnels)
16. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
17. Wake Up

Located at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Sainte-Hélène, Osheaga began in 2006 and features an eclectic mix of stages, including the DJ-only Piknick Electronik stage.

Earlier in the day, the two main stages, which are situated side-by-side, saw performances from the likes of Sarah Harmer, K’Naan and Stars.

Keane invigorated the audience in the afternoon with a hit-heavy set, which included the hits ‘Spiralling’ and ‘Everybody’s Changing’.

The band were also joined on ‘Stop For A Minute’ by rapper K’Naan, who singer Tom Chaplin described as “on of our favourite hip-hop artists in the entire world”.

Keane were followed by Pavement, who played a mesmerising showcase, including the songs ‘Two States’ and closer ‘Here’.

The National played ahead of Arcade Fire on the second main stage, and singer Matt Berninger alluded to their high-billing during their performance.

“It’s a great privilege for us to be playing between two of our favourite bands - Pavement and Arcade Fire,” he said.

The Cincinnati five-piece’s set included songs from their entire career, including recent album ‘High Violet’.

Other performances on day one came from Robyn, Fran Healy of Travis, Beach House and Japandoids.

Osheaga 2010 concludes on Sunday (August 1) with appearances from Snoop Dogg, Metric and headliners Weezer.

(by Jason Gregory)