Arcade Fire is setting the internet ablaze, and not just because of its new music.
The band became the butt of jokes on Wednesday ― both of their own design and others’ ― thanks to the so-called “hip and trendy” dress code they seem to have enforced for a free concert happening in Brooklyn, NY on Thursday. (And it’s not the first time they’ve enforced a dress code for a concert.)
An email that was sent to ticket holders encouraged attendees to dress “as if you are going to a concert or night out with friends,” and asked people to refrain from wearing “shorts, large logos, flip flops, tank tops, crop tops, baseball hats, solid white or red clothing.” It also banned the use of cellphones.
The band was quick to deny any involvement with enforcing the dress code, tweeting that concert-goers should “wear whatever you want to any show.”
A statement was later released that guests should wear “whatever ’hip and trendy’ means” and made a valid point that while phones will not be taken away, “it’s easier to dance when you don’t have your face planted in it.”
But that didn’t stop the internet from continuing to destroy the dress code on social media.
Arcade Fire then took their disapproval of the dress code one step further. The band tweeted out a photo Wednesday announcing it would reward “special section” tickets for the sold-out performance to people who shared photos of themselves in their “least hip and/or trendy outfit.”
“Only the most out of step with current trends will be considered,” it reads.
Fans wasted little time displaying their least trendy looks in hopes of scoring tickets. Are we the only ones into that geometric patterned sweater, though?
Here’s a thought: How about we all just stay home in our pajamas and livestream the show on Apple Music instead?