It’s been a bumpy ride for the Arcade Fire coming out of the pandemic, including the departure of longtime multi-instrumentalist Will Butler, sexual misconduct allegations against his brother and front man Win Butler, subsequent denials, support from his wife and fellow co-founder Régine Chassagne, followed by tour support acts Feist and Beck dropping out.

However, none of that stopped the Canadian collective from filling up the United Center, and while those topics didn’t get addressed across the two-hour show, the circumstances seemed to spark an increased fire, for lack of a more appropriate word, as if these indie rock veterans had something to prove all over again.

For starters, there were tunes to debut off an epic new album, “WE,” which follows a five-year studio absence and finds the Arcade Fire tapping into all its prior strengths, such as anthemic hand-raisers, a bounty of dance beats, booming ballads, eclectic instrumentation and heavy duty harmonies.

“Age Of Anxiety 1,” a bold statement on how unsettled the world’s become, was one such current example as the musicians entered the stage from the arena floor, instantly shattering the traditional wall between artist and audience.

Crowd pleasers “Ready To Start” and “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” soon revved into gear as several members swapped places and instruments, which is another unique aspect of an act always capable of making even the expected feel unpredictable.

Keep in mind these are passion players, not necessarily prodigies, but their loose and free-flowing approach, along with a smaller platform in the middle as the setting for “Afterlife,” amongst many others, conjured up the same raw spirit of the group’s earliest appearance at The Empty Bottle.

Yet Arcade Fire also used the gigantic setting to its advantage, incorporating a laser spectacle, smiling inflatables and a glistening disco ball to further illustrate the grooves, which were especially ample come “Creature Comfort” and “Everything Now.”

In between, there was a chance to chant through “No Cars Go,” move to the momentum brought by multiple parts of “The Suburbs” and “Unconditional,” plus tap into a slower and sparser side thanks to all four “End Of The Empire” sections.

Following a surprise, locally-themed cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979,” there was no worthier closer than “Wake Up,” the track that put Arcade Fire on the map almost two decades ago, and regardless of what’s transpired behind the scenes since then, helped preserve the band’s riveting performance reputation to this very day.

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For additional information on Arcade Fire, visit ArcadeFire.com.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation concerts, visit LiveNation.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at the United Center include Arcade Fire (Nov. 12); Dave Matthews Band (Nov. 15); Rod Wave (Nov. 17); 107.5 WGCI Big Jam (Dec. 3); Juice Wrld Day (Dec. 8); Muse (Feb. 25); Depeche Mode (Apr. 5); Blink-182 (May 6-7); Anita Baker (Jun. 30); Windy City Smokeout (Jul. 13-16); Thomas Rhett (Jul. 28) and Arctic Monkeys (Aug. 27). For additional details, visit UnitedCenter.com.