Don Valley Bowl, Sheffield
According to one music paper, this is the week "Arctic Monkeys reconquer the world". That may be pushing it ? at the time of writing, the Sheffield foursome have stopped short of invading foreign territories ? but after a difficult period for guitar pop, it seems significant that their excellent fourth album, Suck It And See, is set to knock Lady Gaga off the top of the charts on Sunday.
The feeling of a throne being reclaimed is cemented by two celebratory homecoming gigs, which ? at 10,000 people a night ? are a long way from the Birdwell Club, "Barnsley's Number One live venue", where they were playing just six years ago.
However, the band haven't always managed the transition to enormous gigs. Some have been marred by sound problems, while 2009's Leeds/Reading Festival headline appearances were slightly hampered by unveiling Humbug, the "difficult third album" which proved so difficult large sections of their fanbase decided to leave it in the shops.
Here, Sheffield's notorious weather was identified as a potential banana skin. Hence a huge tent, because, as Alex Turner explained beforehand, surreally, "You need rain like you need mustard on your index finger."
One imaginative punter chose to further shield himself form the elements by dressing up as a tiger, while sudden huge billows of smoke behind the venue throw forth the troubling prospect that the gig may actually burn down. But none of this is as incongruous as the Arctic intro tape: Hot Chocolate's hardly indie You Sexy Thing.
Much of the set has the feel of a band trying to take stock of where they've been and where they're going. Huge chunks of the setlist ? Brainstorm, View From The Afternoon and the rest ? come from their classic first two albums: lightning fast observations of scattergun imagery ? the working girls who don't do receipts, and the Saturday night bingers who "Know nuthin', "but I'd still take you 'ome", inspired by nights out only streets away from here.
Homecoming gigs can sometimes see bands return from globetrotting jaunts to baffle their original fans with sunglasses in darkness and songs about hotels. But celebrity girlfriends don't seem to have dented the Monkeys' affinity with their roots. Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the Sheffield council logo, Turner defiantly announces "some songs from us new album".
When the songs slow down, they reveal a band that have kept their accents, but have also matured into considered songwriters, who may end up the spiritual heirs to Echo and the Bunnymen and the Smiths.
The 20-year-old Turner wrote about sex and relationships with observant maturity, but his young self could never have come up with a line as revealing as "I poured my aching heart into a pop song, I couldn't get the hang of poetry." I Bet You Look Good On The Danceloor and Fluorescent Adolescent cause predictable crowd mayhem, but this is a night where teenage vim blurs into adult emotion, summed up when Turner performs a pared down version of Mardy Bum. "I think I've forgotten the words," says Turner, but looks emotional as the crowd sing them to him.
Unlike Take That's recent visual extravaganza, there are no 60ft robots or inflatable caterpillar, but this is a celebration of great songs, performed in inimitable style.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/11/arctic-monkeys-sheffield-music-review
Coco Lee Katy Perry Vinessa Shaw Rebecca Romijn Nadine Velazquez
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