The Arcade Fire, hailed as "the band who put Canadian music on the world map", are at the Metro Radio Arena on Monday, October 29.

Founded in 2003 in Montreal by husband and wife team Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, their songs feature lush, anthemic arrangements and diverse instrumentation.

Producing such a sweeping sound requires more members than your traditional rock band of course, and at the last count the band had 10 live players.

As well as guitar, drums and bass, they contribute piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, keyboard, French horn, accordion, hurdy gurdy, harp and mandolin.

Several of the band are multi-instrumentalists, and swap instruments during shows.

The Arcade Fire's first album, Funeral, came out in September 2004 in North America and five months later in the UK, and catapulted them from nowhere to being the name on everybody's lips.

The album was critically acclaimed around the world, and gave them four UK Top 30 singles.

Its sombre title was chosen because of the deaths of several band members' relatives during recording.

Uncut magazine made Funeral its 2005 album of the year, and it came second in the NME and Mojo lists, though strangely peaked at No 33 in the charts.

Bizarrely, the 2007 follow-up Neon Bible, which produced no hit singles, but made it No 2!

Funeral sold more than half a million copies worldwide, and brought them to the attention of an influential champion in the form of David Bowie.

He has performed live and on TV with them, and picked them as one of the first acts for the High Line Festival which he curated in New York in May.

U2 also played The Arcade Fire's song Wake Up before their Vertigo Tour concerts, and invited them to open for them on three dates, the last of which saw them join Bono and co on stage for a cover of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Now, after thrilling festival-goers at Leeds, Reading, T In The Park and Glastonbury among others over the summer, they have embarked on a 23-date arena tour.

Neon Bible is on the shortlist for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize, whose winner is due to be announced at a gala ceremony today.

Tickets for the Arena show, priced £23 plus the usual booking fees, are available now from (0870) 707 8000.