New music
Arctic Monkeys were on fire last night (not literally, of course, or that might have been quite a concern) but, metaphorically speaking… they. were. on. fire!
Their set, on night one of three, at London’s Emirates Stadium was mind-blowingly good. Epic, even. Watching their set, you couldn’t help but think about how they’ve aligned themselves with legendary status. If that sounds controversial, then you clearly weren’t at the show.
The indie darlings, who famously hail from Sheffield, have been bringing their big sounds to stadia across Europe on this latest tour since their first show in Linz, Austria, in April — earlier this year, and they definitely didn’t hold back for their first London date of this tour.
All eyes were on Alex Turner and his well-presented, black-suited self. When he launched straight into ‘Brianstorm’, the crowd didn’t miss a beat and were right there ‘da-da-da-da-da-da-da’-ing away. When he sang ‘Cornerstone’, all the mobile phones came out and their flashlights were shone and waved in the air during the romantic ditty.
The songs they played were a mix of the ‘hits’ from 2013’s ‘AM’ such as ‘Snap Out of It’ and some tracks from their latest album ‘The Car’ made an appearance too. But when they played ‘Bodypaint’, for example, the songs that some fans have been sleeping on sounded “massive”, as BBC Radio 1 presenter Jack Saunders said in an Instagram story posted after the show.
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Turner, meanwhile, was a man of few words when it came to addressing the crowd and would say “Hello London” or “Thank you” or sometimes “Fantastic”, seemingly critiquing his own performance (we agree, by the way). There wasn’t much engagement with the crowds and it did leave a little left to be desired, but then it seems the band let the music do the talking and when your on-stage persona is aloof with a tinge of attitude, then the music has to be able to stand up and that it did!
He did take a moment to thank the audience for being “wonderful”. We’ll give him that. To be fair, with this setlist, Turner and crew know how to give fans what they want. The crowd was a mass of waving hands and jumping bodies for the entire set. Just so much movement and so many fans just thrilled to be worshipping at the altar of their faves. More than one person was spotted going full air guitar during songs like ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’ – it was brilliant to witness.
Fans were treated to ‘Mardy Bum’, a semi-stripped back version of ‘505’, ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and so many more absolute bangers. What can we say? The Monkeys know how to put on a show!
Here’s a band who have years of experience and have finessed what they do so much so that, at this point, they’re basically just showing off and it’s almost annoying how good they are.
At one point, Turner exclaimed, “What a night!” What a night, indeed.
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Words: Narzra Ahmed
