Tickets for this show were made available by a random ballot of all those signed up to the band's e-mailing list - and my name was pulled out. I was able to buy 2 tickets as a result of this luck - a policy which did mean that there were loads of pairs of people at the gig! They were going for £100 a pair outside - although the band have been away for a while, they are still one of the biggest draws out there, partly because of their shyness, and reluctance to sell themselves to the highest bidder. They are also reluctant to play gigs in London, this was only their 9th ever show in the capital
Support for this gig was from the Little Flames, a band that are kind of known about mostly by association with the Arctic Monkeys. Alex Turner fancied their blonde female singer, so much so that the song You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Looking Straight At Me is purportedly written about her. She looked OK, and her band were OK, but really not much more remarkable than that. They had a decent sound, but it really wasn't very much to stand out, to the extent that it was very difficult to remember any of their songs after the set. They had good stage presence and the guitarists in particular were great performers, but the songs just didn't really do all that much for me.
The Monkeys came on to a rapturous reception, but then this was really only ever going to be a gig in front of an adoring crowd. The set was about half from the new album, which is louder, heavier, darker and generally faster than the debut. The incisive lyrics are still there, but some of the songs are a bit more complicated, so take a little bit longer to get into. Having heard the album a few times before going to the gig, it is definitely a more complex effort, but very good nonetheless. What did surprise me was that, of the new material, two of the absolute instant standout tracks (Flourescent Adolescent and 505) didn't get an airing at all. This surprise was shared by the NME Review of the gig, especially since the former seems likely to be a future single.Of course, the other half of the gig was made up of the familiar songs from the first album. Highlights for me were (still) From The Ritz To The Rubble, and Fake Tales Of San Francisco, as well as set closer A Certain Romance - great songs all of them, and proof that this band are rightfully seen as one of the very best of recent years.
One word about the audience. Given that the band are about to release a new album, it was amazing how few people seemed interested in the new songs, most seemed to have only come along to listen to the stuff they knew. Consequently, all of the older songs got a great reception, but the interest in the newer stuff was much more muted. I'm not sure if this was a result of the "random" distribution of tickets, but it seemed strange to have effectively a small album showcase gig, played in front of people that only really wanted to hear the songs they already knew. The ticket distribution did manage to cut out many of the touts, but it got tickets to quite a number of passing, rather than hardcore, fans of the band. Which won't seem fair to the hardcore fans that didn't get in.
Obviously given the high demand, infrequency of Arctic Monkeys gigs in London, small venue, and the sheer quality of this band when they play live, this was an amazing gig to have been at. The second album has an awful lot to live up to, given the extreme success of the first. I suspect I was like many others in overdosing on the first album when it came out - I listened to it far too much, and then haven't listened to it all that much for the last 6 months or so. This gig was an excellent way to remind everybody just how great that first album is, and to introduce what seems like an excellent (although slightly more demanding) second..
No comments:
Post a Comment